"A Modest Proposal" and "The Lady, or the Tiger"
A Modest Proposal
Read it here: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1080
So this is the satirical essay about the benefits of eating babies. I’ve heard of this, but I never read it before. It did make me wonder what the conditions were in 1729, because I was sure the author was writing in response to problems that were occurring at the time.
After looking into it more, it made a lot more sense. The English had taken over and were imposing heavy restrictions on Ireland. They were overpopulated and in desperate poverty. Swift was very upset about the conditions at the time and the lack of the populace and Parliament being proactive. The massive abuses happening that were pretty much causing the collapse of Ireland.
It really comes across in the writing as well. It’s very scathing when it comes to landlords and politics. I suppose it’s not hard to see why someone living through such hard times would be so bitter about it. Not only to the rulers but to those being ruled.
It’s much like these days when people simply say “Yes” to whatever the government says. Yes, the politicians et al. are terrible, but the people who enable them aren’t helping matters, either. It can be very frustrating in both directions. I can definitely see someone throwing up their hands in aggravation and saying, “Then just eat the babies. No one seems to care enough to do anything about it anyway.”
The Lady, or the Tiger?
Read it here: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/396
I’d heard of the title of this one before but wasn’t sure what it was about.
So in this there’s a “barbaric ruler” who has a way of dealing with crimes at a certain level. He puts on a big show and they’re given the option of opening two doors. One has a lady behind it, suited for his age and all, that he’ll be married to instantly. The other has a tiger that will eat him. He has no idea which is behind which, so it’s up to chance whether he’s redeemed or found guilty, essentially.
The ruler finds out his daughter was having a romance with a handsome young man, so he decides to put the man into this arena and make him do this.
The daughter loves the man, but she also thinks he’s been stealing looks at the lady that has been placed behind the door, so if he opens the door with the lady it’s like he’s running off with someone else he likes. On the other hand, if he opens the other door he’ll be torn to shreds.
She, however, has figured out which one is behind which door, and he knows that she’s figured it out. So she points for him to go open the door on the right and the final question is: what will be behind the door? Is she pointing him to the lady, or the tiger?
This is a pretty short work and I think it introduces an interesting question. I don’t know if I would want to read many stories like this, because I like my stories to have a solid ending rather than an open-ended one most of the time. However, this presents it pretty well and really does make you wonder which one she sent him to.
I think there’s a fascinating element in both of these works that I really enjoy, and that’s the “human aspect”. A lot of times people from the distant past can seem disconnected from us or hard to relate to. But, reading “A Modest Proposal”, even though it was written hundreds of years ago, you can almost picture having a conversation with this guy. The frustration is so easy to understand that it really brings forward the humanity. He was just a person, just like us, dealing with terrible strife, and this was a way for him to blow off some steam and make a few scathing criticisms.
“The Lady, or the Tiger” is similar in that you can really see the daughter going either way at the end. Is she jealous enough that she would prefer to see her lover dead than in the arms of another woman? Or is she able to let him go? Personally, I would think that just because he’s married wouldn’t mean that you couldn’t still see him secretly. I would say the lady, with the idea that they would sneak around. The very question drives into human emotions that can easily be translated for modern times to have the exact same question at the end.
To me, these both felt like you could have a connection with the people of the past, because even if so many years divide us we’re still so much alike. They’re both very short reads, so if you’re at all curious go check them out. What do you think of them?
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Other reviews:
"The Second Jungle Book" https://www.minds.com/eisah/blog/the-second-jungle-book-by-rudyard-kipling-1390007675730792452
"We" https://www.minds.com/eisah/blog/we-by-evgenii-zamiatin-1390784329147224071
"Anthem" https://www.minds.com/eisah/blog/review-of-anthem-by-ayn-rand-1395054370269171723
"Spice & Wolf Vol.2" https://www.minds.com/eisah/blog/review-of-spice-wolf-volume-2-by-isuna-hasekura-1397584117876396040
"Spice & Wolf Vol.3" - https://www.minds.com/eisah/blog/review-of-spice-wolf-volume-3-by-isuna-hasekura-1400209025269764103
"The Elements of Style" - https://www.minds.com/eisah/blog/review-of-the-elements-of-style-by-william-strunk-jr-1400925092455649291
"The Great Gatsby" - https://www.minds.com/eisah/blog/review-of-the-great-gatsby-by-f-scott-fitzgerald-1402686087800819722
"Heidi" - https://www.minds.com/eisah/blog/review-of-heidi-by-johanna-spyri-1405629505891995656
"Glow Worm" - https://www.minds.com/eisah/blog/review-of-glow-worm-by-harlan-ellison-1406700959396007949