Abuse Of Power In George Orwell's Animal Farm

The paperback, Animal Farm, written by George Orwell is a representation of the Russian Revolution. The allegory is that he represents the revolution by using animals overthrowing a farm. Once they have overthrown the farm, the animals elect the pigs to be the leaders because they were recognized to be the cleverest. Throughout the novel, George Orwell is arguing controversial themes. One of the topics Orwell argues in Animal Farm is that power corrupts those who have it.

In George Orwell’s famous novel Animal Farm, he has used allegory to highlight the problems with a communist system. There are many themes involved with Animal Farm, the most important would come down to lies and deceit, manipulation, power and corruption. In Animal Farm George Orwell depicts a ‘utopian’ society based on the principles of ‘animalism’ that promises harmony and equality among the animals. Which then goes to ruins as power, corruption, lies; manipulation and deceit all start to come into play.

George Orwell’s political and allegorical novel, Animal Farm, published on the 17th of August, 1945 is based upon the events prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and its outcome. Orwell adopts allegory throughout the whole novel in which the animals are personalized/characterized to represent the struggles and conflicts of the Russian Revolution. Orwell displays how power corrupts those who possess it and how with power comes manipulation by words. How words are deceived/misguided by propaganda (represented by Squealer), and how although violence is used to discipline the animals, dialogue is the most profound technique. That if it wasn’t for the pig’s reliance on the animals’ ignorance, the Manor Farm would still be called Animal Farm.

Orwell uses the allegory, Animal Farm, to present the story of The Russian Revolution and essentially express his opinions on the matter. By plainly exposing the unjust and corrupt system that is communism, Orwell is ultimately presenting his pessimistic view of human nature.

In Animal Farm, George Orwell uses satirical allegory throughout his novel to present the pessimistic view of human nature. The animal fable is used to demonstrate the issues of unfair treatment, exploitation and inequality in society. It is evident that this irony is particularly evident in the ending of both novels (Gulbin 88). The satirist irony is directed on the events of the Russian Revolution and on the totalitarian regime. Orwell uses political reason with creative reason to show his negative belief that people only change the dictators though revolutions but the systems stay the same. It is only a dream that people can gain a classless society through revolutions. Orwell believes that everyone wants equality, yet it is in one's nature as human beings to obtain power.

People play an enormous component in our lives and the choices we make. In George Orwell's “ Animal Farm” there are several people that show leadership and guidance. The Leaders of Animal Farm start off with good intentions, but as the story goes on it becomes obvious the leaders have grown power-hungry and have become the 'superior' animals, showing that equality does not exist. This source of power has been used by leaders at the expense of their followers for their own personal gain, like Napoleon, whose first sign of corruption occurred early in the book when he seemed to be the main leader of them all.

"All oppression creates a state of war" -Simone de Beauvar, French Philosopher. Animal Farm by George Orwell is an allegory for the Russian Revolution. Each animal was a key character in the Revolution such as Napoleon being Joseph Stalin, Mr. Jones being Tsar Nicholas and Boxer, being an ignorant. Mr.Jones was run off the farm because the animals were tired of the drunken man mistreating them. What the animals didn't know was that they went from one dictator to a whole group of them. The pigs. Ignorance contributes to political and social oppression and is proved by the inability to comprehend what the pigs are doing to the other animals. The animals cannot read or write as well, are perplexed easily, couldn't see the blemishes in the pig's leadership, or how the pigs changed things and didn't see or completely ignored how the pigs had acted.

Orwell’s Animal Farm is an allegory because it not only represents a dictatorship and corrupt situation among a community of farm animals, but also represents all the political events that occurred in Russia after the Russian Revolution. For example, in the story, the animals decided to revolt against their owner, Farmer Jones. This event directly represents the Russian Revolution. Another event would also be when the dogs help Napoleon search through the private belongings of the animals on the farm. This event directly represents when the "Secret Police" became official after the Russian Revolution. This story was not only an allegorical piece, but also a rhetorical one.

Author George Orwell’s animal farm is an allegory because it propounds a symbolic society of farm animals. Certain farm animals represent specific historical characters in the rise of communism taking place at that time in history, for example, “Napoleon” as Stalin, “Snowball” as Trotsky, and “Old Major” showing as a sort of amalgam for Marx and Lenin in some parts. These characters were not created by Orwell to entertain, but to mold according to preexisting people from history, aiming to teach. Orwell’s original inspiration placed the able, ardent stable of activist animals eternally on the farm: He witnessed a young boy on a cart, somewhat capriciously whipping his hardworking horse. In that moment, Orwell stated, he saw how “men exploit animals in much the same way the rich exploit the proletariat” This stands as the spectrum of Animal Farm.

“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and and from pig to man again, but already it was impossible to say which was which.” Orwell wrote Animal Farm as an allegory based on problems resulting from the Russian Revolution. In Animal Farm, George Orwell uses tone, characterization, and stylistic elements to show that people in power use manipulation to stay in power.

The story Animal Farm by George Orwell is clearly an allegory. In order to understand a story fully, you must understand the author's life experiences and beliefs. George Orwell wasn’t just writing a book from second hand opinion, rather, he felt the cruelty of the people very deeply. George Orwell quit his job because he was against the oppression of a corrupted government. He refused to be used as a means to oppress the people. He was shot during the Spanish Civil War because he fought for the people’s side.

Power and corruption are and are not the same word. Although they intertwine with each other, they have different meanings and usages; but in the hands of those who do no not know how to use them, they can be the same and usually devastating. When the book was written in the 40’s, the Soviet Union was gaining power and spreading in Europe. Joseph Stalin was the feared leader of the Soviet Union, and there are many similarities between him and the power-hungry pig, Napoleon. In his book, Animal Farm, George Orwell uses complex characters, such as Napoleon and Squealer, to depict what was happening in Russia at the time and how fragile power can cause corruption in little time.

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.

Language is a powerful tool, some abuse it to obtain power and some use it to inspire movements and bring change. I believe that language is more powerful if you use it to control a population via lying, manipulation, and fear. There have been many instances of individuals and groups using fear and language for control.

Having so much power is not always a good thing. In George Orwell's classic novel Animal Farm, this is proved to an extent where the characters are mainly animals, not people. In this novel, the animals speak to each other as humans would talk to each other, making the novel very intriguing to read. The point I am trying to make here as it is proven time and time again in history, as well as in this book, is that absolute power corrupts; and it corrupts absolutely. I personally have chosen the topic that power corrupts, if given to much power it corrupts you by making you greedy, violent and egocentric.