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Animal Farm is a novella written by George Orwell, where a pig dictator, Napoleon, tries to gain power by using different types of propaganda. This novella takes place in an imaginary farm in England that focuses on politics. George Orwell said that he was inspired by the Russian Revolution, but the idea of the awareness of corruption applies to the world. Similarly to Animal Farm, World War II “was arguably the most significant period of the 20th century” (historynet.com) that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The corruption and dictation of the government was what inspired George Orwell to write Animal Farm.
Animal Farm -the history of a rebellion that went wrong- is George Orwell 's brilliant satire on the corrupting influence of power. It was first published in 1945. According to Orwell, the book reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then on into the Stalin era in the Soviet Union. In the book, Mr. Jones, the owner of the Manor farm is so lazy and drunken that one day he forgets to feed his livestock.
The judgement on leaders differ depending on from whom perspective we see the leader. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, there are two totally different types of leaders, Snowball and Napoleon. In the end, Napoleon, rather than Snowball, is thought as a leader. Although Napoleon is drawn as a self-centred, tyrannical leader, he is an effective one and has a great impact on animals.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels express their major critiques and opinions on capitalism in their 1848 publication of The Communist Manifesto. Their critiques are based around the idea that capitalism is simply unfair, meaning that one class benefits significantly more than the rest. The class that benefits least from capitalism is the proletariats. This unintelligent labor class suffers from the capitalists dominance, and is unaware of the damage they are experiencing. George Orwell’s depiction of Boxer in his novel, Animal Farm, fits precisely into Marx and Engels’ negative critique of capitalism by representing a strong symbol for the proletariat class and succumbing to the powerful demands of the capitalists.
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Lord Acton) This quote is telling us that when people get into roles of absolute power they tend to become corrupt, as a result of that power. This quote can be applied to Napoleon from the book Animal Farm by George Orwell, because at the beginning of the novel Old Major’s words inspired Napoleon. As a result, he believed that humans were evil for forcing animals to work for them and that animals should be able to live freely, not under anyone’s control; however, as the story progresses his belief changed and the animals did not get to live their utopian dream. At the start Napoleon and the other pigs strongly believed that all animals were equal and had the right to live in a place that took care of their well being.
The government told the human race that nothing is wrong, it was just the citizens’ fear of the worst. So people did not worry about their lack of food or unsafe working conditions because they had no reason to distrust the government. They never realized that their idea of a utopia slowly slipped through their grasp. Rather than maintaining utter perfection in respect of laws, politics, customs, and conditions, the government remained in oppressive societal control; everything appeared ideal, but once examined closer, the true horrors came to light.
Lord Acton, the British historian, once said, “All power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell, the character Napoleon puts himself in charge. But, not only that he allows another pig, Squealer, to do his dirty work. And also uses dogs to chase his enemy, Snowball, away . In which leads to other animals not knowing that the farm is being ran the same way as when under Mr. Jones, the old farmer 's, control.
“It is not wisdom but authority that makes a low.” Thomas Hobbes’ quote reveals that the world is all about authority and how powerful people are. In other words, to be able to rule, wisdom is not essential. However, authority is crucial. This quote relates to George Orwell’s Animal Farm as it represents the theme of power by the pigs that use propaganda, intimidation and false informations to take over the farm and to control the animals.
Jaewon Shim Ms. Manning English 9B 06 February 2015 Animal Farm Analytical Essay "Orwellian" is an adjective that describes the condition of the society that George Orwell identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free and open society. The adjective suggests an attitude that is controlled by propaganda, the denial of truth, and manipulation of the past. In George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm, George Orwell develops his ideas about the Russian Revolution through a highly satirical story written in the form of a fable. The characters represent actual people in history during the Russian Revolution, which took place in the years between 1917 to 1944, as it talks about a story of a farm rebelling against a human owner and establishes their own way of running the farm, which was effected by Old Major’s speech who talked about a society where all workers led the society, with no actual leader. However, imbalance of power occur as the pigs, who are the smartest of the animals gain influence by supervising other animals to work.
Animal Farm, A Dystopian Society Dystopian societies involve bloodshed, espionage, and countless tragedies among the citizens of the society. The goal of creating a successful society is very difficult to accomplish due to the amount of criteria a society must meet to become successful. A utopia is a society where everything is perfect and everyone is happy, while a dystopia is a society where everyone is under complete control and the government is often conniving. Animal farm can be portrayed as a dystopian society due to the farm’s cunning, but evil, leader and the multiple traits of dystopian societies that can be clearly seen on the farm. The propaganda used by Squealer in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, as well as the frowned upon dissent and false fantasy of the farm being a utopia, prove that The Animal Farm is a dystopian society.
Utopia to Dystopia: The Collapse of Animal Farm The attempt at creating a utopian society led the animals closer to a dystopia. The novel Animal Farm demonstrates that a fantasy paradise is unattainable and is parallel to the attempt of the Soviet Union. As leaders, the pigs paraphrased the rules, and made themselves as superior to the working class of animals. Not all the animals acknowledge the idea of a farm governed by animals and disregard the rules.
The corruption of power in Animal Farm has gone badly. The entire pigs act like a monarch over other animals. They often corrupt in some many ways especially Napoleon and Mr. Jones that they all have different leadership except all of them are dictators. One of the things that make Farmer Jones bad is that they don’t feed the animals properly.
One dominant theme in animal farm is totalitarianism and abuse of power. Totalitarianism is defined as a political system in which the state possesses complete authority over the society and controls all aspects of public and private life whenever necessary. The author criticized totalitarianism and believed that it was inevitable in a communist system, as those put in charge will result in the abuse of their power. The theme Orwell intended to get across was that all totalitarian regimes are the same and those who hold power will do anything to maintain it. The pigs, who were the leaders, frequently displayed this throughout the novel.
The contrast to this perfect society is a dystopian society. Dystopian societies are marked with fear and have little to no chance of improvement. Animal Farm, an allegorical novel by George Orwell, includes a dystopian society. The novel takes place on a rural farm known as, Animal Farm, which is a dystopian society alluding to Soviet Russia. Although Animal Farm is portrayed as the perfect utopia, the animals living on the farm cannot create individual thoughts because of the way they are controlled by propaganda, characterizing Animal Farm as a dystopian society due to these traits.
George Orwell portrays Napoleon as Stalin in many similar ways. Just as some leaders use dictatorship to control political aspects, pigs also use dictatorship to control animals. Animal Farm uses characterization to suggest that although cruel leadership can be effective, it will lead to
