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.
While the two words are not named in Animal Farm, communism and totalitarianism are two things that are explored immensely in this book. Communism is defined by Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language as: “a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.” In addition, totalitarianism is defined as “absolute control by the state or a governing branch of a highly centralized institution.” Starting their rebellion, the animals were undoubtedly going for the ideal communism, where all the animals were treated equal and had all things in common. They wanted all the animals on the farm to have an equal opportunity and an equal voice. Actually, their law system that they started at first had on the 7th Commandment the words: “All...
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...ale Animal Farm proves to be a symbolic and understanding book. In its pages we can see the contrast between a supposedly communistic state where everyone is equal and the same, and how in the end it only leads to a total dictatorial establishment of totalitarianism, where everything is controlled by an elite group. Though Animal Farm was established with the idea of every animal being equal, in the end, the voice of the scheming pigs was the only one heard. Secondly, the book powerfully symbolizes key figures that have appeared in history. It shows how Karl Marx affected the Communism movement in the character Old Major, and also displays the kind of government that lights the fuse for a revolution in the tempered Farmer Jones. Though dark and menacing, Animal Farm paints a very brutal yet truthful view of the dangers when a society moves to the ideas of communism.
The novel animal farm was written by George Orwell during the Russian revolution, and it somehow symbolizes it. In one of the English farms there happens the revolution, animals rebel against the humans with hope that everything will be much better than it was that time. They believed in utopia, as it was during Russian revolution. They have certain leaders pigs. Snowball and napoleon, and this two pigs announce seven commandments that always must be satisfied, but as soon as one of the pigs is banished another becomes tyrant. He begins to change rules in his favor, at first he begins to sleep in the bed, begins to drink alcohol, smoking pipe, eating best food on the farm, he is walking with bodyguards, he announced his birthday as a celebration, and the last he is walking on two legs. Than he begins to communicating with people, but most amazing is that he didn't disobey any rules, why? Because he changed all rules as he wanted, in his favor, but not only for himself but to all pigs. He did not obey to the main idea, main rule that all animals are equal, he changed it as "all animals are equal but some of them are more equal"
Author George Orwell’s animal farm is an allegory because it propounds a symbolic society of farm animals. Certain farm animals represent specific historical characters in the rise of communism taking place at that time in history, for example, “Napoleon” as Stalin, “Snowball” as Trotsky, and “Old Major” showing as a sort of amalgam for Marx and Lenin in some parts. These characters were not created by Orwell to entertain, but to mold according to preexisting people from history, aiming to teach. Orwell’s original inspiration placed the able, ardent stable of activist animals eternally on the farm: He witnessed a young boy on a cart, somewhat capriciously whipping his hardworking horse. In that moment, Orwell stated, he saw how “men exploit animals in much the same way the rich exploit the proletariat” This stands as the spectrum of Animal 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.
...re breaking every rule that they themselves had put forth in accordance with Old Major’s revolutionary vision. Animal Farm was a mirror image of communism gone awry in the Soviet Union. It also shows Marx’s naivety of the fact that there will always be the clever that take advantage of the ignorant. By keeping the population ignorant, the clever gain even more power, which is was happened in the Soviet Union and Animal Farm. The ones that took part in the revolutions would never realize that they were holding the short end of the stick, just as they were in their previous state of affairs. They were cold, miserable, and starving. In their brainwashed state they still believed that the dismal state they were in was better than their situation before the revolution. George Orwell finished his book on a somber note, the state in which Joseph Stalin left the Soviet Union.
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.
In Animal Farm by George Orwell social class in inequality is a big issue. The animals treat and rank each other differently based on what they ‘bring to the table’. If they can work hard and get tasks accomplished than they are treated better than the other animals. This inequality in social class is present with the pig’s changing the commandments, the animals being taken advantage of and the mistreatment of certain social classes.
The novel “Animal Farm” by George Orwell tells of a story reflecting events up to the Russian Revolution of 1917, easily illustrated though farm animals, and is applicable to social classes today. The socialist theory argues that for the rich to be rich there must be a working class that is poor. This is clearly illustrated not only on a national level, but on a worldwide level as well. Ideally, it might be nice to picture a world where people own what they work for, where every person contributes and takes equally. However, under close examination of the picture, it can be seen why this type of Utopian society cannot exist, an example of a communist system trying to exist in a capitalist world. The animals are protected within the boundaries of their socialist farm and they thrive under this system of equality. But soon enough, they are forced to interact with the outside world and that’s when communism turns into something else—a totalitarian society under the rule of one leader. In order for socialism to work under a communist rule, everyone, even those outside the community, has to be under the same
George Orwell’s classic, Animal Farm is about a group of oppressed animals on Manor Farm. The book takes the reader through the revolution of the animals. It tells of how the animals form a system of government, Animalism, on their new farm, Animal Farm. The animals try to form a government where everyone is dependent upon everyone else. The book conveys the message that no matter what laws and equality bind the citizens, corruption and power will seek to destroy that delicate balance. I believe that there is a similarity between the fictional Animalism, and the early form of Communism, called Marxism. In this essay, I will describe the main idea behind and similarities between Animalism and Marxism.
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.
n 1945, author George Orwell published the allegorical fable Animal Farm. It did not have a universally positive response. Mostly because the reviewers think that the animals were not all consistent with their inspirations from the real world. But what made the reviewers think that? In Animal Farm, the animals want equality and freedom, but is not achieved due to the nature of their human oppressors. The animals are inspired by the prize boar and rebel, sending their humans oppressors off.. The pigs on the farm become the dictators, turning the farm they live on into a utopia. But over time, they do practices similar to that of their former masters, bringing the situation of the farm back to where it was originally as a dystopia. A literal
Totalitarianism is a political regime based on subordination of the individual to the state and strict control of all aspects of life. It was used by Stalin and the Bolsheviks in Russia during the 1920's and 30's and is parodied in Animal Farm by Napoleon, the "almighty" leader, and his fellow pigs and their ridiculous propaganda and rigorous rule. In the book, Napoleon is deified and made superior to all other animals on the farm, for example he is called emperor or leader while everyone else was referred to as a "comrade", and all the pigs were given higher authority then the rest of the animals. An inequality between the pigs and rest of the farm was that the pigs lived in the farm house while the other majority had to sleep in pastures. A certain pig Squealer who could "turn black into white" was in charge of propaganda, and he would often change the commandments of the farm so that they would fit the actions of Napoleon or the "upper class" of the farm which was supposedly classless. For example, at one time a commandment read "No animal shall drink alcohol"(P. 75), but soon after Napoleon drank an abundance and almost died the commandment was changed to "No animal shall drink to excess." which made it seem as though Napoleon was within the rules. Another instance where Napoleon showed severe rule was when everyone on the farm who had either pledged for or showed support at one time for Snowball, the exiled former leader, was executed on the spot. This act was a humorous resemblance of The Great Purge in Russia where all opposition was killed off. The governing system of the Animal Farm was truly corrupt, but it did not stop with the propaganda and executions.
Throughout history discrimination has always been a major dilemma, whether it be race, gender, or religion, people have never stopped fighting for equality. George Orwell’s allegory Animal Farm revealed many injustices that emerged in Russia under Stalin’s rule from 1920-1953. While reading this in modern times many of the injustices that arose in the novel are closely comparable to injustices brought up today. Just as the pigs in Animal Farm were given more benefits than the other animals, men are paid more than women in the United States, revealing the continued need to improve discrimination inequalities.
A quote from George Orwell’s book Animal Farm states “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” This quote shines a light on what Orwell was trying to explain in this novel. George Orwell, a staunch anti-communist, took his beliefs and funneled them into his book Animal Farm. While this book may seem simple at first, it is actually a very complex book, it not only uses symbolism to tie in major figures of the Communist revolution in Russia, but it also has very important themes that help the story develop and these themes show the true meaning behind the book. To really comprehend what this book is about, we have to understand the characters in this story and the symbolism attached to them, along with the major themes and plotlines in this book.
Animal Farm, by George Orwell, is a novel about a dystopian society. A dystopia is “an imaginary place where people are unhappy and usually afraid because they are not treated fairly,” while a utopia is “an imaginary place in which the government, laws, and social conditions are perfect.” The story took place on a farm where the farmers treat their animals poorly. The animals rebelled and took control from the owner, Jones, so that all animals could be treated equally and set commandments on how the farm should be run. However, the more educated pigs and their leader, Napoleon, took advantage and control of this situation. Then, they used their power to get special privileges for themselves. Therefore, Animal Farm was a dystopian
Animal Farm, written by George Orwell, is a fictional story based on realistic events in history. The main topic presented in the book is the animals wanted to avoid being exploited by their current oppressor; however, their own allies exploited the other animals. The author used animal actions to mirror events that happen in the Russian Revolution. The author’s purpose is to inform his audience to be mindful of government decision, to know those decisions and learn the events in history because history has the tendency to repeat itself.