In "Politics and the English Language", Orwell illustrates the misuse of the English language in society. Orwell believes that language can be used to both actively and passively oppress a society. Orwell has five rules that connect to Animal Farm and Anthem. His rules are the following; never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print, Never use a long word where a short one will do, if it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out, never use the passive where you can use the active, never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
In "Animal Farm,” the pigs make up the 7 commandments that all of the animals in the barn must follow. Such as "Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy,"(Orwell 43) and " Four legs good, two legs bad."(Orwell 43) The commandments that the pigs created connect to George Orwell's article, because in the first quote there are words you cut a few words out and it will still make sense. Instead of saying "Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy," the author can say two legs is the enemy. In the other quote, "Four legs good, two legs bad,” this commandment is in simple terms that you use every day. Instead of saying that, the author can use four legs are superior to two legs.
Another commandment that can be changed into simpler terms is “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."(Orwell 133) This commandment sounds too repetitive and can be changed into something simpler like all animals are equal but others are better than other animals.
Squealer gave a speech about the pigs should eat what they are given. "Comrades! He cried...Many of us actually dislike m...
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...ilities,” is irrelevant to the first sentence. She is saying how she loves people who go after what they want, but she loathes humanity. It seems like she is just writing to get to a certain word count. Furthermore, when Rand said “The secrets of this earth are not for all men to see, but only for those who will seek them,” she said it so complicated, and it could be said in simpler terms.
In conclusion, George Orwell explains how there is confusion in the English language and he believes that that language can be used to both actively and passively oppress a society. He also has confidence that you should never use a simile or metaphor that you have seen in print, never use a long proper word when a short one is better, cut out words if it is possible, never use the passive where you can use the active, and never use a phrase that is the same as an English term.
At the beginning of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, an aging pig named Old Major gives a speech to the rest of the animals. In his speech, he explains to them how awful their lives are in order to shows them that the Rebellion against Man, their one true enemy, will come soon. Old Major appeals to the animal’s emotions by using rhetorical questions and fear to effectively persuade the animals of the coming Rebellion.
Orwell, George. “Politics and the English Language.” George Orwell: Critical Essays. London: Harvill Secker: 2009. 270-286. Print.
The main idea of paragraph 13 is that Orwell clears up many misconceptions that people might have about his essay and reinstates that he believes that quality over quantity is something that the English language needs to work towards and that archaic rules can be broken in order to achieve this. 12) The first ironic rule is to, “Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.” This rule is to make sure that people are creative in their writing and add a bit of spark to the writing. Another reason the rule is stated since hackneyed phrases often get muddled with other ones, which results in a muddled
This is an important example of the foolishness of writers that do not understand the metaphors, similes, and symbolic expressions to help the reader understand their ideas in the writing. I also agree that writers do not use words “precisely”, which can confuse the reader. Many writers are not fully aware of the meaning of the words they choose, which Orwell breaks down in the writings he is analyzing. Clarity in the writing process is conveyed with great accuracy by Orwell to make this second point.
The actions of the pigs express this theme by starting with good intentions, but slowly becoming more and more like what they were trying to avoid. In the beginning of the story Old Major gives a speech to the animals on the farm, and in this speech he mentions how cruel the humans are. During his speech Old Major uses Boxer the horse as an example when he says “You, Boxer, the very day that those great muscles of yours lose their power, Jones will sell you to the knacker, who will cut your throat and boil you down for the foxhounds.” (Orwell 11). He then proceeds to tell the animals that once they revolt the cruelty will end, and at first it does, but soon the pigs begin to act more like humans. The pi...
..., power, and manipulation are the aspects of language substantiated in Animal Farm. By fabricating with a precise and sensible illustration, language can be deceptive. Words can carry power or influence with the use of terse and persuasive dictions and repetition. Finally, Orwell describes how manipulative the language can be using the examples of mottoes controlling the animals and being the foundation of their personal conducts. The reason for Orwell presenting such abilities of words this book is to highlight the importance of one’s education and mastery of language. The author writes this fable in order to deliver the message that those who do not do so will be susceptible to such deception or manipulation. The proficiency in speech, writing, reading and listening comprehension and the flexibility in lexica determine one’s capability of living in this society.
“It illustrates how language can be the core of a person’s reality, how it can be used to obscure the truth, and even how it can be used to change the past.” (Berkes) Just think of your world, powered by a government that has no end or suppression. Sometimes we all think that the government is in a bad place, but with Orwell’s work we can see that indeed it can be controlled even more. “Predicting the future wasn’t Orwell’s goal” (Fischer), but it was used as a tool to warn the future that if we don’t govern what our country is doing, it can slowly take over our lives. “Language is one of the key instruments of political dominations, the necessary and insidious means of the ‘totalitarian’ control of reality.” (Rai) Communication and language have shaped our world and will continue to help expand the reaches of human existence; as with anyone’s reality, your thoughts and dreams are all made up of communication and ideas. Its only when someone treads on your deepest sense of personality, that you understand the power of human thought and language. “Orwell’s novel validates that language, when used in a manner that has a political standpoint, can tread on the very existence of reality.”
Often times, in a communist society, a leader’s use of language can lead to abuse of power. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the farm leaders, the pigs, use unknown language, invoke scare tactics, and create specific laws, thereby enabling them to control other animals, to suit their greedy desires, and to perform actions outside their realm of power. Because of the pigs’ use of broad language, implementation of scare tactics, and creation and manipulation of laws, they are able to get away with avoiding laws and convincing other animals into believing untrue stories and lies that are beneficial to the pigs. The first way the pigs use language to abuse their power is by using extensive detail and by using terms and vocabulary foreign to most animals. An example of the pigs using unknown terms can be found when Squealer explains to the other animals how hard the pigs need to work to keep the farm running.
There is a substantial amount of conflicts that occur in this satirical story. Often these conflicts are between the pigs and the rest of the animals. Only a minute portion of the animals didn’t really have some sort of conflict with Snowball, Napoleon, Squealer, or the rest of the dominating pigs. Overall, Snowball was a better leader than Napoleon, yet the animals reacted differently to Napoleon than to Snowball.
Language can be used as a weapon to control others. In the story, after old Major died, the pigs distorted the meaning of his words and twisted the idea of socialism and gradually turned it into totalitarianism. Those pigs knew that other animals were not able to oppose Old Major’s idea, so they used that as an excuse for disobeying the ‘Seven Commandments’ and did whatever they want for their own benefits. They used outrageous terror and abuse of language to keep other animals in dark and finally, they became even greedier and totally destroyed the farm. This symbolizes the society in 1945 and it is the reason why George Orwell wrote this book — to wake up the people at that time.
As soon as Old Major had died Napoleon took his place as the leader of
Pigs walking on two feet, horses and sheep talking. This is how George Orwell satirizes human nature in his classic novel Animal Farm. Animal Farm is an allegory of the Russian Revolution of 1917. The title of the book is also the setting for the action in the novel. The animals in the story decide to have a revolution and take control of the farm from the humans. Soon the story shows us how certain groups move from the original ideals of the revolution to a situation where there is domination by one group and submission by all the others. The major idea in this story is the political corruption of what was once a pure political ideal. Orwell uses satire to ridicule human traits in his characters such as Napoleon and Squealer. There are several different characters in the novel utilizing animals as symbols of people in real life during the Russian Revolution. Napoleon is the leader of the pigs that ultimately come to dominate the farm. The characteristics that we associate with pigs , lazy, greedy, and pushy are meant to symbolize the characteristics that the leaders of the Russian Revolution exhibited. Napoleon is admired by all of the animals because he is their leader. All of the animals believe that their leader wants to fulfill all of their needs. They also are convinced that Napoleon’s decisions are made the best interest of the animals. Napoleon’s piglike qualities are shown throughout the story. He exhibited greediness when he sold the dying horse, Boxer to a slaughterhouse for money so that he and the other pigs could purchase whiskey. Orwell ridicules human nature through Napoleon in the sense that he is trying to show how the greedy and power hungry eventually end in corruption.
Orwell's book, "Animal Farm", is full of satire. This satire is Orwell's way of communicating problems and resolutions. The main message in Animal Farm is that power cannot be divided equally. There will never be equality for all. Once power is obtained it is always abused, and power causes all to think as the leader does. Equality does not exist, for it is impossible for everyone to be equal.
Orwell makes his point on the state of the English language by using five quotes. He
“When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself ‘I am going to produce a work of art.’ I write because there is some lie I want to expose and some fact I want to draw attention to.” George Orwell investigated themes of power, totalitarianism and leadership in relation to Marxist theories throughout his novels yet seemed to direct them at a range of audiences. Investigate the extent to which Orwell alters his communication of the lies he wishes to expose and how they are conveyed to the reader through literary devices. Literature is an essential part of society in the present day and enables the communication between multiple parties in a written form.