Jonathan Swift ( 1667-1745 ) , was a outstanding ironist of his clip. As a devoted protagonist of the Anglican church, he was hostile to all who seemed to endanger it-Deists, deists, Roman Catholics, Noneconformists, or simply Whig politicians. He was called a misanthropist and Culliver ‘s Travels has beeb considered an look of barbarian misanthropy. It is true that Swift proclaimed himself a misanthropist in a missive to Pope, declaring that though he loved persons, he hated “ that animate being called adult male ” and offering a new definition of adult male non as “ a rational animate being ” but “ an animate being capable of ground ” . He besides depicted his ill will to Catholics and the conditions of the society of his clip in a piece of satiric work called A Modest Proposal ( 1729 ) . “ As a political papers, it has no analogue, uniting Swift ‘s concerns for Ireland ‘s recurrent dearths, extended poorness, and corrupt economic system, and his defeat with the English landlords and their singular disregard of their renters. ” ( J. Degategno, Stubblefield 233 ) .
The writer ‘s accent is besides on the word “ Papish ” babies. This knowing indicant of the word “ Papish ” high spots the satiric tone of the text sing the spiritual and more political issues. Then the organic structure of the babies are considered as political organic structures of the oppossed group instead than simply builds. They are treated as flesh and good non human existences. The thought of “ ego ” and “ other ” can be applied to this satiric text to some extent. These kids and their parents are “ others ” to the author and his society sing both faith and political relations. The thought of cannibalism is offered as if the object of address are some animate beings who ought to be fed in order to be slaughtered when he considers a the kid of the lower category as an carnal “ dropped from its dike ” .
Carol Houlihan Flynn in her The Body in Swift and Defoe provinces: “ Swift employ [ s ] the cannibal non merely to research a condemnable “ other, ” but to do that “ other ” portion of the corporate esthesia that includes “ ourselves. ” While [ he ] express [ s ] a strong urge to eliminate the demand that the denaturized and cannibalized organic structures of the hapless represent, they complicate their longing for order. The desire to cleanse and free the Earth of its irritating and violative load is subsumed by a more basic demand to integrate the demand that can non be denied. ” ( 151 ) the impression of “ ego ” and “ other ” could be indistinguishable with the construct of “ maestro ” and “ slave ” introduced by Hegel. In A Modest Proposal Swift satirically and witfully shows this mutual relation between the wealthy and the hapless, the landlords and the renters or, from a political point of position, the Anglican church and the Roman Catholics. The author sees the chidren as possible slaves of the hereafter who are traveling to “ sell themselves to the Barbadoes ” .
In his Phenomenology of Spirit, Hegel discusses that there is a self-consciousness that exists for itself. When this uneasiness is confronted by another uneasiness, it finds itself as an “ other ” being. What is important is that it does non see the other ego as an indispensable being and at the same clip merely in the presence of the other ego it would be able to see its ain ego. Therefore since this ego sees itself as a whole and complete being, it does non necessitate the other ‘s presence and at the same time it needs the other to be able to specify itself as a different and whole being.
The solution the writer proposes for the poroblem raised at the beginning of the text, is a satiric attempt to do the “ other ” a portion of the “ ego ” by turning the other into the nutrient of the the “ ego ” . By his “ modest proposal ” he tries to strenghten and lenghten the concatenation of master/slave relation. He declares that the landlords had already devoured the kids ‘s parents, now so can make the same to their babies. There is a power dynamism that the rich and the upper category are traveling to win. From a Hegelian point of position one can see that if such a proposal is applied to the society, necessarily the landlords and the Masterss are traveling to be dependant on the hapless, excessively. In order to last, the upper category and the members of the Anglican church will fatally necessitate the presence, reproduction and the flesh of the hapless broken Roman Catholics.
The text begins with a sense that one as a reader feels the existance of the female parents and the “ papish ” kids is something unwanted and inessential to the construction of the upper category and Anglican Church members. The author as a character tries to assist the society get rid of them by suggesting a solution. He proposes the babies as the nutrient of the landlords. But the inquiry is that if the coevals of the lower category is traveling to dip, would the landlords be able to remain in their places as Masterss and landlord? Then their societal economic place is tightly linked with the existance of the lower category. The hapless people are described as beggers in the streets. This implies that they are in fatal demand of the rich people to populate and last. If the upper category people do non care about them abd do non assist them, they will decease of hungriness or adversities of their conditions. Therefore the common demand and dependence of the two uneasinesss are greatly clear in the text. The author still puts more accent on this common dependence by offering the kids as their nutrient. Then symbolically the upper category ‘s endurance is in direct relation with the hapless ‘s presence.
Through out the text there are many hints to bespeak that the hapless kids and their parents are non accepted as worlds. They are described more similar animate beings such as hogs or sheep, “ twenty 1000 may be reserved for strain, whereof merely one 4th portion to be male, which is more than we allow to sheep, black cowss or swineaˆ¦ , hence one male will be sufficient for four famles. ” ( Swift 5 )
The author ‘s proposal has assorted advantages one of which is the imrovement of the economic state of affairs of their society. A great sum of money that was supposed to be spent for the care of the kids, is now traveling to be saved. Making a new dish out of thir flesh and selling it as an expensive dish will besides be a good beginning of income. And this money can be utile plenty to develop the lives of “ all the gentlemen of luck in the Kingdom ” . Using this money ‘s advantages the rich people try to turn out themselves more than earlier and stablize their places in the construction of the society, “ and the money will go around among ourselves, the goods being wholly of our ain growing and industry. ” ( Swift 8 ) . Then once more a uneasiness is seeking to overmaster the other in order to turn out its ain existance. The gentlemen slaughter the hapless to turn out themselves socially and financially.
Work cited
Swift, Jonathan. A Modest Proposal. ICON Classics, 2005.
J. Degategno, Paul, and R. Jay Stubblefield. Critical Companian to Jonathan Swift: A Literary Mention to His Life and Work. Facts On File, 2006.
Houlihan Flynn, Carol. The Body in Swift and Defoe. Cambridge University Press, 1990.
Sokhanvar, Jalal. An Abridged Edition of The Norton Anthology of English Literarue. Eshtiyagh Edition, 2003.
