George Orwell and Animal Farm and 1984
George Orwell is only a pen name. The man behind the classics Animal Farm and 1984 was named Eric Arthur Blair and was born to a middle class family living in Bengal in 1903. Eric Blair got his first taste of class prejudice at a young age when his mother forced him to abandon his playmates, which were plumber's children (Crick 9). He could then play only with the other children in the family, all of whom were at least five years older or younger than Eric (Crick 12). This created in him a sense of alienation that plagued him all his life and seems to be reflected in the bitter decay and loneliness he later expressed in his novel 1984. As he moved around unsuccessfully from job to job, he never really developed a sense of self-worth. His childhood self-esteem had already been scarred by his bed wetting habit, of which Orwell Biographer Jeffrey Meyers writes that it "was only the first of endless episodes that made Orwell feel guilty: he was poor, he was lazy and a failure, ungrateful and unhealthy, disgusting and dirty minded, weak, ugly, cowardly" (23).
His writings, under the name of George Orwell, and specifically his two major novels, mentioned above, contain themes warning readers of the dangers present in modern society, a world he saw as bleak and repressive through the filter of his unhappy childhood and two world wars. Despite their sometimes dark settings, his works are very accessible, which has made him popular among those not usually comfortable with more intellectual fiction. But his works do discuss serious themes and contain a specific focus, making them valid pieces of literature and not just popular fiction.
Animal Farm is Orwell's...
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...is rule. 1984 shows the tendency of the dictator to want to control every aspect of a people's actions, feelings, and thoughts. A single man, with absolute power over a country's military, government, and minds, inevitably produces a lower standard of living, a constant fear of being arrested, and a trend of state sanctioned murders in order to establish and uphold the regime. This modern danger, along with Orwell's expression of his own personal alienation, is what is depicted through the dark humor of Animal Farm and the poverty and paranoia of 1984.
Works Cited
Crick, Bernard. George Orwell: A Life. Boston: Little, Brown, 1980.
Meyers, Jeffrey. A Reader's Guide to George Orwell. Ottowa: Rowman and Allanheld, 1975.
Orwell, George. 1984. New York: The New American Library, 1961.
Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York: Penguin Books, 1946.
Act 1 scene 3 and Act 3 scene 5 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
...the emotion does not speak for itself. In the end, the tyranny of 1984 only becomes repugnant while Animal Farm is tragic. But in spite of Lewis’s harsh criticism towards the novel, 1984 is a remarkable novel itself alone, possessing a strong voice in politics. According to Deutscher himself, “Few novels written in this generation have obtained a popularity as great as that of George Orwell’s 1984. Few, if any, have made a similar impact on politics” (Deutscher 500). However, like Lewis, Deutscher also dismissively criticizes the novel for its too much horror and lack of originality. The former causes the reader to focus only on the horror-stricken events of the story and not the main idea of the author’s political views. The latter is taken from Deutscher’s claims that the Orwell only borrowed the elements of the story of 1984 from the book We by Evgenii Zamyatin.
William Shakespeare's Use of Dramatic Devices in Act 3 Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet
Act 3 Scene 5 is a key scene of the play and shows Juliet's dilemma as
George Orwell (1903-1950 ), whose real name was Eric Arthur Blair, was born in 1903 in Motihari, Bengal, India. His father, Richard Walmesley Blair was a civil servant for the British colonial government. In 1904 he moved with his mother and sister to England and was educated at Eton. He began to write at an early age, and was even published in college periodicals, but he did not enjoy school.
A wise boar, Old Major, expresses a dream of a world where animals live with no human oppression to the rest of the animals in Manor Farm. However, only three days after his speech, he dies, leaving three younger pigs to take over his place and lead the other animals toward Major’s dream. They create the Seven Commandments of Animalism, which set values against acting human-like, and paint them on the wall of the barn. One night, the animals succeed in rebelling against Mr. Jones, the owner of the farm. Initially, farming goes well after the rebellion. However, one of the power-hungry pigs, Napoleon, begins to run a totalitarian dictatorship with an eloquent pig, Squealer, by his side. He also trains puppies, whom he takes from their parents, into vicious guard dogs and uses them to enforce his plans. One by one, the Seven Commandments are broken and altered by Napoleon, who gradually acts more and more human-like. Finally, only one rule remains on the barn wall, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others” (Orwell 133). Napoleon and the other pigs eventually walk upright, wear clothing, indulge in alcohol, and even sleep on beds (all of which were originally forbidden in the Seven Commandments), while the other animals work all day with little food. By the end of the book, the other farm animals can no longer tell the difference between the pigs and humans when other human farmers are invited over for dinner. “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which” (Orwell 139).
when Capulet leaves in a rage and Juliet is in tears. Act 3 scene 5
Eric Arthur Blair, commonly known under the pseudonym George Orwell, led a fascinating life, from working as a member of the Indian Imperial Police Force, to experiencing poverty firsthand in both London and Paris, to fighting in the Spanish Civil War. Orwell’s diverse life experiences gave him very strong political opinions that carried through to his writing career, during which he addressed issues such as education, poverty, and communism. George Orwell was a master of the modern political satire, through which he powerfully illustrates the political and social issues of the twentieth century.
The Way Juliet Feels in Act 3 Scene 2 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
merged into one being. Vishnu has a curl of hair on his chest given to
Police brutality and racism has been in our country for hundreds of years. African Americans across America are viewed as what a typical criminal looks like. Black males have been shot and killed by white police officers and those
More than sixty years after 1984 and Animal Farm were published, they remain as quintessential books for everyone to read. The political commentary of these novels resonates with everyone. Both works of literature warn the public about the dangers of an abusive government. Orwell uses a bleak setting in both novels to appeal to the public’s widespread fear of desolation and isolation. The themes of the books are unanimously acknowledged to be still relevant to modern society. These core elements of 1984 and Animal Farm transcend time and nationality. 1984 and Animal Farm remain as timeless works as literature by using character archetypes, a bleak and desolate setting, and powerful themes to express universally applicable messages.
me and I didn’t know how to swim. So I was gasping for air all I could see
Orwell constructs the idea that absolute power and corrupt power are one and the same. He draws a parallel between the distinct ways of creating such powers in both novels and the effects they have on the populations. The Big Brother organization, in 1984, and the pigs, in Animal Farm, are both similarly set-up mock governments that share a tool around their belt that allows them to hold sovereignty: manipulation. The regimes have found ways to maneuver their language and information, destroying the two most valuable things a strong person must have: freedom of expression and freedom of knowledge. By the government abolishing these freedoms, they're able to completely brainwash the people, and therefore subtly compel their given populace into submission.
ships which passed by, so if I really wanted to, I could make a smoke