I Must Be Proud To See

? …” Alexander Pope’s Pamphlet Essay, Research Paper

? I must be proud to see, ? Men not afraid of

God afraid of me, ? Safe from the

bar, the pulpit and the throne, ? Yet touched and

shamed by ridicule alone. ? O sacred weapon

left for truths defence, ? Sole dread of

Folly Vice and Innocence? ? Alexander Pope ? What is ridiculed

in a modest proposal, and how is it ridiculed?This Pamphlet ridicules the government by using satire and

irony to show just how immoral they really are. Swift ridicules their way of

problem solving and thinking. He takes, as an example, the situation in Ireland

and he exaggerates it until it is so immoral that the government realises what

they are doing. The way he does this is that he stretches it but still

describes it the way the government do. He shows them how easy it is to turn

what they say into complete immorality. When the reader reads it they presume

that he is ridiculing the situation in Ireland, when he is actually ridiculing

the whole way that the government works. ??????????? Swift

also mocks the way that the English treat the Irish. He infers that they are

treated as if they are inhuman and that the English try to rule them without

even visiting them. He also shows up how the British government are chauvinist

and think they are better than everyone else. The reader can receive this

information not by reading one quotation but by reading the whole pamphlet and

taking in all the hints aimed at this conclusion. ??????????? Swift

also takes the opportunity to show what the British government think of the

Americans. They think the Americans are uncivilised immoral pigs. I quote ?I

have been assured by a very knowing American my acquaintance in London, that a

young healthy child, well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious,

nourishing and wholesome food?. ??????????? Swift

also shows a racist view towards the papists (Catholics); he says ?it would

greatly lessen the number of papists, with whom we are yearly overrun?. This

said however Swift does not mind the Catholics, but his fellow Protestant piers

(including the British government) have view towards them that Swift does not

share. ??????????? During

this whole pamphlet Swift continues to use government language. For example; he

uses ?enumerated? instead of counted and he uses ?collateral? instead of

secondary. He also attempts to be serious and genuine with his ridiculous idea.

This he does very well. While he is writing seriously, the reader knows that

this idea is too ludicrous to be true and that it is not to be taken seriously

and that it is just a satirical proposal to show what the government are doing

to the public and unto themselves. One could say Swift is holding a mirror in

front of the government and saying ?look at you are.’ ??????????? What

Swift does instead of making jokes is to use immoral terms as metaphors for

what is actually happening in Ireland. For example, he shows that the English

landlords are devouring the Irish tenants by saying that the land lords will

happily eat the babies. ??????????? Swift

ironically concludes the pamphlet with the statement that he cannot possibly

benefit from his suggestion because he has no children and his wife is past

child-bearing age. This is ironic because he simulates anothers point of view

for use of ridicule. ??????????? I

conclude that Swifts pamphlet uses ridicule in a way to attract attention to

the Irish situation by ridiculing the way they have tried to solve the

situation. In doing this the reader can see how weak the government is at

fixing issues similar to this. This forces the government to either lose the

publics trust or to rectify the situation quickly and effectively.