A Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift speaks to the political and economic strife of England and surrounding countries across Europe through his writing. His commentary through prose works had influence on varying social levels in eighteenth-century English society, which projected his political hopes for Britain. Through prose works, Swift carefully establishes the persona of the narrator, who tells their tale, proposing these characters with particular traits and mannerism which serve the larger purpose of the novel genre. Swift, as Daniel Defoe once speculated, detests the novel form because of its:

“individualistic psychology; its brief for class mobility; its delight in a burgeoning of the British economy; its adjustable ethics and morality; its increasing

Writing pieces like A Modest Proposal which showcased the indecent behaviour towards starving women and children of Ireland, and gave satirical solutions to the Commonwealth’s concerns, Swift mirrored these political concerns through the narrator, Lemuel Gulliver. When Gulliver travels to Houyhnhnm, Jefferson S. Chase states Swift made the Houyhnhnms “the spokesman for a critique of humanity that he, at least to a large extent, sees as valid” (332), with the Houyhnhnms speak to a peaceful society governed by reason and honesty. They live in a sort of socialist republic, with the needs of the community put before individual desires, they have a flourishing society which Gulliver is miserable to leave, unlike the other four parts, where Gulliver was actively trying to escape to England. Chase’s argument is the Houyhnhnms had spoiled Gulliver’s understanding of current British life, “[drawing] logical conclusions about mankind’s degenerate status from [Gulliver’s] description” (332) of his community. Gulliver visually and to some extent intellectually understands the differences of the Houyhnhnms and the people of Britain, most of which amount from the individualistic ideals from the lower-middle class. While the Houyhnhnms being wise horses, rule over the human-like Yahoo’s, it becomes increasingly obvious to Gulliver that he is a Yahoo, who cannot understand the inner workings of what is best for society. Jefferson continues to explain “reading Gulliver’s Travel, however, they put aside their allegiance to humanity to enjoy the sport made of the species” (Jefferson 334), which distances the reader from their own species. CONTINUE