In 1729, a political journalist and human rights activist, Jonathan Swift, wrote “A Modest Proposal,” which offered a solution to the problem of Irish population hunger and English indifference. Although Swift wrote his proposal more than three hundred years ago, it is still considered a masterpiece today. Swift's characterization of the narrator, sarcasm and sustainable irony allowed him to create a very effective argument in support of his proposal. In “A Modest Proposal,” Swift characterizes the narrator by using two different types of voices that make the article compelling and alive. . The Irish economy was desperate and someone had to find a way to get the country back on its feet. To make his proposal believable, Swifts creates an imaginary narrator. This fictional narrator is the first voice of Swift's proposal. It describes the situation and provides statistics to engage readers in the proposal. Swift interrupts with some little ironic details like "just fell off the dam" (Swift par. 4) and "women who kill their bastard children" (Swift par. 5). In the eighth paragraph, the narrator says, “I will now humbly set forth my thoughts, which I hope not susceptible to the least objection” (Swift par. 8). The narrator kindly represents his ridiculous scheme, which essentially supports the principle of cannibalism. “I would rather recommend buying the babies alive and seasoning them hot from the knife, as we do with roasted pigs,” is the emotionless phrase of the proposal (Swift par. 16). Swift's narrator turns out to be a mad, cold-hearted man. On the other hand, Swift should not be misunderstood at this point; this is its purpose. He wants a projector to seem as absurd as his proposal, so that he can ... middle of paper ... the situation in Ireland in those days when parents watched their children die, and the English saw it as the La The fault of the Irish is that they are lazy. This proposal was very effective on an unprecedented literary level, even if it did not have a great impact on society. Works Cited Lockwood, Thomas. "Swift's Modest Proposal": An Interpretation. Papers on Language and Literature. 10.3 (1974): 254 - 267. Rpt. in Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800. Ed. Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Traudean. Vol 101. Detroit: Gale 2004. Literature Resource Center. Web. 23 January 2014 Print. Swift, Jonathan “A modest proposal to prevent the children of poor people in Ireland from becoming a burden to their parents or to the country, and to make them useful to the public. " Ed. Jack Lynch, Rutgers University, Newark, January 13. 2014.