Elie Wiesel in Night and Snowball from Animal Farm are very similar characters because they were victimized by tyrants and used as scapegoats, but they are also unique and individual characters because Elie knew he was being taken advantage of and Snowball did not. Animal Farm is written by George Orwell, and it is about a farm of animals that take over the farm. Napoleon, a large pig, slowly takes away food and supplies from the other animals until he starts walking on two feet and becomes a “human.” Because of him Snowball is expelled from the farm and acts as a scapegoat for everything that goes wrong on the farm. Night is an autobiography written by Elie Wiesel, and in it Elie tells the story of he was taken from his home and put into a concentration camp under the control of Adolf Hitler.
In the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell, the pig Napoleon uses specific tactics to gain power and control over the animal farm. Some of these techniques include controlling information through education, scapegoating, use of fear, swaying public opinion and blind obedience.
Character and Rhetorical Analysis of Animal Farm The book Animal Farm can be summarize as a animals who were tired of working with poor conditions and wanted to make a change. After the creation called Animalism made by the majestic boar, Old Major, animals seeked for justice. In the beginning of animalism, the farm animals had got along and had created the seven commandments for all to follow but in short time they fell back in the hole of inequality. The pigs had taken over to be the most important, made the others fear them and were forced to let the boars have all power in saying. Orwell’s main purpose was to distribute the wide connection and relevance of animalism to communism showed great similarities toward the Russian Revolution. Many of the pigs portrayed the leaders of the Soviet
“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
Luke Shadley 20th Century Russia 10/16/14 Orwell’s Animal Farm: Fact and Fiction, Caution and Critique George Orwell’s Animal Farm is, first and foremost, a political satire warning against the pursuit of utopian desires through unjust and oppressive means. Operating under the pretense of an animal fable, Orwell disparages the use of political power to poach personal freedom. He effectively alerts his readers to the dangerous price that can accompany the so-called “pursuit of progress”. And he illuminates how governments acting under the guise of increasing independence often do just the opposite: increase oppression and sacrifice sovereignty. While the cautionary theme Orwell provides proves widely applicable, in reality his novel focuses on one tale of totalitarian abuse: Soviet Russia. The parallels between the society Orwell presents in his Animal Farm and the Soviet Union – from the Russian revolution to Stalin’s supremacy – are seemingly endless. Manor Farm represents Tsarist Russia, Animalism compares to Stalinism, and Animal Farm, with the pig Napoleon at its helm, clearly symbolizes Communist Russia and Joseph Stalin. But Orwell does more than simply align fiction with fact. He fundamentally attacks Soviet Russia at its core. And in so doing he reveals how the Communist Party simply replaced a bad system with a worse one, overthrowing an imperial autocracy for a totalitarian dictatorship. This essay will demonstrate that Orwell’s Animal Farm is
Daniel Park A Wickwire 9 – Language Arts Honors November 14, 2017 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.”
Literary analysis of Animal Farm The rebellion was to escape from people and their cruel ways, but can they escape the death-grip of their own kind? The animals of animal farms are mistreated and have no rights. Mr and Mrs. Jones were the owners of Manor Farm, the human oppressors, and authoritarians of the animals. The animals rebel against the Jones and take over the farm. They create a utopian society for themselves, but the utopia quickly turns into a dystopia when the pigs take control of the farm. In many ways, Animal Farm is a complete allegorical / fable –like retelling of the founding of the Soviet Union, complete with a rebellion and eventual installation of a dictator. Like the ideological battle that was raged in Russia between the classes, the one that is played out in this novel have many of the same themes, including an initial push to strengthen the working class, a strong beginning movement of nationalism and unity, a series of successful efforts to topple the ruling authority (Mr. Jones), all followed by a complete totalitarian takeover by a dictator who is a hypocrite and goes back on many of the promises he made at the height of the revolutionary action.
Several messages about human nature have been reflected in Animal Farm, this has been expressed through characters and their behaviours. Orwell believed that although socialism is an ideal, it could never be obtained successfully due to our thirst for power. For example Napoleon seems at first to be a good leader but he is eventually overcome by greed and soon becomes power hungry. This is seen in the beginning of the novella, the 7 commandments of animalism served all of the animals equality. By chapter 10 the 7 commandments are reduced to one, to benefit one person - Napoleon, “All animals are equal but some are more equal than other” (p.g 90.) This is further exemplified by the use of the windmill to make a profit to fit the pig’s lavish lifestyle instead of using it to provide electricity to the animals
People respond to control and power differently for various reasons, however, one of the main reasons is based on their personality; their confidence and intelligence. In, Animal Farm by George Orwell, confidence and intelligence is a big factor for why certain animals obtained power and control and why other ones did not. People with confidence and intelligence are likely to gain most of the control and power. People with little intelligence, but lots of confidence are more likely to have some power or work underneath the leader. People with intelligence, but no confidence seem to have no power at all and shy away from it. Both intelligence and confidence are needed for someone to take total power. Therefore, the amount of confidence and intelligence a person has will decide how they respond to control and power.
Orwell clearly demonstrates that those in power who aren’t held accountable for their actions will unescapably become fraudulent. Also by accepting praise that is not theirs to receive it will force them to see themselves as superior and God-like. The chickens are a shining example for those who applaud the pigs for something that has nothing to do with them: “Under the guidance of our leader Napoleon, I have laid six eggs in five days”. In one of the final scenes, the pigs are witnessed to be walking around in human clothing, which again, is a violation of one of the 7 Commandments. This further creates a divide between government and working class. This act by the pigs, further proves Orwell’s warning of political corruption. Not only are the pigs and other animals divided by class, they are also divided by their morals. The working class are only trying to better their lives and please the leaders, whereas the pigs are only interested in having luxury and
“In past years Mr. Jones, although a hard master, had been a capable farmer, but of late he had fallen on evil days”(Orwell 38). In Animal Farm George Orwell describes life for the animals on a farm in the english countryside during the mid to early 20th century before, during and after a revolution against their master Mr.Jones in order to represent the russian revolution and describe to people throughout the free world how leaders in both capitalist and communist societies oppress the working class as a result Orwell 's tone throughout the novel is concerned. Tsar Nicholas II led Russia into failure in the Russo-Japanese war as well as World War I and allowed the shootings of over one thousand protesters on Bloody Sunday; these actions inspired Orwell to create a representation of tsar Nicholas II in the character Mr.Jones who is known for being drunk and forgetful.
George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm shares a fundamental theme and common elements that shape the idea of an Orwellian society. Orwellian is widely described as a society in which the liberties of all are diminished due to authoritarian rule. Orwell conveys the theme of “Many believe that man’s actions result from his free will, the presentation/perception of what is fact, remains dominant over society 's actions.” through parallel elements of repression of information, fear propaganda, and language.
While reading Animal Farm one will notice many similarities to the Russian Revolution. From the mirroring of characters like Farmer Jones and Czar Nicholas and events like the implementation of labor camps, you can see where Orwell gained his inspiration from. Throughout Animal Farm George Orwell uses different situations and characters to parallel people and events from the Russian Revolution to help simplify and teach students the possible outcomes of totalitarian style government.
Another important point Orwell tries to teach is about dictatorship and being played. In this story the animals pass the leadership role to Napoleon, a pig who can read and write. Napoleon uses his power to play and control the animals. One way he does this is by changing the rules. When the animals first established Animal Farm, they came up with seven commandments to live by . Every time Napoleon would break a commandment, he would slightly alter the rule. When an animal thought
George Orwell includes a strong message in his novel Animal Farm that is easily recognizable. Orwell’s Animal Farm focuses on two primary problems that were not only prominent in his WWII society, but also posed as reoccurring issues in all societies past and present. Orwell’s novel delivers a strong political message about class structure and oppression from the patriarchal society through an allegory of a farm that closely resembles the Soviet Union.