Animal Farm Historical Perspectives

Orwell shows the difference in those with absolute control and those without the ability to express themselves by describing how “the pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others. With their superior knowledge, it was natural that they should assume the leadership”(35). By including this quote within the making of the new farm, Orwell expresses how the pigs took advantage of their authorial positions so they could force the others to work, while they dominated Animal Farm with their own rules. The pigs’ power allowed them to have freedom to do anything they wanted, but caused the other animals to be restricted further in their lives, work, and individual rights. This resulted in the exploitation of the other animals, forcing them to have lose any hopes of having an equal society. Still, the other animals did not protest, and instead believed the pigs should be in power because of their intelligence. Their actions lead to the oppressive, dictatorial society shown as Animal Farm progresses. Soon, the inequity between the pigs and other animals develops to a point where “all rations were reduced, except those of the pigs and the dogs. A too rigid equality in rations, Squealer explained, would have been contrary to the principles of Animalism”

The novel ‘Animal Farm’ created by George Orwell heavily expresses the ideals of a prolonged cruel or unjust treatment and the exercise of authority. The exponential ignorance of the farm animals towards the actions and ideas of the pigs (Napoleon, Squealer and Snowball) prove the incentive that it is easier to conform to the ideals/ways of the ‘New England’, than to rebel, as well as through the exposure to propaganda and the distortion of reality. This therefore leaving them docile, numb, and oppressed.

Imagine a world where the people holding power always did what was good for everyone. As history has taught us, this doesn’t always happen. Animal Farm, by George Orwell, is a complex story about the dangers of too much government power, and the ones in power are definitely not doing things for the good of others. When the pigs take control of the farm, they become greedy, dishonest, and deceitful. Orwell lived in Europe during the time of the Russian Revolution, when there were countless dictatorships around the world. He wrote this story to symbolize (and mock) the Russian Revolution; which includes Karl Marx, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin, and Vyacheslav Molotov. Orwell uses this story, where the oppressed become the oppressors, to warn the world about the power of the government. He also warns the reader not to let the corrupt control and not stand by and let it happen. He shows that the abuse of absolute power can lead to corruption, violence, and finally, chaos.

George Orwell’s Animal Farm is a perfect example of how ignorance and lack of education can be used for control. Control which can lead to political and social oppression. The experiences of the various characters present how the pigs use this idea to oppress the animals of Animal Farm.

“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.” That was when the animals knew the pig’s use of propaganda was so effective. Before the animals discovered the corruptness of the pigs, the animals of Manor Farm in England, irritated with the ways of life and how they are being treated, decided to start a revolution. The smartest of the animals, the pigs, took control of the farm while the other animals worked. Through the deception of the pigs, they changed the rules of the farm to better accommodate themselves. George Orwell’s historical literature work, Animal Farm, is a political allegory to the Russian Revolution. Orwell tries to convey

George Orwell’s novel ‘Animal Farm’ is an allegorical fable of the Russian Revolution. It depicts the Revolution in a way that is inoffensive to people and also very easy to understand. This controversial novel also teaches many valuable lessons, all very true in man’s past and also in the present.

Governments used propaganda as a tactic to create fear, distort the truth, and strive for absolute power. Before Snowball got exiled, the pigs were already starting to use propaganda, especially Squealer. Squealer justified the pigs taking all the milks and apples by saying “milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contains substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are brainworkers. Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed [in taking care of Animal Farm]? Jones would come back!” (p.23). The pigs used the fear of Jones returning to guarantee loyalty and trust from the animals. Since the animals “did not want Jones back. They agreed without further argument that the milk and the apples should be reserved for the pigs alone.” (p.23). This confirmed to the reader that propaganda was an effective technique used by leaders to fabricate the truth. Snowball also used propaganda. After the Battle of Cowshed, Boxer was distraught over killing a stable boy. Snowball demonstrated his brutality by stating “no sentimentality, comrade! War is war. The only good human being is a dead one” (p.28). In addition to telling Boxer he should not feel sorry for taking a human life, his message to all animals was that all humans are evil and to not hesitate to kill humans. Snowball was trying to convince everyone that war was acceptable. Finally, the best example of propaganda was when Squealer stated “do not imagine

Animal farm is a renowned, allegorical novella written by George Orwell in 1945, which can be interpreted to have a hidden political meaning behind it referring to the Russian Revolution. Throughout this novella, the author purposely positions the audience to make judgements based on sensible, moral perception to show that Orwell effectively revealed how the pigs exploited a vast majority of propaganda techniques to deceptively manipulate the values, attitudes and beliefs of the other animals, with full intention of complete social control. This was exposed to the reader when the three main values of ‘Animalism’, as outlined in Old Major's speech, which consists of freedom, unity and equality, are abused for the pigs own advantage. This task

The Russian Revolution was led by a few leaders of the common people, promising better work conditions and a Communist government with equality for all. However, when the Communist party was established, so much power was given to the government, that, it quickly went corrupt and abused peoples’ rights far worse than the previous government. In George Orwell’s book, Animal Farm, the pigs promise the animals better lives than their current lives under Jones’s rule. However, mirroring the Russian Revolution, the pigs went corrupt almost immediately afterwards, changing previously declared rules, and killing other animals without reason. In the end, the pigs ended up as bad as man. In Animal Farm, George Orwell utilizes situational irony, displaying the pigs as corrupt leaders, to support Lord Acton’s quote: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Greed overshadowed any other emotion. Although some do not see it, all over the world people are being oppressed. Orwell’s novel shows how control of information can create ignorance that leads to oppression; the allegorical meanings of the novel show that this same phenomenon occurred during the Russian Revolution and is still occurring in the United States. In the book Animal Farm, pigs started off as any other unappreciated animal.

In George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, he teaches readers that humans can become inevitably corrupt when given unlimited power. The satire and allegory of The Russian Revolution, helps readers understand the harsh events that were happening during this period in history. Power has the ability to change the mentality and attitude of humans and in this case animals. When power fills one it can affect their ideas of right and wrong and their morals. In the beginning of the novel Mr. Jones the owner of Manor Farm was accused by the animals of treating them poorly.

In George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, the livestock on an English farm depose their abusive master, Mr. Jones, and form a utopian society under the philosophy of Animalism, which follows seven rules and makes sure all animals benefit from their labor. However, as the story progresses, Animalism descends into violence and tyranny. This may have been an analogy for Soviet Russia, but there are several underlying reasons for its failure that appear in many societies. First off, one of the main reasons for Animalism’s downfall is the inaction of the blind, ignorant masses. When the pig Squealer (who represents the propaganda department) changes the story of a battle to present Napoleon, the farm’s leader, in a favorable light, the animals all seem to remember the story the way Squealer tells it, without question.

Squealer can use his cute physical features and brilliant talking skills to convince someone to think a lie or do something in the animals’ favor. He had the power of persuasion.

Tyranny has always been present in human history from Joseph Stalin to Adolf Hitler they have all taken advantage of the public and used them to their own advantage and personal needs. In the story Animal Farm by George Orwell this tyrannical, totalitarian, and corrupt form of government is seen. In the story the tired animals organize a rebellion against their owner and drive him out. They create their own government, with the pigs assuming control. But the corrupt pigs take advantage of this power entrusted to them, and oppress the animal for their own benefit. Even though the pigs abused the power they had, The naive and gullible animals themselves were the ones responsible for the pigs’ quick rise to power and control because the animals were tricked into supporting the pigs evil plans, they were too braindead to organize and execute a rebellion even after they realized the pigs were up to no good, and they were so foolish that they even supported the expulsion of snowball, the only good pig that worked for the good of the other animals.

During the totalitarian reign of Joseph Stalin, he was responsible for the deaths of some fifteen to twenty million people (Naimark 11-12). The allegorization of these atrocities and other incidents can be seen in the novella Animal Farm, a political satire written by the novelist George Orwell. The story covers the intentional, erroneous interpretation of the socialist ideals that allowed for the deposition of the last Russian Czar. With the pig Napoleon portraying the tyrant Joseph Stalin, it is demonstrated how corruption can occur when influence is superadded by authority. However, the aspirations of a single man weren’t the only things responsible for the effective genocide of a mass of people. The citizenry played a role in the toleration of a dictatorial regime, either through being apolitical or ignorant to what was happening around them. In Animal Farm, George Orwell cleverly writes a host of creatures that symbolize the