Satire is an ingenious method of ridiculing the most resentful traits of human beings through any artistic expression available. As such, with enough cunning introduced, Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” presents an example of satirical text in the English language. Fortunately, more recent authors of more innovative artistic solutions can produce satire as well—for instance, the movie “American Psycho,” which became cultic for cinephiles. Both works are similar in revealing the vicious and covetous nature of the wealthy stratum.
The most obvious parallel in the mentioned works is the anti-capitalistic message presented through satire. In Swift’s essay, he depicts the rich people as hypocrites claiming to be Catholic Christians yet demonstrating no mercy towards beggars and children. These people are perceived as the audience who can accept the cruelty towards children as a matter of multiplying their wealth since it is never enough for them. Similarly, in “American Psycho,” the yuppie generation of extremely rich people who have lost their humanity in the constant competition in pretentiousness and vanity is demonstrated.
These young people who have achieved success choose to participate in the capitalist race or illusionary dreams, such as the main character’s mania, instead of value for social actions. Moreover, the main character is shown to despise the poor most exaggeratedly: he murders one of the homeless. Additionally, the effect of unexpectedness is present in both works, where the initially serious plot or thought slowly grows into hyperbole.
The parallels between these masterpieces of satire display that although the specifics of the books or movies can become non-relevant through time, their core is a topical burden. The excesses of wealthy people have not become non-existent nowadays. Thus, the satirical reflections on their worst manifestations are of interest and importance to a modern readers and viewers.