Orwell's Comparing Animal Farm and The Russian System Of Communism

Orwell's Comparing Animal Farm and The Russian System Of Communism

Animal Farm is a satire and prophecy of the Russian revolution, which

was written by George Orwell in 1945. George Orwell was a political

satirist who led a somewhat strange life. His original name was 'Eric

Arthur Blair', which was later changed to his familiar pen name for

its 'manly, English, country-sounding ring'. He was a lonely boy and

had many uncertain jobs until he finally became a writer, crossing

political and artistic ideas into most of his books. The novel Animal

Farm is George Orwell's way of portraying his ideas, criticisms and

negative opinions on the Russian revolution, and therefore is

negatively biased against Lenin's communist ideology and the

revolution. The book is a serious satire, although it has been

confused as a children's book in the past.

Animal Farm is an allegory, and uses animals to express the author's

opinions. This is done for many reasons; animals already have values

and attitudes placed on them by the general public. These values and

attitudes are effectively utilized by Orwell to build the characters

in his story, as the audience will have preconceptions as to what the

character will be like, judged on what type of animal they are. For

example, pigs already have negative values placed on them for being

dirty and deceitful, and these are some of the values the author wants

us to put on the characters. This is extremely useful for Orwell, as

the different types of animals allow us to easily differentiate

between the different social classes or characters, and subtly conveys

Orwell's message on what his opinion of the character or ...

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...f animals makes the

story easily digestible, as well as creating immediate subconscious

thoughts of the character's personalities and motives. The values we

place on different animals is a key part to the story. It also makes

the satire far more subtle, and therefore more effective, as if it

told simply the history of Russian communism with only a little added,

it would not be nearly as interesting. It is also a very effective

story by itself, and does not need any background knowledge of

Russia's history. The conclusion to the story is the most powerful

part of the whole novel, and is an excellent, yet grim way to conclude

the story. The story very effectively builds up to the last message:

communism in Russia cannot work and Stalin's system of government is

just as bad for the Russian people as the reign of the Tsar.