Social class is often the contributing factor of oppression in a society. Oppression may occur when high society, which has more power and control over the way information is told, has a sense of superiority over those who are not as privileged or educated as themselves. George Orwell reproduces this type of society in the allegorical novel Animal Farm. The Russian Revolution, the hardship which Orwell’s story is based on, and the restriction of information by dictator Joseph Stalin during the revolution lead to the suffering and downfall of well-being in Russian civilians. Although some people refuse to believe, oppression lingers as a societal problem in the United States and other countries to this day. Orwell’s novel shows how control of …show more content…
Key characters and events in the book represent significant figures and incidents which occurred during the Russian Revolution of 1917. Furthermore, the oppression created amongst the animals in Animal Farm is based off of the brutality experienced by the Russian people during the revolution. The Gillespie and Naden article “Overview: Animal Farm” represents the ignorance of the Russian citizens when the authors state, “Napoleon becomes better and better at satisfying his own goals and needs and in duping the other animals into believing that he is doing it all for them.” Joseph Stalin, the Soviet dictator during the Russian Revolution, is likened to Napoleon in Animal Farm. During the revolution, Stalin used information control tactics to garner power while simultaneously oppressing the Russian citizens. Similarly, Napoleon undertakes duties such as changing the Seven Commandments in ways that reward him yet leave the other animals underprivileged. The article also related the oppression and ignorance experienced by people during the Russian Revolution to Animal Farm by explaining: “The main difference is that Napoleon has his own agenda for a successful revolution. Whereas Snowball wants good for all, Napoleon concentrates on the advantages he can gain for himself; and whereas Snowball plans activities out in the open, Napoleon plots secretly...” Much like Joseph Stalin did during the Russian Revolution, Napoleon formulates schemes and keeps them as private affairs. By doing so, Napoleon allows the animals to be ignorant and become oppressed. In the contrary, Snowball is allegorical to Leon Trotsky, a Marxist revolutionary, in that he openly shared his plans with the other animals and regarded all animals on the farm as equals. In summary, the plot of Animal Farm is parallel to several events that took place in the Russian Revolution. Also represented soundly in the
The saying “history repeats itself” is used quite often, but how many times have you actually seen it happen? The book Animal Farm portrays the idea of history repeating itself. The character Benjamin and the pigs in the story show history repeating itself throughout the book. In addition to these characters within the book, North Korea displays history's repetition outside the book.
Equality: How It Contributes To The Downfall Of Animal Farm Does the theme of Equality contribute to the downfall of society in the plot of George Orwell’s classic book Animal Farm? Yes it does. We get to see how the animals are treated differently, and how that results in the collapse of the farm. Equality is the term used to define fairness, equivalence, and evenness. If you live in a world with equality, there should be no favoring of any kind to one person, place, and thing over the other.
The characters and events that George Orwell put in his novel Animal Farm, can be linked to the similar events and people associated with the Russian Revolution. People like Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky can be compared and represented by the 2 pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, in Orwell’s Animal Farm. By writing this novel, Orwell attempted to expose the truth behind the totalitarian-type government in Russia at that time. However, he did this in a discreet way by using animals to symbolize the different people that played a role in the Revolution.
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.
What is power? Power means the strength and the right given of controlling anyone else. However, when too much power is given to someone, dictatorship cannot be avoided. In the book “Animal Farm”, George Orwell used a lot of events happened on the farm to illustrate that how did the ‘animalism’ turn into “totalitarianism” and well defined the sentence “Absolute power corrupts absolutely”, which also reflects how the society was like at that time. Therefore, in order to find out the reason why George Orwell wrote the story, this essay will talk about how power is abused and the effect on other "comrades" by using several events and the examples of language features used in the story.
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...
As soon as Old Major had died Napoleon took his place as the leader of
Animal Farm by George Orwell is a satire of the Russian Revolution that took place during the late 1930s. Orwell uses vibrant characters such as Snowball, Old Major, and Napoleon to represent some of Russia’s horrific past. While Old Major represents the idea of revolution and Snowball represents the idea of industrialism, Napoleon represents the totalitarian dictatorship in Russia. Animal Farm is a good example of what happened to Russia during this time period. While Animal Farm could represent any dictatorship, it more specifically represents the totalitarianism brought on by Joseph Stalin through communism.
Snowball and Napoleon held a great deal of contrast between the way they each ruled over “Animal Farm/Manor Farm.” The only thing he did lack, was the ability of pursuasion to the other animals. Snowball had all the right ideas, all to better the whole farm. Napoleon, on the other hand, had a knack for stealing other animals’ ideas, then telling the rest it was his and getting credit for it. His ideas only seemed to benefit the pigs and not the animals. It was this, that led to the crumbling of the farm. Napoleons obsession with becoming the ruler is what got Snowball nearly killed by the dogs...in a plot made by Napoleon. Which then produced a whole new rebellion not of the animals to the humans, but of the animals to the pigs. So for these reasons, Snowball showed better qualities for leadership than Napoleon because he wasn’t selfish and thought about the future of “Animal Farm.” First, the dominated farm animals viewed Napoleon and Snowball differently at different times throughout the book. The way the animals reacted to each leader brought upon new problems of the farm. The animals respected Snowball, and believed that his teachings were all true and had a good cause. Although Snowball and Napoleon had superior qualities leadership, it was clearly Snowball who had the better qualities for running a farm. Under Snowballs’ rule, the animals were generally content with what was going on and were all for it if it was to better the farm. It was obvious that Napoleon had the better half of getting his own way on the farm. However, the animals had some problems with Napoleon but they didn’t know haw to express their feelings and show him that they didn’t like the way he ran things. It was the animals’ ignorance that helped keep Napoleon in rule for as long as it was. The responses were so different between the animals that it must have been a drastic change between Snowball and Napoleon.
Animal Farm was a metaphor for the Russian Revolution. The animals on the farm overthrew the farmer who treated them unfairly, and they began their own government. As time went on the pigs made themselves rulers, the main pig in charge being Napoleon. Napoleon started to make the other farm animals do all the work while he relaxed and ordered others around. He trained the dogs to punish those who did not follow the rules of the farm, the main punishment being death. All the animals were under strict guidelines and had lost their freedom on their way to finding it again. This relates to Russian government almost identically. When Lenin, a communist leader, died, he put Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky against each other for power. S...
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.
On the surface, George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm is about a group of neglected farm animals who overthrow their owner and take control of their farm. However, under the surface this novel is an allegory for the Russian revolution. Orwell wrote Animal Farm in response to the Russian Revolution and the political figures that contributed. The author’s use of anthropomorphism and common diction lead us to believe the intended the novel to be by the “everyday man” or lay person. The novel was written as a warning to readers with its central theme that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
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.
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
Imagine a world where every person is equal: everyone has the same possessions, everyone shows respect to each other, no one kills anyone else, and no authority rises over others to give dictating commands. It sounds wonderful doesn’t it? George Orwell’s haunting book Animal Farm shows however, the near impossibility it is to make that idea a reality. In this fairy tale, a group of oppressed farm animals revolt against the tyrannical bonds of their evil master Farmer Jones, chases him off the farm, and attempt to make a society based on the idea listed above. But instead of having this incredible society, the pigs decide to make one instead where they are the ultimate authority. This book highlights the dangers of trying to establish an equal society under the ideas of communism, and also has poignant symbolic characters that display historical figures in new lights.