A Modest Proposal Foreignness and "The Other" Quotes Page 3
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| Quote #7 I do therefore humbly offer it to public consideration that of the hundred and twenty thousand already computed, twenty thousand may be reserved for breed, […] which is more than we allow to sheep, black cattle, and swine, and my reason is that these children are seldom the fruits of marriage, a circumstance not much regarded by our savages (11) |
Is the expression "our savages" meant as an endearment? Let's hope not.
| Quote #8 Those who are more thrifty […] may flay the carcass, the skin of which, artificially dressed, will make admirable gloves for ladies and summer boots for fine gentlemen. (15) |
The narrator likens Irish children to exotic animals wanted for their skins.
| Quote #9 For first, as I have already observed, it would greatly lessen the papists, with whom we are yearly overrun, being the principal breeders of the nation (20) |
Here come some more animal comparisons. This time, the narrator suggests that the Irish Catholics are swarming the countryside like vermin.
