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Jonathan Swift Research Paper

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In many ways Ireland in the 1700’s is like the outstanding new hunger games movies where the sixteen year old girl from District 12, Katniss Everdeen is willing to do anything for survival. Jonathan was born into a poor family. He was unfortunate not to meet his father as he died suddenly just seven months before he was born. Due to the death of his father, his mother Abigail went back to live with her parents and his sister Jane and himself were raised by relatives. In 1673, Swift went to a grammar school in Kilkenny where he perused his interests in Reading and English literature. In 1682, Swift was accepted into Trinity College, Dublin, where he received a B.A in ‘special grace’, which is an award given to students who did not live up …show more content…

Families in Ireland were living in very poor conditions; Swift came up with an idea to make the young, hungry, children of Ireland, who have their whole life ahead of them if they could escape from the poverty stricken Ireland, very valuable members of society. “sound and useful members of the commonwealth" (Swift, 1729). Swift proposes to feed the starving new-borns to the more wealthy and prestigious people in Ireland. He felt it was an idea that would not only solve hunger problems, but over population too and leading to families having a little more disposable income. Swift gives exact information on how many children should be sold to the meat market and how they should be cooked, he thinks he has it all worked out. As this is not a very appealing solution, Swift stresses throughout that all ideas are welcome. “ anyone who could devise a way to make these street children into productive members of society would be doing the nation a great service” (Swift, A Modest Proposal, 1729) Swift soon comes to the realisation that this is not a very likely solution welcoming any solutions, as long as they are relevant. As it comes about that Swift does not actually want Ireland to start promoting cannibalism, he just wants the people of Ireland to realise how the upper class are treating

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