Irony In A Modest Propsal

A Modest Proposal, by Jonathan Swift, is an essay full of irony in many different instances. For instance, Swift writes, "the addition of some thousand carcasses in our exportation of barreled beef, the propagation of swine's flesh, and improvements in the art of making good bacon, so much wanted among us by the great destruction of pigs, too frequent at our tables, which are no way comparable in taste or magnificence to a well-grown, fat, yearling child, which roasted whole will make a considerable figure at a lord mayor's feast or any other public entertainment. But this and many others I omit, being studious of brevity." Swift is talking about how we kill so many pigs to put on our tables which doesn't even compare to eating a child. Even though we work hard to make good tasting bacon and stuff it into our children, the kids would taste better than our bacon. It's ironic because we go to great lengths to kill certain animals and eat them when we, ourselves, would taste better than those animals that we would slaughter for food.