The Path to Tyranny in Animal Farm by George Orwell

The novella Animal Farm is certainly one of the best examples in literature of how a society transforms into tyranny. This particular piece of art brings to light a problem that every society stumbles upon, a problem that cannot be avoided. Of course, it is the problem of governance. George Orwell, living in the very tumultuous and uncertain times, observed the tendency of some countries to move towards totalitarianism. And by writing Animal Farm, he wanted to show what societies would look like, if this trend were taken too far. According to him, this leads to absolute eradication of justice, and to the situation, where every citizen of such society lives under strong oppression and in total misery. He wrote his work using literary device of allegory in order to warn humankind about the hazards that tyranny brought. His main characters were anthropomorphic animals which represented certain aspects of every society. In the beginning of the novella, animals overturned the avaricious men from the governing position. The reason for such drastic measures is that they grew discontented with oppressive conditions that men had created for them. This action gave them opportunity to establish a society devoid of fear and pressure, but the society, in which justice and equality thrive. However, their endeavor suffered complete collapse. The society that had been meant to be just transformed into tyranny, where the rights of every inhabitant were suffocated. During establishing a just society, animals went astray thus creating perfect conditions for tyranny to emerge. This essay will explain what steps made it possible.

The animals wanted to establish a society, where everybody was equal. However, equality does not exist in nature. Animals c...

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...avior gave the opportunity for the greedy leaders to corrupt the state in order to satisfy their desires.

The establishing a just society, where everybody was equal, never came into being. It transformed into tyranny, where every animal lived in scarce and oppressive conditions. It happened, because the leaders wanted to satisfy solely their desires without thinking about well-being of others. In order to achieve their goals they used their intelligence and creativity. They built a tyrannical society through, first through telling lies, then through depriving other animals of proper education and it made them unable to think clearly and critically. After that the leaders made them fear to rebel against them. They gained total control over their minds through altering the history. These were the steps that transformed a society that was meant to be just into tyranny.