? 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.