Animal Farm, a novel by George Orwell, is a fable written to portray that a state of utopia can never be achieved. Orwell uses farm animals to allegorically represent a time in history when this is most true: the Russian Revolution. Readers follow the animals of Animal Farm, as they rebel against their master, Mr. Jones, and turn the farm into their own. A community of Animalism is achieved, where the animals work for themselves and no one but themselves. They quickly develop the maxim “four legs good, two legs bad” (Orwell 34) and come to the conclusion that “all animals are equal” (11). However, because of they way the animals put full trust into their leader, Napoleon, a pig, is able to bend the rules to his liking, not necessarily …show more content…
At the beginning of the novel, readers find themselves alongside the animals in a secret meeting discussing the cruelty and mistreatment that comes from Mankind. An elder boar, Old Major, speaks to the animals about their laborious lives: “No animal in England knows the meaning of happiness or leisure after he is one year old,” He proclaims, “No animal in England is free. The life of an animal is misery and slavery: that is the plain truth” (7). He goes on to declare that none of this would be true if only Man were not their leader, for Man is the one that causes all of this harm. Despite this speech being the basis of the revolution, the promises of equality and justice that are supposed to come hand-in-hand with the exile of Man, do not surface. The situation instead worsens; longer hours of work and less food are the new reality, yet Napoleon tells the animals otherwise. He reminds them of the days that conceived of Man, and tells exaggerated stories of their former life. The animals have no choice but to believe Napoleon, for their full trust is put into him. However, as Napoleon gains more and more power, he begins to resemble the rival of the farm: Man. In chapter ten, he invites local farm owners to Animal Farm for a drink, an act that would once be looked down upon. The rest of the animals see this happen, and disappointment leaks in. “They “[look] from pig to man, and from man …show more content…
Satire is used to ridicule these animals for not voicing their opinion, even when they sense any wrongdoings committed by Napoleon. Benjamin, a donkey and the oldest animal on the farm, displays this quality. In chapter five, the animals are debating building a windmill for the farm. Every animal takes a side, except Benjamin. Orwell notes that Benjamin “[refuses] to believe that either food [will] become more plentiful or that the windmill [will] save work. Windmill or no windmill, he [says], life [will] go on as it [has] always gone on--that is, badly” (50-51). Despite this revelation by Benjamin, he decides to not speak up, even if it will mean betterment for the farm. He instead lets the rest of the farm argue, which leads to the violent event in which Snowball is exiled. Later in the novel, Napoleon calls an urgent meeting in which everyone is to attend. Instead of the regular event of issuing work or food out to the animals, the meeting takes a nasty turn. Blood is spilt, as one by one, the animals are forced to confess crimes they have committed. If the offense is severe enough, Napoleon orders his guard dogs to tear the throats out of the accused. The scene of bloodshed is described: “And so the tale of confessions and executions [goes] on, until there [is] a pile of corpses lying before Napoleon’s feet, and the air [is]
In today’s world, people have always strived to create a utopian society. In the novel ANIMAL FARM written by George Orwell, the animals strive to create their own utopian society based on equality and prosperity. Animalism was created to, as like the Ten Commandments, Animalism’s Seven Commandments were rules for the animals to live by. However, similar to God’s rules, Animalism was a difficult concept for all the animals to follow and live by. Secondly, the collapse of Animal Farm was due to the animal’s own intelligence and their ability to fully understand how the farm was being run. Finally, the failure of Animal Farm was due to in large part by the pigs power over the other animals and the greed and desires that the pigs wanted to achieve. Therefore, the collapse of Animal Farm had to do with Animalism itself, the animals, and the corruption of the pigs.
Animal Farm is a short book by George Orwell. A story about a farm overrun by animals to gain their freedom and produce for themselves. They create commandments to follow for their belief in Animalism. The book is an allegorical reference to the Russian Revolution. Snowball is a pig on Animal Farm. He was exiled by the work of the notorious pig named Napoleon and his trained dogs. The other animals were convinced that Snowball was a bad pig, and had a very evil plan to cohort with Mr. Jones. But is Snowball really this evil? Has Napoleon warped the animal’s thoughts? Since the beginning Snowball has been an idealist, wanting good for all of the animals, and greatly believes in animalism. He would make the farm a much better place than Napoleon could’ve. We are going to compare Snowball to Napoleon for each of Snowball’s important qualities.
Since the animals defeated Mr. Jones, “ And so, almost before they knew what was happening the Rebellion had been successfully carried through: Jones was expelled, and the Manor farm was their,” (39). What occurred here was with the the inspiration Old Major left behind after his death, pigs Napoleon and Snowball were the new leaders of the rebellion, and successfully fought Mr. Jones and his men by the animals attacking them. All the animals were ecstatic about their new found freedom, and to only have to worry about themselves, not some humans. The leaders together were very good at keeping the farm in good shape, with Snowball being very good with words, and Napoleon very good with getting his own way. The only bad thing about this pair is that they argue a lot about the decisions of the farm, and can never agree with one another. Until one day when Napoleon starts speaking ill of the co-leader Snowball, making Snowball get a bad reputation, an example is, “do you know who is responsible for this? Do you know the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown our windmill? SNOWBALL!” (82). This is clearly false for the reason that the windmill was torn apart by the wind, yet Napoleon is so manipulative and wants Snowball to
At the beginning of the story, there were two leaders, Snowball and Napoleon, who were sharing power. Snowball was good with words, honest, good at arguing, was inventive, and believed in technology. He stayed in touch with the animals, and wanted to make things better for them. Napoleon, on the other hand, was bad with words, dishonest, hated arguing, and was not inventive. He wanted to be above all the animals; he didn't care about making things better. He only believed in serving himself. In order for Napoleon to be above all the animals, he had to get Snowball out of the way. Napoleon did that by getting his dogs to scare him away so Snowball would never come back to the farm. Napoleon was now in total control of the farm and the animals. Napoleon and the pigs started acting like humans - they would drink, wear clothes, sleep in beds, fight, and walk. They did everything that they had once said was wrong.
The novel “Animal Farm” was written by the author name George Orwell. Animal Farm is a novel based upon the lives of a society of animals wanting a better life for themselves living on the Manor Farm. The setting of the book is a farm called “Manor Farm”. The theme of this book is that the animals should make a stand; if they continue doing the same thing they will continue getting the same results. It is better to be free and starving, than to be fed and enslaved.
Pigs walking on two feet, horses and sheep talking. This is how George Orwell satirizes human nature in his classic novel Animal Farm. Animal Farm is an allegory of the Russian Revolution of 1917. The title of the book is also the setting for the action in the novel. The animals in the story decide to have a revolution and take control of the farm from the humans. Soon the story shows us how certain groups move from the original ideals of the revolution to a situation where there is domination by one group and submission by all the others. The major idea in this story is the political corruption of what was once a pure political ideal. Orwell uses satire to ridicule human traits in his characters such as Napoleon and Squealer. There are several different characters in the novel utilizing animals as symbols of people in real life during the Russian Revolution. Napoleon is the leader of the pigs that ultimately come to dominate the farm. The characteristics that we associate with pigs , lazy, greedy, and pushy are meant to symbolize the characteristics that the leaders of the Russian Revolution exhibited. Napoleon is admired by all of the animals because he is their leader. All of the animals believe that their leader wants to fulfill all of their needs. They also are convinced that Napoleon’s decisions are made the best interest of the animals. Napoleon’s piglike qualities are shown throughout the story. He exhibited greediness when he sold the dying horse, Boxer to a slaughterhouse for money so that he and the other pigs could purchase whiskey. Orwell ridicules human nature through Napoleon in the sense that he is trying to show how the greedy and power hungry eventually end in corruption.
Animal Farm, written by George Orwell, is, no doubt, a notable piece of classic historical fiction and fantasy, and an elaborate allegory of the Russian Revolution. The story unfolds on an average farm, inhabited by oppressed animals under the ruthless rule of the farmer, Mr. Jones. Never had they thought to act upon their poor treatment, until Old Major, one of the prized pigs on the farm, dreams that the animals unite to overthrow the humans and lead the farm on their own. The animals are overjoyed at this idea, and label it “animalism”. Inspired by this philosophy, the farm, led by two pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, chase Jones away from the farm and begin the animalist revolution. The animals are ecstatic at their victory, and the pigs, deemed the wisest animals on the farm, create seven commandments to ensure the happiness and equality of all creatures on Animal Farm, including rules such as “whoever goes upon two legs is an enemy”, “no animal shall
George Orwell’s Animal Farm is a political satire of a totalitarian society ruled by a mighty dictatorship, in all probability a fable for the events surrounding the Russian Revolution of 1917. The animals of “Manor Farm” overthrow their human master after a long history of mistreatment. Led by the pigs, the farm animals continue to do their work, only with more pride, knowing that they are working for themselves, as opposed to working for humans. Little by little, the pigs become dominant, gaining more power and advantage over the other animals, so much so that they become as corrupt and power-hungry as their predecessors, the humans.
This story Animal Farm by George Orwell is a novel about an animal revolution over an oppressive farmer. The irony in the story comes when the pigs turn into the very thing revolted against. They exhibit the same cruelty by treating the other animals the same or even worse than previous owners. This cycle of cruelty is shown in the Russian revolution by Joseph Stalin who is represented by Napoleon in the story. Cruelty in animal farm is shown by the human’s treatment of the animals, and the animal’s eventual treatment of each other and the ironic characteristics of the two.
The author of the novel “Animal Farm” George Orwell once wrote “every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been against totalitarianism”. Similarly “Animal Farm” also highlight about the totalitarianism. As all other revolutions, the revolution of animal farm also arises with the dream for a better and more perfect society which transfers in to a totalitarian night mare with the urge for the power in the minds of animals, who symbolizes the people who live in society. “Animal Farm is a satirical allegory of Soviet totalitarianism during the Stalin era. In the novel Orwell uses pigs to represent the ruling class and throughout the story he represent how the ruling class people spread and improve their power employing pigs as the characters.
Animal Farm, A novella by George Orwell, tells the tale of the downtrodden animals of Manor Farm, who after much oppression from their master, take over the farm for themselves. In the beginning it seems like the start of a life of freedom and plenty, but ruthless and cunning elite emerges and begins to take control of the farm. The animals find themselves ensnared once again as one form of tyranny gradually replaces the other. The novella is a critique of revolutionary Russia and idealism betrayed by power and corruption. Orwell uses allegory between Animal Farm and the Soviet Union to highlight the corruption of socialist ideals in the soviet union, the power of language and propaganda, and the dangers of a naive working class.
In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, a main theme is that power corrupts those who possess it. A definition of corruption is,“dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery.” Orwell develops this idea through the character Napoleon in various ways. Looking back in the book, the animal’s rebellion quickly turned political and revolved around, “Leader, Comrade Napoleon (Orwell 81)”. The power Napoleon possed was executed through lies and selfishness, aided by the lack of intellectual ability in the other animals. The corruption of Napoleon’s power is displayed when he favors himself, along with the other pigs, and eventually the dogs, who all get better rations of food compared to the other animals. Another main demonstration of how power corrupts Napoleon is how he separates himself from the other animals on the farm, displaying his feelings if superiority to the other animals. A ceremonial nature develops towards Napoleon. The last way power corrupts Napoleon is how he acts recklessly; killing other animals and lying about
Without the rural setting of this farm, Napoleon would not have been able get the power he so desperately wanted through this revolt. The revolt would not have occurred if this novel had been set in an urban area or city, which in result would stop Napoleon from leading this group of confused animals and gaining his overwhelming power over them. Napoleon was only happy looking over and down at the less intelligent animals. If he was some how forced to be on the same level as the other animals, who knows what would have come of him.
It was the glorious speech from Old Major that made the animals want to rebel so badly. Animal Farm, written by George Orwell is an excellent novel that portrays the need for power. It shows how power can be used for either good or evil. The story begins on Manor Farm, owned by a farmer named Mr. Jones. One of the pigs, named Old Major, gives a speech that motivates the animals to rebel. After a while, the animals ended up rebelling, and managed to kick out Mr. Jones. During the beginning of “Animal Farm’s” reign under Snowball and Napoleon’s (main characters) lead, it brought the animals on Manor Farm together into a peaceful world. However, after this initial stance of power, Snowball and Napoleon began to fight for it. In the end, Napoleon ends up with control of the farm and Snowball is never seen again. Power is a corrupting influence in Animal Farm and both Snowball and Napoleon’s way of leading are very different.
In conclusion, in the novel ‘Animal Farm’, the dream of animals to have a better or a more perfect society, transforms into a totalitarian nightmare mainly due to the actions of the pigs. Yet in a way, the other animals are also responsible for that as they could not stand consistently for their dream. Thus ultimately, they become the victims of the totalitarianism of the pigs and loose their freedom and happiness.