Symbolism and Literary Techniques in George Orwell's "Animal Farm"

George Orwell’s Animal Farm is an allegoric fairy tale type novel that uses irony, satire, and allegory to portray the true identity of media censored Communist Russia. Because of the relationship between America and Communist Russia during WWII, Animal Farm was not originally received with warmth because it was thought of as harmful propaganda. But then, during the Cold War, when US-USSR relations soured, George Orwell’s novel was finally read.

George Orwell, the pseudonym of Eric Blair, conceived the basis of Animal Farm during his tenure at Eden, a prestigious English boarding school. It was here where Blair founded his belief in Socialism, a centralized government that controls all economic procedures and enterprises. Socialism is in stark contrast to Communism; whereas Socialism has a centralized government that controls economic procedure, Communism does not. Communism relies upon only a small dictatorship party or a single dictator. Once Blair graduated from Eden, he served in the Spanish Civil War, the proving ground for WWII and the rivalry between Hitler and Stalin. When Blair served for Stalin, he was finally disillusioned, allowing him to see the horrors of Russia under the censored façade. Blair became fearful of Russia, and wrote the book to warn others of the terrible civil atmosphere in the USSR.

Of the three literary techniques used by Orwell to warn others and reveal to them the “real” Communist Russia, irony was the most prominent, and most easily put into real world context. Mr. Blair used irony to convey the manipulative powers of the Communist Cabinet Members through the use of the TASS or Propaganda Ministry. He also used a particular type of irony, dramatic irony, to let the reader draw conclusions ...

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...ghly sought after, because the leader tells everyone what to do without actually having to work. The pigs and the dogs, who are clearly in control, do absolutely no work except drinking and playing foolish games. Yet because they have established their role as leaders, they have oppressed the animals so much that the animals do not know what to do. . "Once again all the rations were reduced, except those of the pigs and the dogs." The fact that the pigs receive more food than the other harder working animals shows that the farm is full of inequality. What Orwell is desperately trying to say is that Communism does not work due to a person’s underlying egotistical urges. Once a group or an individual obtains power, it is impossible to manage it correctly because the euphoria and sense of power overwhelms even an impartial and altruistic soul into one such as Napoleon.