Question

Read this sentence from Jonathan Swift’s /A Modest Proposal/.

“I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for
landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem
to have the best title to the children.”

What statement is Swift making in this sentence?

* The financially secure can afford to buy good food.
* Greedy Irish property owners exploit the helpless poor.
* Landlords should have authority over those who live in their buildings.
* It is the responsibility of parents to provide food for their landlords.

Answer 1

Swift is making the point that "Greedy Irish property owners exploit the helpless poor." In "A Modest Proposal" he sets out a satirical plan to solve food shortages by eating children. In this line he is making the assertion that landlords have already "devoured most of the parents" not in a literal sense. He is saying that landlords have taken advantage of, and exploited their tenants to such an extant that the next step of devouring their children as food is only logical, and not that much more abhorrent.

Answer 2

Answer: Greedy Irish property owners exploit the helpless poor.

In "A Modest Proposal," Swift proposes to deal with the problem of poverty in Ireland by eating poor Irish children. This, he argues, will both reduce poverty, and provide rich landlords with a delicious source of food. His purpose in writing the satire is to call attention to the abuses of the poor class by the gentry. In this passage, he argues that eating the poor children is only natural for the greedy, rich class as they have already "devoured" the poor parents (by constantly exploiting and abusing them).