Seminar about A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift

The final seminar of semester one was based around A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift. Personally, I found this essay rather entertaining as it was a ridiculous solution to the very serious problem of extreme poverty in Ireland in the 19^th century. Swift stated that the way in which this could be solved is for families to eat their own children for food or sell their children to be used as food as that way people will have money on which to survive. There were mixed reactions from my seminar group with some people saying that Swift’s idea was inhumane and immoral and how could a person even think of a solution to a problem as extreme as killing your own children as it is a parent’s role to protect their children at all costs not eat them for food. Whereas other members of the group believed that Swift was mocking Ireland and his essay was meant to be taken in a light hearted manner as the title of the essay A Modest Proposal suggests that the solution presented by Swift will be a subtle but effective idea such as developing the economy but as you read on it becomes clear that Swift’s idea is cannibalistic and shocking for readers both today and in the 19^th century when it was written.