Vladimir Lenin once emphasized that ” all members of the Russian Communist Party who are in the slightest degree suspicious or unreliable ... should be got rid of”. By these words Lenin banned the Russian Communist Party and introduced the one-party state, whereby Stalin easily managed to get rid of his rivals for the power of the Soviet Union.
Despite having the Soviet Union as Britain’s ally George Orwell succeeds in criticising the Soviet regime in his book Animal Farm through a heavy use of irony and by a language charged with symbolism.
But how can you avoid getting your book caught by the strict censorship during the Second World War, when you criticize your ally? To Orwell the answer is pigs.
The fifth chapter of George Orwell’s book
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Do not imagine, comrades, that leadership is a pleasure! On the contrary, it is a deep and heavy responsibility.
And as we see the animals swallow the bait. For instance on of the intelligent animals Boxer, who represent the hardworking class, says: “If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right”.
George Orwell’s attitude to the totalitarianism based on a terror regime is established through Boxer. Due to the fact that Boxer has an unsuspecting nature he seems as an easy target to Napoleons propaganda. Therefore Orwell established a bond between the reader and Boxer because you feel sorry for him, whereupon you as a reader are against Napoleon’s propaganda through Squealer, which means you would be against Stalin’s regime.
Orwell is well aware of his establishment of the emotional bond to bond, whereby his attitude to Stalin and his regime shines
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Napoleon’s greed can for instance be seen in the fact that he takes the extra milk from the cows, and he uses Mr Jones’ bed and eats Mr Jones’ food, which none of the other animals were allowed to. Throughout these egoistic actions Napoleon’s personality comes to light, which ironically is against his own ideology of equality among all animals. Napoleon’s and the pigs’ egoistic development is illustrated in the change on the seventh commandment, when “All animals are equal.” turns into “ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.” . This development once again emphasize the importance of an educated working class, which could have ceased the farm’s development given that the animals would have see through Napoleon’s propaganda.
George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm is an ironic, yet critical of the Soviet society and the totalitarianism that Stalin is a symbol of. By the use of irony and symbolism Orwell attacks the exploiting actions that occured in the aftermath of Lenin’s death, as well as he attacks the use of propaganda and the use of terror in order to take control of the working class. Furthermore Orwell make a point of the importance of an educated working class, whereby you would prevent terror regimes, propaganda and totalitarianism.
Animal farm can therefore be seen as an attack on the Soviet one-party state
In chapter 9 Boxer dies working and he was a hard worker. Boxer believed everything that napoleon said was good so his main mottoes were “I will work harder” and “Comrade napoleon is always right.” Because these mottoes served Napoleon good, Napoleon decided to tell the animals to adapt Boxer's mottoes and they did because they wanted to be as good as Boxer was. There are more examples of propaganda used in Animal Farm and it is one of the biggest techniques used by Napoleon to gain power in the Animal Farm.
Napoleon, who is represented as an evil power hungry pig, becomes the villain that destroys the farm through his manipulative acts such as abusing the animals, cutting rations, increasing labor, and in the end making an imbalance of equality. The revolution that promised freedom delivered for some the strong, the well-armed, and slavery for all the others (Donald E. Morse 89). Instead of
People are intrigued by a book through its content. However, when a reader can relate to the book, it reminds them of their own life story. This is exactly what Orwell did when writing Animal Farm. He created the book to open people’s eyes and see what was really going on in front of them. Animal Farm intrigues so many people because though it is a fiction book, it is based on true events that happened in Russia. Animal Farm, a book based on Stalin’s Russia, can be interpreted in several ways: the similar characteristics between Stalin and Napoleon, the animal parallels, and the parallel between Stalin’s Russia (USSR) and the Animal Farm.
The undeniable greed Napoleon possesses can only be fulfilled by giving the other animals the illusion of bettering themselves by not questioning his logic: “Boxer, who had now had time to think things over, voiced the general feeling by saying, ‘If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right.’ And from then on he adopted the maxim, ‘Napoleon is always right,’ in addition to his private motto of ‘I will work harder’” (Orwell 60). Because Animal Farm’s audience predominantly consists of working class citizens, they begin to feel sympathy for Boxer since he cannot recognize Napoleon is exploiting him exclusively for his personal goal of becoming a puissant leader; therefore, animosity towards Napoleon develops in the audience. Considering the animals promptly welcome Napoleon’s promise of a better life, they work towards exhaustion, unknowingly fueling Napoleon’s greed: "All that year the animals worked like slaves. But they were happy in their work; they grudged no effort or sacrifice, well aware that everything that they did was for the benefit of themselves and those of their kind who would come after them, and not for a pack of idle, thieving human beings" (63). Although the animals working for Napoleon are unaware he is gradually becoming more human and willfully betraying his fellow animals for his own benefit, it is evident to the audience that Napoleon is corrupt. As Napoleon cunningly achieves power, his greed continues to grow, the same as a totalitarian leader’s:
George Orwell, the pseudonym of english author Eric Arthur Blair, was an influential author of novels, novellas, and essays that criticized the rise and practices of authoritarian governments. One of his most revered works, Animal Farm, is hailed as a brilliant piece that satirizes the statues of Stalinism by allegorizing its tumultuous rise and the harsh, often lethal loyalty Stalinism demands of its followers. One of the hallmarks of Stalinist rule is its frequent use of propaganda. In his novella, Animal Farm, Orwell presents the use of propaganda in a Stalinist society through the deification of a leader, the use of scapegoating against an exiled revolutionary and against the vices of man; and exposes the practice of engendering fear into the population of Animal Farm.
Throughout the book Boxer takes on the motto’s “I will work harder.” And “Napoleon is always right.”, by doing this Orwell suggests that the Russian people were far too
Whether Orwell is recreating the ghastly atmosphere of fear and torture in Nazi Germany or in the most repressive part of the Stalinist regime, we see clearly the opposition between the charismatic leader and his inner corps of privileged lieutenants, and the collective mass of dehumanised persons who are no longer individuals. Paradoxically,
George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm is a great example of allegory and political satire. The novel was written to criticize totalitarian regimes and particularly Stalin's corrupt rule in Russia. In the first chapter Orwell gives his reasons for writing the story and what he hopes it will accomplish. It also gives reference to the farm and how it relates to the conflicts of the Russian revolution. The characters, settings, and the plot were written to describe the social upheaval during that period of time and also to prove that the good nature of true communism can be turned into something atrocious by an idea as simple as greed. This essay will cover the comparisons between Animal Farm and the Russian Revolution. It will also explain why
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.
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.
“Animal Farm” by George Orwell is an allegorical novel published on England in 1945. According to the author, this book reflects historical events leading up and during the Stalin era before World War II. It is the story of a revolution which goes wrong, based on the Russian revolution and Stalin’s use of power, the overall message is that man’s desire for power makes a classless society impossible. In the book, each animal represents a public figure or a type of person in real life. With this we can begin to develop the questions below in order to have a more complete idea of the meaning of the novel.
The 1940’s had people so against communism, that they were willing to sacrifice judicial and political rights of those that professed a belief in this system. This was an erosion in political freedom that Orwell was no doubt fully aware of while he was writing. While they were not actively surveilling people with cameras, they were intruding on personal rights. This had a witch hunt like feel to it, and included getting people to testify about personal, private conversations. It also had people being jailed and punished simply for political beliefs.
The main aim of Marxism is to bring about a classless society, and ‘Animal Farm’ is generally considered to be a Marxist novel, as all its characters share a similar ambition at the beginning. ‘Animal Farm’ represents an example of the oppressed masses rising up to form their own classless society, whilst offering a subtle critique on Stalin’s Soviet Russia, and communism in general. Orwell is, ironically, revolutionary in his work, as contextually in 1945, communism was a ‘taboo’ subject, punishable in post-war America by arrest and even death. It is clear from the political references in ‘Animal Farm’, that Orwell considered Russia, and consequently communism as a
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.
Though Animal Farm can be considered nothing more than a charming animal fable depicting a doomed rebellion, its origin is actually of a more serious and political nature. It is not only the tale of Napoleon and Animal Farm, but a satire and commentary on that of the Russian Revolution, Stalin and Communism. For a person to gain a true understanding of Orwell's meaning in Animal Farm, it is best that he or she has an understanding of the political parties and history surrounding Communism, Stalin, and the upheaval and fear that followed Stalin's rise to power.