In literature, one same genre can have several, very different looks and still have some things in common. The author is who has control over this and the one who is in charge of giving the sense and shape they want us to get from the text they are writing. Jonathan Swift, in his text “A Modest Proposal” presents a very dark humorous and sarcastic satire. Wendy Molyneux’s “I Am Sorry That I Didn’t Write a Comedy Piece” tries to make us relate and laugh at the same time, with a not so dark sense of humor but still using someone as a target for her jokes, who happens to be Christopher Hitchens. 

In the lens text “A Modest Proposal”, Jonathan Swift exposes a very dark and ironic sense of humor through the parodying genre of the satire. Traditionally, satire has a “formal character of its medium and particular reality of its attack” (Knight 22). This can be clearly seen in Swift’s writing when he proposes eating children to end poverty and overpopulation issues that Ireland is going through because of the inefficient English government. He is attacking the English government by proposing absurd things that no one would actually do, but still will solve the issue if they were to happen. Also, the formal character of it comes to play when he makes this a proposal, he is not only saying this; he is seriously proposing it. In the reading, the author, narrator and main protagonist are the same person, Jonathan Swift. This is very common in the satire genre because the author is the one who has the power to adapt the text, which is often based on reality, on a way that it is clearly ironic and humorous to the audience. 

Another characteristic of satiric authors, actually discussed in class, is that they often write one thing but then mean or do another. At the end of his text, Swift states: “I profess, in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least personal interest in endeavoring to promote this necessary work, having no other motive than the publick good of my country, by advancing our trade, providing for infants, relieving the poor, and giving some pleasure to the rich.”. First off, someone who does not care about an issue does not write a whole piece on it. He is basically saying that he does care about the problems going on in Ireland but he took the time to write a proposal that will help solve them. That makes no sense, he clearly cares about this, and he cares a lot. 

According to Knight, a major characteristic of satire is the that the protagonist ends up being the hero, which the author would also have the power to do. Knight explains in his article that “the comic protagonist applies a fantastic solution within which reality reappears in symbol, parody, and allusion.” Swift is giving us all of that when he proposes to eat children to stop poverty; we all know that is something very cruel, yet funny because it will actually be a solution for both overpopulation and poverty. He exposes himself as the hero, since the government has failed. He gives a solution for a problem that the English government has not taken care of. 

Beginning with the title, the text is filled with a sense of irony that is mostly pointed out when Swift talks about the Irish ruling classes describing them as unhuman, to the point of eating poor children. This irony is also one of the proper elements of this genre (Knight 22).

The target text “I am Sorry That I Didn’t Write a Comedy Piece” by Wendy Molyneux also starts with a sense of irony from the title, since this is a satire and clearly a comedy piece. The main way that the target text differs from the lens text is the intention of the author and the main essence of the text. Molyneux is trying to describe things that mostly every woman experiences at some point of their lives like feeling fat, watching Grey’s Anatomy while feeling lonely, and wanting a baby. She is doing this with the purpose of finding women in the audience that identify with the text and therefore like it. The essence of the text is different, the humor is not as dark or as cruel as in Swift’s piece and she is not presenting a solution for any issue. This is the main proof to the main point and it is very important to notice; the satiric pieces can have a lot of different looks and still be part of the satiric genre.

One of the biggest things in which these two texts differ is that while Swift exposes himself as the hero, Molyneux almost makes fun of herself when she says: “I tried on all my clothes, and I felt better until I tried on one pair of pants that didn’t fit me anymore. And then I totally started to cry again, because I’m so fat”. She does this because she is a woman and she knows that many of women feel the same way. Basically, both authors try to connect with the audience in different ways; one, exposes himself as an almost superior figure that comes to save everyone with a completely absurd, and not modest at all proposal. The other one, exposes herself as a normal woman, just like the rest of them who are reading her piece; not feeling comfortable with their body and not doing anything about it besides crying.

At the same time if both texts belong to the satiric genre they should have some things in common. One of the proper elements of the satiric genre is that the author often attacks something in order to make the audience laugh, almost like making fun of it; whether it is a person or a thing. Swift attacks the English government as I mentioned before. 

In this case, Molyneux is attacking Christopher Hitchens and she has a very fair reason to do it. Hitchens said that women are not funny in an article in Vanity Fair. So then, Molyneux attacks and she does it in a very sarcastic way. She says: “He’s probably right. And even if he isn’t, it’s great that we live in a country where you can say anything you want, like that women aren’t funny or that Christopher Hitchens is a huge douche who runs a successful child pornography business and has inability to get an erection unless he’s reading Nazi Literature.” (Molyneux, II-II). This could be called dark humor, since she is basically calling him a pedophile but is it definitely a different kind of dark humor compared to Swift’s. Swift is being cruel when suggesting to eat poor children but trying to covering it by putting it out there as a solution for a social problem. Molyneux does not care about what anyone thinks, she just says what she thinks about Hitchens since he started the conflict. It almost seems like she is not even trying to make people laugh; perhaps that might be the case. However, it is funny and it is classified as satire. 

In another occasion, Molyneux says: “I have no sense of humor. I mean, I assume that I have no sense of humor because because all the funny things that are made especially for women like me, such as Sex and the City, 27 Dresses, and yogurt don’t even make me laugh. But I guess my humor deficiency is one of those womanly crosses I have to bear, along with P.M.S.”. This is a clear example of the irony in her writing, which is something that her style shares with Swift’s style as well. Molyneux, like Swift, writes something she does not mean in this quote. She is talking about how she is not funny at all but you can tell from her tone that she knows she is funny, and she is just being very sarcastic. If she did not think she is actually funny, she would not have even tried writing a text classified as satiric.

Swift and Molyneux showed us two different aspects of the genre. There are several satiric authors like the famous Mark Twain; author of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, George Orwell; writer of “1986”, Voltaire; writer of “Letters Concerning the English Nation”, etc. All of them will give a completely different interpretation of the genre because as I said before, they have the power give the genre they look that they want us to perceive. 

So, people’s understanding of this genre can be severely affected by the authors’ different perspectives; whoever reads the text by Swift will think that satire is very mean and cruel. Whoever reads the text by Molyneux will think that is it about making fun of someone for insulting the author. The person that reads not only both authors but several others, will understand that the main goal of satirical authors is to make the audience laugh, no matter what it takes. 
