Question

Those who are more thrifty (as I must confess the times require) may flea the carcass; the skin of which, artificially dressed, will make admirable gloves for ladies, and summer boots for fine gentlemen.

The author is using satire in this excerpt to emphasize the

A. utter absurdity of his plan.
B. necessity for warm winter clothing.
C. ways that people are cruel to children.
D. various benefits of his plan..

Answer 1

A. Utter absurdity of his plan.

Step-by-step explanation:

In Jonathan Swift's satire "A Modest Proposal", he suggests ways to effectively combat the poverty situation of Ireland. His suggestion include how to effectively use children who are anyway suffering from begging and starvation, and turning them into useful members of the Commonwealth.

Swift's proposal demands the use of children as meat so that it will not affect the living conditions of the rich and also at the same time provide a means of steady income for the poor mothers who are breeding them. This will be favorable to everyone, even the landlord who will now be a source/ farm for the upbringing of these poor children/ orphans.

In the given passage, Swift suggests that those thrifty about leaving anything to waste can make use of the child's skin as "gloves for ladies, and summer boots for fine gentlemen." This is a really absurd, even barbaric and unimaginable suggestion that Swift uses by satirizing the Irish people's condition and the British government's lack of interest/ concern about it.

Answer 2

A). Utter absurdity of his plan.

Step-by-step explanation:

Satire is one of the most commonly employed literary devices that aim to either criticize or reveal the follies and vices of people through the use of humor, exaggeration, or irony.

As per the question, the author in the given excerpt from 'The Modest Proposal' is employing satire to highlight 'the utter absurdity of his plan' which is reflected through the use of words like 'thrifty, flea the carcass, etc.'. Swift portrays the idea of 'selling children into a meat market for eradicating poverty'(by the thrifty ones) to criticize the social issue of starving families due to poverty and oppression and domination of wealthy elites. Thus, in the given excerpt he emphasizes the absurd plan to mock at the present situation of Ireland and the authorities' inability to cater to it. Hence, option A is the correct answer.