The Connection: A New Historic View of George Orwell’s Animal Farm

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In the middle of the 1930s, Adolf Hitler began his rise to power in Germany, initiating the start of the Second World War and spread fear across Western Europe. During this time period, George Orwell began writing his novella, Animal Farm, which has been said to represent the events of the communist revolution; yet according to an analysis of the new historic lens, no book, no matter the style, can escape the hindrance of social context; proving that the air surrounding the war, impacted the literature written in this time. While it may not be about World War Two, Animal Farm, like all other writings was impacted by its surroundings. An analysis of George Orwell’s Animal Farm reveals that his work, being written in the 1940s, was greatly influenced by the events surrounding World War Two, which took place across all of Europe. After World War One, Germany was in severe suffering due to the fact that all of the war debts were pinned onto their nation, which caused a great economic depression. This later led to an era of hyperinflation, rendering the German dollar near useless, so much so, children were using stacks of German money as building blocks and it spread the depression across most of the countries involved. . Germany as a whole was on a decline in morale, money, and reliance on their once trusted government.”…the destruction and catastrophic loss of life during World War I led to what can best be described as a cultural despair in many former combatant nations…” In Orwell’s Animal Farm the farm had lost a lot of money and the animals were in suffering without any assistance from their farm’s owner, leaving them without sufficient food or resources. “Mr. Jones, although a hard master, had been a capable farmer, but of late ... ... middle of paper ... ...acts On File, Inc.http://www.fofweb.co m/activelink2.asp?temID=WE53&iPin=polthot00177&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 21, 2014). Goebbels, Joseph, Dr. "The Führer as a Speaker." Calvin College. N.p., n.d. Web. (21 Apr. 2014.) . United States Holocost Memorial Museum. "World War I: Aftermath." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 10 June 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. Axelrod, Alan. "Concentration Camps." Encyclopedia of World War II. Vol. I. New York: Facts on File, 2007. ModernWorld History Online. Facts on File Inc. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. . Danzer, Gerald A., Klor De Alva, Krieger, Wilson, and Woloch. "Chapter 25 - The United States in World War II." The Americans. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2007. 874-903. Print.

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