Johnathan Swift

Antwan Davis
English 102
October 10, 2011
Short Story Analysis Essay
Diane Wiseman

It seems that in every generation, there arises a hero; one who has the capability and drives to step up to the plate and use their own gifts and personal experiences as a way to shape their society and environment for the better. Some of these individuals use super human strength, some use extraordinary athletic ability, but in the case of Jonathan Swift; this individual, during the 1700s managed to use his personal experiences infused with his satirical style of writing to challenged people, systems, and   governments to think and operate differently; ultimately for the betterment of those entities. It is through A Modest Proposal that Jonathan Swift depicts his personal process by revealing his capacity to change, understanding of sacrifice, and his compassion for his fellowman.
Capacity to Change
In order to understand my first example of Jonathan Swift articulating his personal experience in the this writing, I must disclose some truths and facts of his life that actually helped shape his perspective and philosophy on life. Jonathan Swift was ordained a priest in the Anglican Church in January of 1695. The Anglican doctrine generally allows for significant freedom and diversity within the areas of Scripture reason and tradition. He purposely set out to expose and challenge any strict form of suppression in these areas.   In his calling/occupation as a priest, he set out to reform and change things that were not functioning the way they were intended to. It was discovered in a piece of his writing entitled “A Tale of Tub,” that Swift ridiculed and attempted to reform the way Anglican Church worshipped, simply because during that time there was significant influence from the Catholic Church that altered the way Anglican’s worshipped. I wish to make a connection here with his writing of “A Modest Proposal,” during the melancholy, economical distressed period Swift sought to...