A Modest Proposal criticizes the view society has towards the poor. Writer Jonathan Swift uses a satirical approach in his essay when he explains that families in poverty should raise their children and sell them off as food. An example of this is “a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food" (Practical Argument pg.758). Jonathan Swift does not actually encourage the idea of children from poverty to be sold as food. Instead, he argues in a sarcastic tone the lack of sympathy and awareness people have towards the poor. Swift proposes a satirical idea that the children of the poor should be sold and fed to Ireland's wealthiest families, thus decreasing the vast numbers of overpopulation