Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Essay on how is power represented in animal farm
Napoleon in animal farm characteristics
Analysis,themes and characterization of Animal Farm by George Orwell
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Essay on how is power represented in animal farm
“Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism…Animal Farm was the first book in which I tried, with full consciousness of what I was doing, to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole,” George Orwell, [1984]. The criticisms and protests Orwell has against the dictatorship of Napoleon, a pig who tricked his animal society into believing equality was the greater evil, are vibrantly shown throughout the novel. The change of life citizens endured during their stay on Animal Farm enlightens its readers with the true purpose of the book.
“George Orwell’s whole life was spent in preparation of Animal Farm, and the text itself bears the dates November, 1943-February, 1944,” The Times Literary Supplement. In November of 1943 the United States controlled the first nuclear reaction at the University of Chicago. The Manhattan project was a success, and the country held the power to decimate any opposing power. However, with this achievement erupted much controversy. Was the use of atomic bombs humane and reasonable to end conflicts? Englishman, George Orwell, opposed any practice related to these weapons. Through his brilliant satire, Animal Farm, Orwell depicted a frightening view of the future. Even those deemed as national heroes were corrupt. It was uncertain at the time if overthrowing the government would ever change current society.
In essence, the United States is not run under totalitarian views. We are a democracy, a society where the people’s choice presides over that of one person. However, in smaller countries this could be overthrown very swiftly. In the book Animal Farm, two major leaders, Snowball and Napoleon, begin their journey to a successful society when Napoleon turns on Snowball. He sends his bodyguards, (portrayed as vicious dogs) after Snowball in hope to drive him off the farm. Once this was accomplished, he began to manipulate the minds of the animals on the farm into believing that Snowball was actually their enemy from the beginning. “Do you know the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown our windmill? SNOWBALL! he suddenly roared in a voice of thunder. Snowball has done this thing! In sheer malignity, thinking to set back our plans and avenge himself for his ignominious expulsion, this traitor has crept here under cover of night and destroyed our work of nearly a year. Comrades, here and now I pronounce the death sentence upon Snowball,” Animal Farm, pg.
The time frame of this article is in 1946, a year after World War 2 has ended. Orwell takes the current situation into consideration when he appeals to his audience. Therefore, he addresses areas of politics in combination with recent events to try to persuade his audience while inducing a connection between the reader and his article. Orwell writes, “Things like the continuance of British rule in India, the Russian purges and deportations, the dropping of the atom bombs on Japan, can indeed be defended, but only by arguments which are too brutal for most people to face…”. The reader makes a connection with the article because they can remember the previous experience of the topics in their time frame. However, Orwell uses pathos to finally convince the audience of his argument when he writes “Defenseless villages are bombarded from the air, the inhabitants driven out into the countryside, the cattle machine-gunned, and the huts set on fire with incendiary bullets”. This technique is highly effective because readers automatically feel a sense of pity and sadness which in turn persuades the audience of the argument and convinces them to agree with Orwell’s
...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.
In the novel animal farm Orwell shows how both the leaders and followers in a society can act in ways that destroy freedom and equality. Animal farm is story about how a group of farm animals revolted against man. There will always be a leader and a follower even if the promise made by the leader will never exist but there always be naive. The leader Napoleon and his fellow follower Boxer cause the loss of freedom and equality in the farm. The pigs exploit the other animals shamelessly, breaking all the rules that they had established after the Rebellion. Things fall apart: life on the farm gets worse and worse, the animals forget old Major’s original dream, and the pigs make some poor management decisions when dealing with the neighboring farms.
The United States is governed by a democracy. According to Dictoinary.com, democracy is “government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system” (Dictoinary.com). This means that instead of having a supreme ruler, the citizens of a country have the right to vote for and choose their elected officials who will ultimately make the decisions for them. The benefit of a democracy is that depending on the public’s opinion, they can influence the government to run the way they want. This form of government provided the public with a great amount of freedom, yet is can potentially slow down the efficiency of governmental decisions. In order for a democracy to function well, public opinions must be somewhat similar to avoid gridlock. A democracy is good for public freedom, but must possess certain characteristics to provide effective results.
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.
“George Orwell: A Life.” Readings on Animal Farm. Ed. Terry O’Neill. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1998. Print.
The Life and Works of George Orwell Zach Garrett English 12 Diane Leazer April 11, 2014. The Life and Works of George Orwell Thesis Statement: Financial struggles in the first half of George Orwell's life greatly affected how he lived and influenced his writings. l. Childhood George Orwell A. Grade School B. College ll. Life after college A. Moving away from home and joining the workforce B. Moving back home to try to find new work, lll. Literary works A. Animal Farm B. Nineteen Eighty Four.
Animal Farm illustrates the Russian Revolution through the tale of animals obtaining their freedom. Ironically, one of the leaders of the farm, Napoleon, turns the animals into his slaves. Thus, the animals merely obtain a new master. Through this twist of symbolism and irony, Orwell presents the theme about how power will corrupt the mind. Napoleon essentially represents the the corruption of power. In this way, Orwell conveys his theme by showing the adverse effects of Napoleon’s growing power, so that the reader can see the stages of corruption that follow.
“Animal Farm.” The Complete Works of George Orwell. n.p. n.d. 2005. Web. 17 Mar. 2011
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.
At one level, George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” is an entertaining fable of an animal revolution in England. However, beneath this innocent storyline lie several bleak invited readings presented through textual features such as literary devices, characters and events which parallel the Bolshevik Revolution. These readings, achieved through marginalising certain information and privileging other information, lead readers to adopt a pessimistic attitude toward particular groups and political ideologies. Among Orwell’s invited readings are the tendency of communist governments to become corrupt, the abuse of extensive authority and the effectiveness of propaganda.
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.
George Orwell was one of the most influential writers of the 21st century. He wrote books such as 1984 and Animal Farm. These books are political satire designed to inform and war the reader. In Orwell’s works he paints a negative view of a totalitarian form of government.
Animal Farm is an allegoric moral satire by George Orwell that depicts the struggles and conflicts of the Russian revolution. The novel can be said to be an intriguing child’s book in which animals could talk and express their opinions. It can likewise be said to be an evaluation of the communist regime, which took place in Russia under the rule of Joseph Stalin. The reader comes across a plethora of interesting characters from whichever perspective it is looked at from, especially the pigs who possess the traits of human behavior. In this essay, I intend to look at how Orwell depicts Napoleon, one of the major characters.
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.