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In his satirical dystopian fable Animal Farm, George Orwell demonstrates that corruption is inevitable when individuals have access to power. Orwell uses pseudo-neutral tone to reveal that individuals often become disempowered due to fear, resulting in intimidation. Moreover, he uses dramatic irony to highlight the perpetuation of exploitation of the weak and vulnerable by those in power. Clearly, it is Orwell’s intention to use the deteriorating conditions on Animal Farm to reflect the social stratification that characterised life in Russia during Stalin’s totalitarian regime. Power was centralised in the elite minority while the peasants endured harsh poverty, working long hours for less income. Through his allegorical representation of this historical context, Orwell clearly condemns elitism and …show more content…
The Kulaks who were land owning peasants, were determined to not give their land to the government hence, decided to burn it and kill their animals which motivated Stalin to condemn millions to death by starvation. This functions as the allegorical equivalent of Napoleon’s ruthless dictatorship who brutally crushed any of those who opposed him. This disturbing episode is evident through the pseudo-neutral tone of the third person narrator in, “ordered the hens’ rations to be stopped… nine hens had died in the meantime”. This symbolically represents the first ever internal challenge to Napoleon’s power and how these rebels suffered the brutal consequences. Thus by creating an example, animals are coerced to live in a state of fear which makes it easier for Napoleon to exploit them, to satisfy his lust for power. This idea is further developed through violent visual imagery, established by pseudo-neutral tone of the third person narrator in “there was a pile of corpses lying before Napoleon’s feet and the air was heavy with the smell of
George Orwell’s animal farm is an allegory about communist Russia and the Russian revolution. Animal farm represents communist Russia through animal farm. Some of the themes Orwell portrays throughout the story of animal farm are lies and deceit, rebellion and propaganda through the characters and the story of animal farm.
Absolute power leads to the corruption of government. In Animal Farm, when a group of mistreated animals rebels against their cruel farm owner, two intelligent pigs on the farm take it upon themselves to lead the animals jointly. However, due to the animals' greedy co-leader Napoleon who dominates that power, the pigs' leadership turns into a corrupt power-hungry government that causes the entire farm system to collapse. In order to secure a life of luxury for Napoleon and his fellow pigs, Napoleon (with Squealer as his spokesman)uses language that intimidates, language that distorts the truth, and language that appeals to the emotions of the animals in order to manipulate gullible animals of Animal Farm.
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’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. This essay will cover the comparisons between Animal Farm and the Russian Revolution. It will also explain why this novel is a satire and allegory to the Revolution that took place in Russia so long ago.
The novel Animal farm has profusions of allegory and symbolism. The book’s core all linked to the events of the Russian revolution. In this essay I would be targeting a certain element of what I believe is the greatest ground where allegory was present in Orwell’s “Animal Farm.” Dissecting the novel, we encounter characters and at close analysis, each of the characters symbolizes society’s people. Of all the allegory presented in the novel, I’d like to emphasize on a vicious character and its resemblances. As envisaged, this narrative is linked closely with the undertakings of Joseph Stalin. The Criterions of this different character, Napoleon, is clearly analogous to Stalin’s. Overall, the whole novel is a visual rendering of Stalin’s reign of terror and its effect on its society. Napoleon was a replica of Joseph Stalin, who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party from 1922 until his death more than 30 years later. As we get deeper into the text, Napoleon portrays evolution of leadership. Let’s get back in time for a while to the Russian revolution. In 192four, when Lenin died, Trotsky and Stalin competed for authority and position. Trostky was a bright, brilliant personality while Stalin was simple and not as bright. Trotsky believed in putting a conclusion to Russia’s attempts to spread communism all over the world. Stalin was more focused on the prosperity of Russia, In Animal Farm, as we can compare, Snowball had the perception and sharp intellect and as the source of ideas and resolution. On the other hand, Napoleon was not a thinker. Napoleon focused more on the production of the farm and its modernization rather than animalism as Snowball’s focus. After banishing Snowball, Napoleon ordered the re-erection of...
Abraham Lincoln once said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” ("Abraham Lincoln Quote"). Lord Acton also said, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” (“Lord Acton Quotes”). Both of the quotes show that power is not always a good thing, and can sometimes make good people, do bad things. Animal Farm by George Orwell is a novella about animals rebelling against humans on a farm in England. The novella has been said to be directly related to the Russian Revolution of the early 20th century. Immediately after the animals gained power, the pigs took over as the leaders of the animals. The pigs became corrupt with the power, and may have made conditions worse than they were with humans
In his book, Orwell uses his allegorical farm to symbolize the communist system. Though the original intention of overthrowing Mr. Jones (who represents the Czars), is not inherently evil in itself, Napoleon’s subsequent adoption of nearly all of Mr. Jones’ principles and harsh mistreatment of the animals proves to the reader that indeed communism is not equality, but just another form of inequality. The pigs and dogs take most of the power for themselves, thinking that they are the best administrators of government. Eventually the power corrupts them, and they turn on their fellow animals, eliminating competitors through propaganda and bloodshed. This is of course a reference to Stalin, who murdered many of his own people in order to maintain his dictatorship of Russia.
...evolt and, in real life, it is estimated that somewhere between 4 and 10 million Ukrainian peasants were starved to death by Stalin. In the book, the hens smashed their own eggs to protest Napoleon’s action; in real life, the Ukrainian farmers slaughtered their own livestock before joining a collective as a form of protest. The problem got so out of hand that Stalin eventually executed any farmer found guilty of engaging in the practice.
In the world today animals are treated poorly and are overworked under harsh conditions. In Animal Farm by George Orwell the idea of Animalism and lack of freedom is shown. Old Major gave an inspiring speech about how the animals live together without humans. After not being fed the animals attack Jones and end up taking over the farm. The animals survive on the farm, by making commandments, assigning jobs, and soon electing a leader. With Snowball and Napoleon guiding them they soon come across an amazing idea that could shorten the work week. After debating on the different viewpoints they both had on the windmill, Napoleon trains dogs to attack Snowball. With Napoleon now as the leader and Squealer as his spokesman they both run “Animal Farm”. With the victory at the Battle of Cowshed the animals start to have hope, after the windmill was knocked down by the humans everything falls apart. After years of mistreatment the animals decide to fight back. Unknowingly they place themselves under a manipulating leader. The animals soon believe that Napoleon is always right. In the end they lose their strongest most dedicated animal, Boxer. In order to secure a life of luxury for Napoleon and his fellow pigs, Napoleon (with Squealer as his spokesman) uses language that intimidates, language that distorts the truth, and language that appeals to the emotion of the others to manipulate the gullible animals of the farm.
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.
Often times in a communist society, a leader’s use of language can lead to abuse of power. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the farm leaders, the pigs, use unknown language, invoke scare tactics, and create specific laws, thereby enabling them to control other animals, to suit their greedy desires, and to perform actions outside their realm of power. Because of the pigs’ use of broad language, implementation of scare tactics, and creation and manipulation of laws, they are able to get away with avoiding laws and convincing other animals into believing untrue stories and lies that are beneficial to the pigs.
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.
The animals in awe of the difficulty of telling from which was man or pig, they went back to the barn, gathered in the barn and were all about to go into their own stalls until the slightly blind Clover said, “Friends please wait.” The animals stopped and looked at Clover that was giving a saddened expression that made most of the animals walk over except for the hens and roosters walked to the chicken coop with their baby chicks following except for two chicks that walked over to Clover. Clover looked at all the animals gather and gave a serious stern look, “there was once a time when this barn brought joy to me and all of the others on this barn. It wasn’t when the humans were in charge or when Napoleon became our leader. Snowball on the other hand was the leader that actually didn’t become a dictator of this farm and wanted greatness for all and not just for the pigs and
Power can have the persuasive action in undoing the moral ethics of one’s character. This can be seen throughout history, such as World War II and proven by the actions of Napoleon in the allegory, Animal Farm, by George Orwell. As Lord Acton said “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In history what was viewed as a villain or wrong doer is never the same as the perception. A leader does not begin wanting to do wrong, they start with the best intentions, but power is a tricky thing, showcased in Animal Farm as Utopian ideals but with failed practices.
During 1917, Russia underwent one of the most famous revolutions in history; with the sole intention to improve the nation. However, the original plan for the revolution was quickly put aside as the new leaders began to abuse their power; this brought on more than two years of slaughter and economic decrease. Within the text Animal Farm, George Orwell portrays the working class animals as naïve, while also having a lack of personal awareness; the pigs, however, were corrupted and manipulative. The pig’s hypocrisy against their own rules and ideas lead them to become the farms most powerful figure. Nevertheless, none of this would have been possible without the animals constantly turning a blind eye and failing to acknowledge when they were