Comparing Propaganda In The Lottery And Animal Farm

A dystopia is an unpleasant typically repressive society, often propagandized as being utopian (“List of Dystopian Literature.” Wikipedia). Many common themes found in dystopian fiction include mastery of nature to the point that it becomes desolate, or turns against humanity; methodological advances that subdue humans or regiment their lives; the mandatory division of people into a status or groups with specialized functions; and an aggregate loss of memory and history making mankind easier to manage psychologically and ultimately leading to dehumanization . Throughout the stories The Pearl , The Lottery , and Animal Farm the common themes are misusing power , greed , and propaganda.

Greed is excessive or rapacious desire , especially for

wealth or possessions . In the books The Pearl and Animal Farm , Kino and Napoleon’s greed for the pearl and power caused them to turn the what was to be a Utopian Society into dystopian. Kino is a dynamic character in the beginning of the story . Kino was a family man , and worked as a deepsea diver to provide for his family, but quickly after the pearl appeared things began to change . Kino let his desire for wealth cloud his better judgement , and began to do horrible acts. ”Kino struck [ Juana] in the face with his clenched fist and she fell among the boulders , and he kicked her in the side” (Steinbeck 59). Kino had never laid a hand on or harmed Juana throughout the book until the Pearl came into the family’s lives. The pearl was supposed to alleviate all of the issues in the family’s lives , “ [but] in the surface of the pearl [Kino] saw Coyotito lying in the [cave] with his head shot away” (Steinbeck 89). Napoleon let his greed for power turn him into a heartless and malevolent person. Napoleon is an archetypal character for Dystopian literature ; he is the dictator or the character who is greedy for power and would do anything to gain more. For example “ at [that] moment Napoleon stood up and , uttered a high- pitched whimper ... at this time there was a terrible baying sound outside ,and nine enormous dogs wearing brass - studded collars came bounding into the barn … [they dashed straight for snowball and he vanished in the hedges never to be seen again] “ ( Orwell 52 & 53). Napoleon would stop at nothing until he gained more power including killing other animals ruthlessly.

Misusing your power is very complex and is a threat to others in society to an extent. For example in both The Purge and Animal Farm the governments or leaders misused their power to gain source of control and supposedly make the world a better place. In The Purge the NFFA used their power of government to have a night where all crimes are legal. Their goals was to lower rates of corruption and impoverishment and unemployment alleged within the United States , glean the population within the United States of America, and gain economic strongholds . They used their power to kill innocent people or in this case the middle and lower classes. In Animal Farm the pigs always used their power to get what they wanted or to get around the Seven Commandments. For Example in Animal Farm “ the mystery of where the milk went was soon cleared up ... it was mixed every day into the pigs’ mash … Jones would come back [if the pigs would fail their duties due to bad health ” (Orwell 35 & 36) . The pigs used fear tactics and other tactics to get what they wanted , and misused their power to get special treatment.

Propaganda is information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view (“Propaganda.” Wikipedia) .

In both Dystopian literatures The Lottery and Animal Farm they used propaganda to promote a point of view . In the book Animal Farm Napoleon used Squeler as a propaganda machine to explain the pigs decisions as if they were for the better of the animals. For example when the milk and apples disappeared Squeler told the animals” it is for your sakes that we drink that milk and eat those apples. Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty.Jones would come back ! Yes , Jones would come back ! Surely, comrades” ( Orwell 36) . Squeler did everything in his power to make the animals believe Napoleon and the pigs were always right . In the short story The Lottery the whole idea of the lottery is propaganda . “ The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago , and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner , the oldest man in town , was born.” ( Jackson) . Mr.Warner played a huge role in keeping the idea of the lottery no matter the consequence of death. “There’s always been a lottery” (Jackson) told to the other townspeople in the book , but it is hard to tell if that is really true because the original paraphernalia had been lost and the whole idea of the lottery is gammon

.

In conclusion dystopian themes are found in many different pieces of literature . Throughout this essay you can see that many different books share common themes and archetypal characters . From power hungry pigs , to greed and desire there are many depictions of how the world can go wrong . It is up to us as readers to identify these examples and character flaws , so that we do not become the villains we read about .