preview

Animal Allegory In Animal Farm By George Orwell

Decent Essays

Animal Farm is a novel written by George Orwell. The story takes place in a farm full of animals. Eventually, the animals rebel against the humans, which leads them the make their own government. As the book progresses Orwell uses many types of literary devices to communicate his opinions and thoughts specifically about the government in the society. In Animal Farm Orwell uses satire through the animal allegory, and irony, commenting on the the Russian Revolution, to show a connection between the individuals of a society and a totalitarian government and to create a cautionary tale that warns the readers about abuse of power. Orwell uses irony as one of his methods to direct his satiric attack on the totalitarian regime. Before Old Major dies he warns the animals about mankind, “Man serves the interests of no creature except himself…. All men are enemies….And remember also that in fighting against Man, we must not come to resemble him…. Do not adopt his vices…. And, above all, no animal must ever tyrannize over his own kind …. All animals are equal” (Orwell 10-12). Old Major intentions were to tell the animals about the bright future they would have after the rebellion over man. He claimed that no animal should take more power over another and that all the individuals of the society had an equal say in their actions as a community. This is important because he is explaining the importance of not resembling man once the animals rebell. Unlike man, he spoke to the animals about equality and advised them to not abuse their individual power. However, the pigs undergo a change throughout the book, and start to live in the farmhouse, adopting human vices. Later on in the plot the animals peer through a window, “the creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which” (Orwell 141). The pigs actions towards the end of the book contradict Old Major’s words of advice. This is ironic because Old Major was a prized boar, and his mindset was on a society with equality, which the pigs agreed to. But after the rebellion the pigs started becoming more and more like the humans that once used to rule. Napoleon insistence that the

Get Access