Compare And Contrast Animal Farm And The Sky So Heavy

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The two novels, Animal Farm, written by George Orwell and The Sky So Heavy, by Claire Zorn explore the theme of oppression through characterisation. Animal Farm is a novella depicting the lead up to the Russian Revolution, with characters from the events taking part in the story as animals. In The Sky so Heavy, Finn and his peers are stranded in a nuclear winter, hopelessly trying to source food for survival. The characterisation of Napoleon in Animal Farm and Finn in The Sky So Heavy both portray similar oppression through their speech. Napoleon portrays oppression when he states, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others” (90), similarly to Finn; “our world was made from the dull light filtered through the gauze …show more content…

You think I am stupid?”(142). This is stated by Mr. Starvos when Finn attempts to break into his store and steal food to survive; as Mr. Starvos would not allow anyone to purchase anything from him. Mr. Starvos held a gun to Finn’s head, continuously abusing him; “my cheek slammed once more into the wall. I couldn’t feel it anymore, only the warmth of my blood on my skin.”(141) Though Finn was only young, Starvos did not hesitate to hurt him, being an example of physical oppression, differing to that of Animal Farm, in which Jones only neglected the animals. Through the two texts, oppression is evident through characterisation, consistently, with both similarities of oppression and differences of how oppression is portrayed.
Animal Farm by George Orwell and The Sky So Heavy by Claire Zorn explore the idea of power through symbolism. This is evident throughout both texts; with an item in each representing wealth, furthermore influencing the hierarchy. In Animal Farm, the item that represents wealth is the alcohol. Initially, the consuming of alcohol was prohibited in line with the solemn decree: “the drinking of alcohol was to be punished by death,”(41) although they traded alcohol to consume themselves. They forbid the other animals to do so. Napoleon

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