Society is based off the people,
but within a society are many disagreements, flaws, and varying views.
Differences in political and ethical views lead to the big arguments in
society, and the job of a satirist is to show or expose these flaws in society.
Satire is a function of change, and all the satirist wants is to sway both
sides of an argument in society to agree and meet in the middle. One of the
first and greatest examples of satire is A
Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift. A
Modest Proposal has many layers and uses of satire, and without this
satirical writing, all contemporary satire, in all forms, would not be the same
or even exist today. Satire is meant to alter apathetic or bias minds and make
those people of society agree to 'the middle' of arguments, and that is what
Swift's masterful satire attempted to do. Swift was a revelation to satire and
the language, and his satirical words, ideas, and perspectives affected the
societies of Ireland and England of his time, and the world today.
Swift's
A Modest Proposal didn't solve the
societal problems of Ireland in 1729, but he sure made his point from his harsh
satirical points and ideas, which made the society start to make a change and
resolve problems faster than it would've without his writing. Swift used many
forms of satire in which contemporary satire has built off of and used since in
newer ways. Irony, scathing humor, insult, mockery, wit, and sarcasm are main
uses of satire in which can either be humorous or disturbing in making the
satirical point. In the end, every person who witnesses the satire is usually
offended in some way, on who they are or their views. During 1729 in Ireland,
where Swift was born and grew up, there were many societal problems that seemed to only get worse. Problems such
as hundreds and thousands of beggars living on the streets, overpopulation
leading to more children in the hands of beggar women, low employment and no
jobs leading to a bad economy, and famine. All these problems are connected and
feed off of each other, which led to one of the worst times in Ireland's
history. Swift thought it was his duty as a satirist to write about these
problems in society and how they can be fixed. Through satirical metaphor, he
wrote about how the beggar mother's children should be given as food after
turning 1 year old and all fattened up, to the barbaric British. "...the remaining
hundred thousand may, at a year old, be offered in the sale to the persons of
quality and fortune through the kingdom; always advising the mother to let them
suck plentifully in the last month, so as to render them plump and fat for a
good table" (Swift 3). The main target of A Modest Proposal is the British government and the rich Irish
Protestant landlords. For all the profit that Ireland did make at this time, it
was mostly given to the rich landlords of Ireland and all of England. The
British government was unfairly setup with Ireland, in that basically, the rich
would take the money and the poor would get nothing from deserved profit in
return. Ironically, Swift was a wealthy Irishman, who would have been 'eating
the babies' with the landlords and rich, but instead he is targeting them and
his own socioeconomic status by trying to show, as a satirist, that the profit the
rich get, and the hardships the poor go through, needs to change. It may seem
like Swift is targeting the poor Catholics of Ireland by saying they have too
many children when they can't even afford one baby, and that's why they should 'give
them as food' to the rich. What he is actually saying is decreasing the
population of Catholics will not solve the societal problems, because the Irish
Protestants and English have already done too much to the society, that it
won't matter. Again, Swift is ironically targeting the people of his
socioeconomic status and trying to show how decreasing the population will
interfere with Catholics way of life and that the British government and the
rich need to change their ways. The
rich need to give some of their profit to the poor community and the British
government needs to help Ireland, and not take everything from themselves,
leaving Ireland in ruins. "...having no other motive than the public good
of my country, by advancing our trade, providing for infants, relieving the
poor, and giving some pleasure to the rich" (Swift 9).
A Modest Proposal was a big inspiration
to all contemporary satire, whether it's written or verbally acted satire. A
great example of contemporary, political satire is The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, a show about him and other
satirists targeting political events, people, etc. One skit he does is
"The Best F***ing News Team Ever", where Jon Stewart pretends to be
talking with John Oliver and his 'news crew' on the scene. In character and the
skit, the news crew is 'the best news team' out there. What they're really
doing, is targeting CNN's news cast and impersonating them on how they report
about irrelevant stuff instead of real news. The uses of satire Stewart uses
are mockery, wit, and sarcasm. "The building is four stories
high...!" (The Daily Show).
Mocking on synonymous stuff to what CNN reports about, and being sarcastic on
saying twice as ridiculous things than what CNN actually says, is how The Daily Show uses satire. The exposed
ill in society is how CNN and every modern American news show reports about
irrelevant things, especially in politics, and how the people believe and
listen to every word of it. Jonathan Swift used satire to expose the British
government and rich classes of England and Ireland from similar ways. Like Jon
Stewart, in character as a politician, he states his argument and targets what
he wants to change, but he won't act on his own proposition, instead he will
let the people do it. From giving his satirical stand point, he thinks he will
have changed enough people's minds for them to take his place and take action.
"...I fortunately fell upon this proposal, which, as it is wholly new, so
it hath something solid and real, of no expence and little trouble, full in our
own power, and whereby we ca incur no danger in disobliging England"
(Swift 8). This is when Swift is done stating his proposal and is saying to the
readers that he hopes society will act on it and make a change, and England
eventually will too. As the 'politician' he is in this satire, he will not revolt,
but let people decide to or not.
Jonathan
Swift was one of the first important satirists with A Modest Proposal and has made satire a part of today's art and
entertainment. People such as Jon Stewart of The Daily Show have given satire a contemporary feel to the world.
Political and ethical problems in society are the most argued about with the
most differentiated opinions, and that's why satire is so great when used to
expose society on those problems. Without satire, societal views would be very
50-50 or lopsided, but instead, are not because many people's views on things
are swayed from one side of an argument to meet the middle. All the uses of
satire can be effective to society when used in a way to catch the audience's
attention and get them to understand, and when they are tastefully used in the
right context. When satire is successful or just brilliant like A Modest Proposal, it can really make a
difference to the targeted problem in society, whether it completely resolves
the problem for the better, or it just alters the views of the people to the
point where society is mentally changed. Thanks to Swift, satire has become a great use of writing, speech, and humor, that has changed the views of
societies everywhere.
