“You might want to be careful what you say, it will come back to haunt you” and “actions speak louder than words” are recognized as common sayings. In a political context, these are statements that many reasonable people should follow. Unfortunately, the logic of caring and being honest led these people to their inadvertent downfall, unknown to them. As a result, they are ridiculed or isolated from what society should be. Shirley Jackson's The Lottery and Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal demonstrated that resisting tradition by speaking your mind can stand to be ironic. Satire is presented in both stories as a tool for understanding the shortcomings of the political system in the societies depicted. . The lottery would send a signal that someone will be the winner, but no, that person would end up being the loser. It is a form of tradition that Tess Hutchison questions after a town meeting for the competition and is consequently shot down by townspeople throwing rocks at her. His screaming remark, “It's not fair, it's not fair” (Jackson 258) ends the story in that peculiar way. In A Modest Proposal, the narrator's declarations in favor of “one solution” are more comical than serious politics. The reader would be inclined to support the narrator's position due to Ireland's current socioeconomic climate. Afterwards, the narrator ends up being rather silly and, despite this, urges the reader to take him seriously. One of his quotes, “that a healthy, well-fed baby at the age of one year is a delicious, nutritious and wholesome food; whether stewed, roasted, baked or boiled, and I have no doubt that it will equally serve in fricassee, or with ragù" (Swift 499, 500), highlighted...... in the center of the sheet...... happen in a civil society. Dramatic irony is depicted in both stories in a method that contradicts the normal laws of nature and life. Shirley Jackson's The Lottery and Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal each use irony to demonstrate understanding of a political system. People say politics is a funny business, but no, it's an ironic business that tends to make people look stupid. It is because of this that people lose faith in the political process. Works Cited Jackson, Shirley. "The lottery." Diversity/Adversity: Introduction to College English: Literature. Vanier College English Department. Scarborough, ON: Prentice Hall Canada, 1984. 252-258. Print.Swift, Jonathan. "A modest proposal." Diversity/Adversity: Introduction to College English: Literature. Vanier College English Department. Scarborough, ON: Prentice Hall Canada, 1984. 498-504. Press.