Food is a basic necessity of life. Often the poor have no food because the rich waste precious food. In A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift shows how the rich are the reason behind the state of the poor and how badly they treat them. Swift used symbolism and allegory to represent these thoughts. The allusion is used to show how the rich consume the poor. Swift leaves us with statements from which we can deduce how the rich are making the lives of the poor miserable. Swift explains how the rich have "already devoured most parents, [therefore, they] seem to have the better title to their children." (12) Swift metaphorically uses the word “devour” to imply how they took everything from them and left them in the state they are in today. It refers to the fact that the country's rich are doing nothing to stop the spread of poverty; in fact they are doing exactly the opposite, as they cause it to spread faster. Swift then shows how the poor were mistreated by writing, “Thus the squire shall learn to be a good master of the house” (14). From this statement the reader can deduce that previously the poor were abused and mistreated and the rich were not good masters. Jonathan Swift then goes on to say, "Secondly, the poorer tenants will have something of value of their own, which may be subject to hardship and help to pay the landlord's rent, their corn and cattle are already seized, and the money It's something unknown." (21). Not only do the rich not pay the poor fairly, as Swift clearly stated, but they also take away corn and livestock from the poor, leaving them in terrible conditions. By saying "money is an unknown thing" one can infer that the rich do not pay the poor fairly and are not... middle of the paper... good for a table. It is intentionally written this way so that the reader can recognize that the English would see the child as nothing more than a pleasant meal. Swift tries to emphasize the social injustice being done to the poor of Ireland. All in all, Jonathan Swift successfully conveys the message that the poor are not being treated fairly and that the rich are doing nothing to eliminate poverty in Ireland. Ireland. The allusion is used to show the relationship between the poor and the rich. Swift also uses allegory to represent the poor as animals. This is done so that the reader understands how the poor were treated like animals. The poor can be helped out of their situation, but they are usually ignored or mistreated by the rich. Not only is food a vital need for survival in life, but it can also be used as a symbol to represent many important issues.