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I've seen "modest proposals" that whose authors didn't know that they're supposed to be parodies. If my reading of Dickey's piece is on target, this is one of
by maw 16y ago
I've seen "modest proposals" that whose authors didn't know that they're supposed to be parodies. If my reading of Dickey's piece is on target, this is one of those cases where the author didn't know.
- tptacek 16y agoI'm guessing the former Bureau Chief for Paris, Cairo, and Central America for Newsweek and (before that) the Washington Post has heard of Swift before. Dickey's not the first journalist to make this point, which, stated concisely, is that nobody would accept a law like this if it applied universally, because it would mean they could spend a night in a city jail for forgetting their wallet. They're only OK with Arizona's law because they haven't thought it through.
- russell 16y agoDickey most certainly did know. "A Modest Proposal" was in the title to alert those who might not recognize satire, that he was dead set against all that he appeared to support. OTOH perhaps American education has declined to the point than nobody reads Swift anymore.