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Orwell's views on totalitarianism
Comparisons between communism and animal farm
Orwell's views on totalitarianism
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Even those with the best of intentions can become corrupt when given power, as George Orwell so descriptively portrays in his allegorical novella Animal Farm. Animal Farm tells the story of a group of animals who, after living for years under the merciless rule of a drunk, careless farmer, one day rise up in rebellion. After driving the humans off their farm, the animals are left to create their own self-governed society. Based on the ideals of Communism, the animals’ gubernatorial structure at first seems appealing, promoting equality and a determination to create an independent, animal-only society. The system, which is known as Animalism, seems to be beneficial to all and offers promises of a better and more prosperous future. However, just …show more content…
Napoleon, the pigs’ leader and ultimately the dictator of Animal Farm, recruits an army of dogs by kidnapping them at birth and raising them to be “huge…and as fierce-looking as wolves.” (p. 53) They, too, were blindly loyal to Napoleon, but their brainwashing ran far deeper, and they possessed the strength to keep others in line. They “[keep] close to Napoleon” (p. 53) at all times, and strike down his enemies. Having not only blindly loyal followers but an army of them truly gives Napoleon the power to do anything, and he abuses it, which is yet again a warning from Orwell of what happens when one has too much power. This is exemplified on page 84, when Napoleon calls forward animals whom he says are traitors and the dogs are seen “[tearing] their throats out.” Napoleon is also seen using his army even against his fellow pigs, in order to obtain more power (which in turn leads to more corruption, per Orwell’s warning) for himself. Napoleon’s fellow leader, Snowball, possessed too much power for Napoleon’s liking, and so Napoleon had his dogs “[dash] at Snowball…[with] their snapping jaws.” (p. 53) They then chased Snowball “through a hole in the hedge” at the edge of the farm, and Snowball is never seen again. Just as Stalin “eliminated” Leon …show more content…
By the end of the story, Orwell states that it “[is] impossible to tell” (p. 141) pig from human as they sit as allies around a table. In the Commandments that once ruled their society, all the animals vowed never to be in contact or trade with a human, let alone act like one. The corruption caused by their rise to power has influenced the pigs so greatly that they have betrayed their people and their beliefs, which were once pure and based on the motives that drove all animals to strive for a better, fairer life. The pigs clearly once passionately believed that, as it was none other than a pig by the name of Old Major who gave the speech that inspired the Animalist rebellion. Old Major himself said that “all men are enemies” (p. 10), and this was an ideal by which all pigs lived prior to their ascent to authority. Through this passage, Orwell clearly warns how even those who seem pure and driven by good can turn horribly bad when given too much
Abraham Lincoln once said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” ("Abraham Lincoln Quote"). Lord Acton also said, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” (“Lord Acton Quotes”). Both of the quotes show that power is not always a good thing, and can sometimes make good people, do bad things. Animal Farm by George Orwell is a novella about animals rebelling against humans on a farm in England. The novella has been said to be directly related to the Russian Revolution of the early 20th century. Immediately after the animals gained power, the pigs took over as the leaders of the animals. The pigs became corrupt with the power, and may have made conditions worse than they were with humans
The pigs in George Orwell’s Animal Farm use specific laws, use unknown vocabulary and excruciating detail, implement scare tactics, and create and manipulate law to successfully attain the other animal’s trust, acquire certain luxuries unavailable to most animal, and establish themselves as the dictators of a totalitarian-like society. Through using detail, unknown vocabulary, specific laws, and scare tactics, the pigs acquire the ability to drink alcohol, sleep on beds, eat and drink the milk and apples, destroy Snowball’s credibility, and establish a trust between themselves and the other animals. From Orwell’s Animal Farm, one realizes how leaders with absolute power use carefully manipulated language to abuse their power.
Soon afterwards, the pigs start to become selfish. They change the commandments to suit their selfish needs. Snowball and Napoleon become rivals. After Snowball is chased away by Napoleon’s dogs, Napoleon becomes supreme leader and life becomes more difficult and frightening. The animals are confused by his hypocritical actions but his right-hand pig, Squealer, convinces them to accept the decisions. The windmill that promised a better life did not deliver a better life for the animals, instead only enriching the gluttonous life of the pigs. Napoleon rules through a combination of fear and propaganda. He represents the opportunistic, cunning dictators in history. The sheep and Boxer represent the gullible working class, easily persuaded by propaganda. They need to follow a leader. Through them, Orwell expresses the dangers of an uneducated population.
Power can have the persuasive action in undoing the moral ethics of one’s character. This can be seen throughout history, such as World War II and proven by the actions of Napoleon in the allegory, Animal Farm, by George Orwell. As Lord Acton said “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In history what was viewed as a villain or wrong doer is never the same as the perception. A leader does not begin wanting to do wrong, they start with the best intentions, but power is a tricky thing, showcased in Animal Farm as Utopian ideals but with failed practices.
The moral of Animal Farm is from a famous quote by Lord Acton: “Power tends to corrupt, absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely.
George Orwell uses power corrupts as a theme for Animal Farm. Orwell defines “power corrupts” as a distortion of ideals and practices to legitimize the power of a particular group or person. Orwell uses the pigs, and specifically Napoleon, to show how power is gained and then corrupted. “By the time he (Snowball) had finished speaking, there was no doubt as to which way the vote would go… Napoleon stood up… uttered a high-pitched whimper… and nine enormous dogs wearing brass-studded collars came bounding into the barn.” (52,53) George Orwell’s message that power corrupts is shown through pigs rise to power, Napoleon’s takeover, and Napoleon’s dictatorship.
Animal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell published in 1975 that reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917. The novel provides an effective use of propaganda techniques by the pigs to manipulate the meaning of equality, freedom and unity in Orwells speech and how they completely abolish the values and attitudes of ‘animalism’. There are many values such as equality, freedom and unity incorporated in Old Major’s speech that commenced the revolution. It appears all animals had the same values but that was until the pigs destroyed it. They use verbal techniques to destroy the values and this played a major effect on the animals who know nothing more than to follow in the footsteps of their new leaders. Furthermore,
...d to in formal style as “our Leader, Comrade Napoleon”, the pigs liked to invent for him such titles as Father of All Animals”(Orwell 62). The Comrades became brainwashed and started seeing Napoleon, who is just another animal like them, as a Father. On the wall beside the seven commandments the animals even wrote him a poem. Excessive power and dictatorship makes it easier to influence the public and to make them believe information that may not necessarily be true.
During the book, Animal Farm by George Orwell Mr. Jones of the manor farm was mistreating his farm animals. The farm contained three dogs, pigs, hens, sheep, cows, cart horses, goat, and a donkey. These animals feel mistreated because they worked and the animals lose their resources to Jones and his men for a profit. The animals came up with the seven commandments for themselves to follow and not to be controlled by humans.Sometimes the animals had the farm to themselves but then Mr. Jones came back with his men to recapture the farm. But the men and Jones ended up losing the fight and fleeing away from the farm. George Orwell brings up the central idea that Too Much power can lead to corruption which can cause devastation conveys the reader that Napoleon is Ruthless.
“That is my message to you comrades: Rebellion!”(Orwell 4) was a line said by Old Major while giving his speech to the animals. With Old Major’s speech and ideas about animalism, he plants the seed of rebellion against Mr. Jones in the minds of the animals. His utopian vision of a farm where all animals share in equal work and enjoy benefits together, is destroyed and turns into a complete totalitarian dictatorship. The utilization of terror, propaganda, and constitutional violations are all ways in which Animal Farm resembles a totalitarian state.
In George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” the animals gain power of the farm after it is taken from Mr Jones, the previous human owner. The pigs place themselves as the leaders because they realize that because they have a higher understanding in education, they can get away with putting themselves in that position. Gradually the power begins to corrupt the pigs and they start acting as the human farmers do. They do so without the animals taking notice through indoctrination, or making the animals believe the pigs are doing good and helping the other animals. This is how the pigs gained power through education.
George Orwell’s Animal Farm is known as a satire, fable, and an allegory. Orwell includes many allegorical lessons in his novel; thus creating a novel that can be read on many levels. In his article Appreciating Animal Farm in the New Millenium, John Rodden argues that if the political and historical references in the book are missed by the reader, the book can be completely misunderstood. The story is about three pigs that turn a failing farm into a complete dictatorship where some animals are more equal than others. Animal Farm is a prime example of an allegory through its use of comparing the farm to communist Russia, comparing the pigs to leaders of the Russian Revolution, and through the comparison of Animalism to Communism.
Throughout history we see a lot of dreamers dreaming of a world that is completely free corruption a utopia, this unfortunately is a non maintainable goal Because humans are fallen and our Corruption is inevitable, in short Individuals only think about themselves “It is all lies. man serves the interests of no creature except himself”(30-31). It is clear that people should think of what is best for everyone. George Orwell's literary work Animal Farm symbolizes the corruption that happens, and the three main ways it can happen: people being uneducated, being too easily fooled, and allowing one person to have complete power.
“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” (pg. 141) Animal Farm is a novella written by George Orwell. In this story the animals want freedom from the drunken farmer, Mr. Jones, so they rebel and take the farm for themselves. The pigs start taking over and manipulate the other animals by using double speak. Eventually the farm returns to normal, however, the pigs are more powerful than the other animals. The utopia that all the animals wanted in the beginning is reversed and the pigs are just the same as Jones. This novella is an allegory in that it represents the effects of communism in Soviet Russia
The fable Animal Farm, written by George Orwell, depicts social and historical contexts from the Russian Revolution of 1917, as well as the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union (U.S.S.R). Orwell’s novel is unique in its use of farm animals to portray the rise of Stalin,a totalitarian leader, and the dehumanization of Soviet Union citizens during the Stalinist era. The novel is set on a farm in Great Britain by the name of Animal Farm, where the values of Animalism and neglective behavior of the farm owner lead to the overthrow of human jurisdiction. The basis of the newly implemented animal run society was to have equality among animals along with branding humans as the common enemy of all animals. However Napoleon the pig, the character representing