Similarities Between Animal Farm And The Truman Show

George Owell’s Animal Farm and Peter Weirs Truman Show both have similar but different themes. This essay will explain that power of the stronger characters is fuled by the ignorance of the weaker characters. That you can only have happiness or freedom never both, that the idea of utopia is different in both texts.

Power of the stronger characters in both texts is fuled by the ignorance of the weaker chacters. In Animal Farm the animals are too ignorant of the evil pigs that they followed their every word. This is evident when they change the commandments from “no animal shall sleep in a bed” to “no animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets.” They accepted it because “it was there on the wall.” The animals where so exploited by their ignorance at the end of the book, that the pigs had ultimate power over the animals. Similarly in the Truman show Christof had power over Truman. Christof throughout the film tries to keep Truman ignorant taming Truman’s curiosity, through methods of fear like dogs and water. Christof was trying to make Truman “accept the reality of the world” so Truman could remain ignorant. The difference between Truman show and animal farm that Truman’s curiosity led to his freedom, and in Animal Farm there was very little curiosity.

In both texts, it

was ether happiness or freedom never both. This is exemplified especially in Animal Farm. The animals wanted to be happy, and it appears no matter the cost because they sold their freedom bit by bit till there was none left. The animals where “happy as they had never conceived it possible to be.” The animals did find happiness but at the price of their own freedom. “every set back” was met with harder work and nothing seemed to slow them down. However in the Truman Show, Truman traded his happiness for freedom. This is shown through the opening scenes of the Truman Show. It depicts Trumans smooth and easy life, he had minimal challenge however he was never satisfied. Weir illustrates this in the scene where Truman tries to call the travel agent and when he tries to piece together Sylvie’s face from magazines. Due to this dissatisfaction he searched for the truth and with every piece of truth he finds, he gets closer to freedom but further from happiness.

Utopia looks different in Animal farm then the Truman Show.

Utopia in animal farm is where everyone has a job purpose and belongs. Boxer the worker pigs the leaders. However in the Truman show everyone is at arm’s length but happy. Truman lives in Sea Haven a place that represents certainty and safty. He lives in good marriage friendship and work that is constructed to make him not want to leave. With every spark of doubt that Truman has is extinguished with a disguised truth like when his colleague waves a newspaper reading “Sea Haven best place on earth”. Truman rejects the propaganda. In Animal Farm utopia is never achieved but in Truman show it is slowly deconstructed to pave the way for the

truth.

In animal farm and the Truman Show it’s evident that both texts are similar but much different. The differences are seen in through the power of the stronger characters and how it was fuled by the ignorance of the weaker characters, and in the way both Weir and Orwell looks at utopia. But they both agree on freedom and happiness and that you can never have both freedom and happiness and every one looking for both in the texts will never find it.