Theme Essay
If a seven year old read Animal Farm he/she would have thought that it is a sad story about a farm in England. If an older person reads it however, he/she realizes that this story has much more meaning to it. The story is filled with themes that help us understand the world around us. In this essay I am going to talk about four themes that Orwell discussed in this story. They are power, totemism, coercion, and violence. Power leads to absolute power, the job of totemism is to keep the people loyal, and after that doesn't work coercion comes in effect by using violence.
There is no definite message that Orwell is trying to point out about power, instead he lets us get a view of the negative effects of power. He also helps us realize what kinds of things are used to maintain power. Many people rise to power saying that they will do what the best for the people. But what happens is that a strong leader seizes absolute power. As the leader gains control he begins to abuse his powers to make his life better. The tyrant then uses his powers for his own good; whenever there is power there is money (luxury) involved and people will go a long way to have a good life.
In the story, Napoleon gains power saying he will do what best for the animals but he soon begins to do what is beneficial for himself. An example of his better life would be, «It was also more suited to the
dignity of the Leader (for of late he had taken to speaking of Napoleon
under the title of "Leader") to live in a house than in a mere sty.».(page 79) Also the quote, «And the news soon leaked out that every pig was now receiving a
ration of a pint of beer daily, with half a gallon for Napoleon himself,
which was always served to him in the Crown Derby soup tureen.» (page 117)
Power can be a good thing at times but people cant handle power and do things or the good of every one. Then they begin to get addicted to power and when people start to doubt them they do everything they can to keep hold of it. Power ruins people, because the passion for power comes to people naturally. Orwell might also be trying to get the idea that if a person has absolute power and he becomes corrupt the whole nation is ruined because that tyrant controls everything.
In the same instance, O’Brien heavily implies that other totalitarian states, even if shallowly good-natured, ultimately exist for the same reason that the Party exists; to gain power and self-replicate. O’Brien explicitly names Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, the largest totalitarian states of Orwell’s time, stating that “they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended, and perhaps even believed, that they seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and around the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal.” (185) Here, Orwell is making a direct appeal through the voice of O’Brien, stating that totalitarianism is by nature self-serving. While political revolution could start with the greater good in mind, the installation of a totalitarian government allows government to become completely self-serving, leading the state away from defending the original purpose of revolution. Orwell’s point is demonstrated throughout history; for example, in Soviet Russia, a regime originally enacted under the stated purpose to benefit the proletariat and peasant classes, ended up diverting resources from peasants and using them to benefit an elite political class. Thus, totalitarianism, which is unrestrained government taken to an excess, by nature becomes
In George Orwell 's "Nineteen Eighty-Four," the main storyline revolves around a dystopian society whose self-thought has been corrupted by an over empowered governing body. Orwell’s intention was to bring Hitler’s ideas to life. Smith is a middle-aged frail man who is ambivalent towards his government, however is unable to resist the strength of the indoctrination he has been subjected to, during the entirety of his life. As the reader progresses through the novel, ideas of totalitarianism are illustrated throughout the story via Smith’s internal and external conflicts with his government. It quickly becomes apparent that there is an uncopiable amount of government power which is something that is seen as early as the second paragraph. Propaganda
Power, is a small word with a strong meaning behind it. Being able to control anything and everything is what everyone seems to want in today’s society, everyone wants power. The government is the guiltiest of being power hungry. They want to be able to control everyone in the country, taking away the rights that our country was founded upon. This concept of the government wanting to take over its people is similar to that of Big Brother. Big Brother is the party that controlled the people, in George Orwell’s, Nineteen Eighty – Four. Nineteen Eighty – Four was published in 1949 where Orwell predicts what might come to Great Britain if the government, and surrounding governments, kept up with the way it was behaving. In 1949, World War
It was was a dark night, all the animals huddled around Old Major to hear what he had to say about his dream. It turns out Old Major talks about rebelling against man so that all animals can have a better life. Ironically, after Rebellion, no one except Napoleon has a better life and he makes their lives even harsher. This is a story of communism, this is the story of Animal Farm.
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.
...st followed what Squealer said and thought that was the truth, which is quite pathetic for them but it was also the wish of Napoleon: animals should be totally loyal and obedient to him.
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.
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.
Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely is a concept widely understood after having read Orwell’s satire. It is first shown when the pigs take the milk and apples, explaining to the rest of the animals that everyone is equal, but some are just more “equal” than others. They also argue that the pigs do more thinking, and therefore need more energy to do so. It is in the latter part of the book, that the concept of
...art of the whole society and have greater power through the amount of support for the party, while those who believe otherwise are less powerful as their support is much less and limited. Orwell shows how those who do not conform will end up being taken down by those with the power and there is not much anyone could do about that. Those who believed in change and tried to change the society only ended up meeting failure as majority rules, those with more power will overpower the weak and succeed.
In every society there are leaders who, if given the opportunity, will likely abuse their power. Napoleon takes over the farm but in the process he becomes exactly like the humans by mistreating the other animals and actually becoming friends with a human that owns a farm nearby. He breaks the laws that the animals made for everyone.
From then on, Napoleon had complete control over the farm. Anyone who went against him would no doubt feel the wrath of his army of dogs. Eventually, Napoleon went so far as to change the ...
In the animal farm all the animals got together to start a rebel to build up a perfect society. Finally it comes to a totalitarian night mare in which every human rebellion finally achieved. Orwell’s “Animal Farm” is not a story which presents an imaginary story where animals talk and act as humans. But it is a story which reflects the human society where the rebellions and wars which took place, taking place and in future too will take place starts with the dream of a perfect Utopia and ends in a totalitarianism nightmare.
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.
At first on the Animal Farm, it was promised to the majority of the animals who were neither Napoleon or a pig, or the so-called "working class", that "from each according to his ability to each according to his needs", no more, no less.