Acclaimed author C.S. Lewis once described literature as ‘irrigating the deserts that our lives have already become’, suggesting that fictitious works, despite having no direct correlation to reality, may evoke complex consideration of issues pertinent in society. As such, in recent times, academics such as Louis T. Stover (2001) have emphasised the importance of literature to young adults, who are unaware of the complexities within the socio-political discourse. George Orwell’s Animal Farm exemplifies Stover’s statement, with its allegorical tale inviting young adults to reflect upon how political ideals may be corrupted by power and greed. With the rise of socialist and communist ideals during the 1930’s in the Soviet era, societies blindly followed their governments, believing that those in power were moral and right. However, Orwell, from the vantage point of England, witnessed the Russian blindsiding its citizens, and highlighted this corruption in his novella. Orwell thus takes a pacifist stance against the violent mechanisms that the Soviet Union employed to disempower society, and has written a timeless reminder on how power may corrupt those who have it.
Orwell acknowledges the benefits of communism, such as the ideals of equal distribution of resources and opportunities, yet realises that, in reality, it can never be fully achieved, due to difficulty in reinforcing it and its undermining of meritocracy. This is conveyed by Orwell with the altered original commandment of “All Animals are equal” to “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others” by Napoleon (pg. 97). As a consequence, Orwell imposes that there is no such thing as “true equality” within communism’s political idea because there must alway...
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...y shared. Orwell highlights to the audience that people with power are the only ones capable of producing rules and regulations. Another instance Orwell reveals corruption of the pigs is with the production of the windmill. The construction of the windmill symbolizes the pig’s manipulation and exploitation of the other animals. Although food and warmth was vital for the animals to survive, the pigs were able to exploit animals such as Boxer to build the windmill, ultimately for the pigs earning more money and power. Therefore Orwell shows that corruption can blind leaders into focusing things for their own personal gains, rather than the essential aspects that society requires. Corruption is omnipresent and has become an unscrupulous habit of civilisation. Orwell has shown that with the influence of corruption in socialism, it will only lead to an absolute monarchy.
Animal Farm is a story of the struggle for freedom and power. It takes place on a farm in England called Manor Farm. There are many different kinds of animals on the farm; these animals include horses, geese, dogs, cats, sheep, and pigs, which are the most intelligent of all the animals. The story starts out when old Major, an old, wise pig, calls a meeting in the barn. He tells the animals about a dream he has. The dream was about how the animals should rebel against the leader of the farm, Mr. Jones. He tells them that in the dream he remembered a song called Beasts of England. The song is about how the animals should rebel against the humans. He teaches the animals the song and tells them that he is going to die soon. A few weeks later old Major dies. The animals hold secret meetings about the rebellion a couple times a week. None of the animals really expected the rebellion to happen any time soon, but it happened before anyone expected. Mr. Jones started to neglect the animals, and one day the animals decided that they had enough. A cow broke into the building where the food was kept, and all of the animals decided to get some food. Mr. Jones and some of his helpers came out with whips as started lashing the animals, but were caught by surprise when the animals started to fight back. The men fled in panic, and before anyone realized it, the rebellion had begun.
hour's sleep in order to hear what he had to say". Old Major was a
... while offering a critique on stalins’s Soviet Russia, and communism in general. Orwell is revolutionary in his work, as in 1945, communism was a “taboo” subject, punishable in post- war America by arrest and even death. Every aspect of context is explored in Animal Farm is an allegory of the situation at the beginning of the 1950’s and employs a third person narrator, who reports events without commenting on them directly. Animal Farm represents both the making and the breaking of communist society. The birth of the communist agenda in animal Farm is brought by the character “old major”. The conclusion is that Animal farm and Marxism have a lot in common.
Although George Orwell’s Animal Farm was created in order to mimic individuals as well as occurrences that took place during the Russian Revolution period, it is still possible to gain a comprehensive understanding of the text without a past knowledge of history through the exploitation of human nature’s imperfections. Following the publishment of his novel, Orwell confirmed that his goal in writing this fable was to expose the wrongdoing of the Soviet Union as well as the treachery of the true ideas of the Revolution. Nonetheless, there have been several other examples of events such as the French Revolution that can effortlessly be contrasted against components of the allegory. However, we need not to dig no deeper than to the fundamental faults in human nature to witness the catastrophic consequences that attributes such as hierarchy, propaganda and betrayal have on today’s society.
Before the death of Old Major the animals are inspired to rebel against the humans. They join together as a strong team to eventually, in chapter two, drive Mr. Jones from the farm. The Seven Commandments are soon developed with all the animals contented as equals.
back. I dream of a land without pigs, a land full of animals worthy of
George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm is a great example of allegory and political satire. The novel was written to criticize totalitarian regimes and particularly Stalin's corrupt rule in Russia. In the first chapter, Orwell gives his reasons for writing the story and what he hopes it will accomplish. It also gives reference to the farm and how it relates to the conflicts of the Russian revolution. The characters, settings, and the plot were written to describe the social upheaval during that period of time and also to prove that the good nature of true communism can be turned into something atrocious by an idea as simple as greed.
The parallels between characters of Animal Farm and important figures of the Russian Revolution make this novel a satire of said revolution. This satire denotes the dangers of Stalinism to a society. Although he claimed he was for the helpful ideas of Leninism, he twisted his own thoughts and changed the ideas of communism itself. The main idea of George Orwell’s Animal Farm may seem to be a creative story, but his true goal was to inform people of a major crisis occurring in Russia at the time by the means of satire.
Animal Farm was written by George Orwell and published in 1946. This story is about the Manor Farm in England, around the time of the Russian revolution. The animals on this farm started their own revolution because they were so irritated with the way they were being treated.
“The pen is mightier than the sword”, a popular saying, and one that is unequivocally true. Although physical force and power can manipulate someone into acting a certain way, it is not as effective as intelligence. Intelligent people can use the force of their words to extents that physical strength does not extend. Furthermore, intelligent people can use things like propaganda, lies, and deceit to get whatever they want. This is clearly proven by the actions of the pigs in the Animal Farm. Because of their high levels of intelligence compared to the other animals of the farm, the pigs are able to manipulate everyone else to achieve their own personal means through the use of propaganda, lies, and deceit. Propaganda can be seen clearly in the role of the pig Squealer, although it is prevalent throughout the story. In this case, propaganda is used by the pigs to tell the other animals exactly what they want to hear, and to cover up any sort of mistakes on the parts of the pigs. Lies are used to further the personal agendas of the pigs, as well as damage the name of Snowball in the eyes of the animals. Propaganda is used as a defensive measure on the part of the pigs, whereas lies are used as an offensive maneuver by the pigs to strengthen their positions. Deceit is used by the pigs to placate the animals, a maneuver that can be seen as neither offensive nor defensive. Deceit is most prevalent in the maxim of “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”
Orwell's book, "Animal Farm", is full of satire. This satire is Orwell's way of communicating problems and resolutions. The main message in Animal Farm is that power cannot be divided equally. There will never be equality for all. Once power is obtained it is always abused, and power causes all to think as the leader does. Equality does not exist, for it is impossible for everyone to be equal.
Orwell deals with the problem of rhetoric in ’Animal Farm’ by demonstrating how language can cause corruption. There are many characters in his book ‘Animal Farm’ that use rhetoric to convince and manipulate, however, the most talented persuasive speaker is Squealer. Squealer’s ability to use rhetoric is unrivalled, this is the reason Napoleon rises to power. Squealer uses the power in language to distort the truth in his speeches. When Napoleon wanted a problem fixed he would simply ask Squealer to talk to the animals and the animals would believe and be on board with whatever he said. Squealer uses many persuasive techniques such as rhetorical questions, inclusive language and exaggeration, but most of all he uses rhetoric. Rhetoric, throughout the book is seen as a bigger enemy than Napoleon or Mr. Jones could have ever been. It shows that there is no good that can come of lying, confusing or distorting true meaning. Orwell does a thorough job at demonstrating how much of a problem rhetoric really is.
The original dream of Animalism was not to just have animals successfully run a farm, but to live by certain rules. Rules such as, all animals are equal, no animal shall kill another, and no animals shall drink, wear clothes, sleep in a bed, or do anything else that has to do with humans. This dream was a failure, because Napoleon disobeyed all of these rules throughout the story of Animal Farm. The dream of Animalism failed because of Napoleon’s selfish nature, and inability to abide by rules that he found inconvenient.
The fiction book that I am doing my book report is on the novel, Animal Farm. This book was written by George Orwell in 1946. The setting of my book took place in a farm called “Manor Farm” during the Russian Revolution ear. The characters are basically farm animals. Some of these animals’ names are Old Major, Snowball, and Napoleon. They are all pigs from the farm.
The effectiveness of propaganda is evident through the rise of a despotic and tyrannical government in Animal Farm. Used as a successful, manipulative tool in the story, Animal Farm depicts the dangers of propaganda to an ignorant and gullible society. Orwell’s story describes the actions that brought about the eventual collapse of an ideal utopian society. Orwell demonstrates the inhumanity and corruption of the Soviet system through the actions of Napoleon and Squealer. Animal Farm is a satire of the Russian Revolution, one that accurately describes the political actions of the Soviet government. Through his novel, Orwell warns the readers of the dangers of propaganda used skillfully.