Sarcasm in an Argument

After reading Jonathan Swifts, "A Modest Proposal," this week, I wondered why authors use sarcasm so often. His hyperbolized solution to poverty, after all, was mentally scarring to read, so there must be a purpose behind it. Looking back at most of the essays we've read in this class that try to achieve a reform of some kind, most have this satire or irony embedded within them as if it is the heart of what an argument is. I think that's exactly what sarcasm is, a centerpiece within an argument. If any social custom is bad enough to the point it can be jested about, then it obviously needs a change. Swift points out that the landlords have already eaten most of the parents, figuratively of course, so why not eat their infants too? This joke, while it is horrific, does make a very good point to the wealthy who have taken advantage of the poor. He even states that the "wise men" in society would come up with ideas as great as his own. This again ridicules the wealthy class in society who took advantage of others' poverty. Also, in Swifts' case, humor is something that is easily remembered. I know that I won't forget his piece for a very long time and neither will the wealthy people who read it.