For many years we have been trying to find solutions to the threats of epidemics. In Ireland there was a famine that killed many people. The poor Irish could not support their families, which forced them to resort to extreme measures. To survive, women and children were forced to beg for food to prevent them from starving. Jonathan Swift proposes a solution to this epidemic in A Modest Proposal. Swift states that the poor Irish should sell their children as if they were cattle, or better yet, eat them themselves. Swift uses a mocking tone to effectively convey that he does not actually support cannibalism, but rather uses it as a metaphor to describe Ireland's hard times. Swift's occupation makes A Modest Proposal very ironic. “He was educated at Trinity College, was ordained a minister, and was appointed dean of St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin in 1713” (914). Swift was very critical of the way the government was handling the issues at the time. “He addressed the political problems of his time by publishing pamphlets on contemporary social issues” (914). Since the reader knows that Swift was a minister, it helps set the stage for a sarcastic tone. A minister would never justify the sale of poor, innocent children. Jonathan Swift uses verbal irony to emphasize his sarcasm. He does so by quoting the Catholic Church and saying: «Children's meat will be in season throughout the year, but more abundant in March, and a little earlier and a little later» (916). The Irish people practiced "Lent" (916) to be considered holy by the Roman Catholic Church, all while killing children. Catholics are extremely against abortion and birth control of any kind. Mentioning the Roman Catholic Church in the same paragraph as killing children is a perfect example of irony. Swift uses satire to give the reader his strange insight. It goes into detail on how to cure such an overwhelming epidemic. Stylistically he uses a very harsh and sarcastic tone when describing what he would do with the poor children of Ireland. "A child will prepare two dishes at a party for friends, and when the family dines alone, the forequarter and hindquarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt it will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter” (916). Not only is it extremely harsh, but it goes into so much detail that it makes the reader want to shiver.