A Modest Proposal | Style

A Modest Proposal Style

Perspective

Although Jonathan Swift is a protestant, his essay mostly attacks Protestants and supports Catholics. He not supporting Catholic religion however, but criticizing how the Protestants are oppressing the Catholics and seemingly blaming them for the nation's problems. He ironically states that Catholics are the Protestants worse enemy. He even suggests Catholics will take advantage of the Protestants' absence since they are away fighting the war to hand the country over to their enemies.

Swift's suggests that this is all propaganda, but the worse kind. As the poor in those times could neither read nor write, such an essay could only be read by the upper classes and here Swift represents them as ignorant and self-serving. The essay pokes fun at their ignorance, but at the same time making the very serious claim that those same are the only people with the power to change society.

In these terms Swift is...
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