The key to answering this question lies in the
one-sentence paragraph that serves as the transition between the introduction of the
proposal and the actual proposal. Swift concisely
states:
I
shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to
the least objection.
Swift
skillfully lays out valid arguments to help the Irish people with poverty and
overpopulation. Everything makes complete sense the way he spells it out. It sounds
reasonable for him to say,
That the remaining hundred thousand [children]
may, at a year old, be offered in the sale to the persons of quality and fortune through
the kingdom; always advising the mother to let them suck plentifully in the last month,
so as to render them plump and fat for a good table. A child will make two dishes at an
entertainment for friends; and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter
will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt will be very good
boiled on the fourth day, especially in
winter.
The irony comes in
the fact that he's talking about eating children. If the reader puts aside his or her
feelings, Swift's arguments sound pretty good. However, that is impossible to do, and
Swift knows it. There is nothing "modest" about Swift's proposal. Swift was trying to
get the English and the Irish to listen to him. By modestly proposing to use babies as a
source of food and income, he was finally able to get some
attention!
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