Swift’s style is hyperbolic from the very beginning of the essay, in which he lays out the social problem that he wishes to address, the treatment of the poor in England:
These mothers instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time in stroling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants who, as they grow up, either turn thieves for want of work, or leave their dear native country, to fight for the Pretender in Spain, or sell themselves to the Barbadoes.
The hyperbole (extreme exaggeration) here is in the emphasis. He says that poor mothers spend “all their time” begging for food and money. He also says that the children of these poor women all come to one of three ends: they either become thieves, leave England to fight for Spain, or sell themselves into slavery.
This emphasis is necessary for Swift to set up his satire, because it portrays the attitude of the upper-class English as snobbish and discriminatory.
The following line demonstrates Swift’s humor:
I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children.
Swift is saying here that once the infants are for sale as food, the landlords will deserve the first opportunity to buy and eat them, as they have already caused so many of their parents to be “devoured.” It is the word “devoured” that creates the humor. As satire, Swift does not mean it literally. Instead, he is referring to the practice of punishing or imprisoning those who cannot pay their rent, as was the case with many of the urban poor in England at that time.
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