Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" is a satirical mirror that critiques colonialism.

By the time Swift was writing this prose Ireland was so completely dominated by England, the colonising  giant whose brutal and oppressive legacy continues to echo across regions, including our own in the Subcontinent, where we still bear the scars of imperial subjugation. The difference is that we did not had any literary figures like Jonathan Swift who could propose a more ‘modest’ solution to our predicament ( which might have been even harsher than his).The Irish people were at the brink of extinction, according to estimates, more than half of Ireland’s population was fleeing to other countries for the sake of survival. Swift’s use of satire to describe the situation in Ireland manifests the inhumane side of colonisation being practiced in their country, where the people were left with no choice but to sell their infants to the colonisers as food. The helplessness of the Irish was so severe that they had nothing left but their children because of the massive economic disparities. Swift suggests that they might as well hand them over to the colonisers so they could be of use to the ruling elite, since  they were already destined to perish due to malnourishment and deprivation. He proposes a solution harsh enough to shake the conscience of those who were indifferent or had turned a blind eye to the heinous socioeconomic deprivation caused by the colonialists.

 Moreover, one of the most striking things is Jonathan Swift’s masterful use of Satire. He employs a calm and rational tone to introduce his grotesque suggestion of selling infants as food, which creates a sharp contrast between the serious delivery and the outrageous content. By using the format of a serious economic proposal, complete with statistics and financial benefits, Swift mocks the heartless attitudes of the ruling class and those who treat human suffering as mere data. His use of irony is particularly effective, and the way he presents the horrific idea of cannibalism as though it were a reasonable and logical solution to the problem of poverty in Ireland, all the while exposing the cruelty of those in power. This exaggerated suggestion is so extreme that it compels one to recognise the absurd cruelty of treating human beings as commodities, and also showing the brutal reality of the colonial exploitation. The prose may have been written in the context of 18th century Ireland, but its themes of exploitation, oppression and poverty reverberate far beyond that era. As someone being from Subcontinent, one can find Swift’s critique of the ruling elite totally relatable. Ireland, like many colonised nations, was subjected to the harsh realities of exploitation by a foreign power. Swift’s depiction of a people driven to desperation by economic inequality and indifference feels painfully familiar considering the history of British colonial rule in our own region. The sense of helplessness and despair has been conveyed in prose mirrors the experiences of many nations, including our own, that have suffered under imperial rule. The economic disparities Swift has tried to explain, where the poor are left with little to nothing while the wealthy thrive, can still be observed in post colonial societies today. Thus, Swift's use of satire is intended to shock and unsettle rather than to be pleasant, which I thought was wonderfully successful.The entire concept of selling children as a solution to poverty is horrific, yet it is via this absurd exaggeration that Swift compels the reader to contemplate the harsh realities of colonialism and economic exploitation.