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Allusion In Animal Farm

Decent Essays

George Orwell, the author of Animal Farm, his intentions can be seen through his use of patterns and allusions. The reason why Animal Farm is regarded as an allegory is because the story has intentional elements. Authors may unconsciously write something which may be seemingly intentional. But in the case of Orwell’s Animal Farm, it is written with a clear pattern, with many allusions to historical happenings, thus making the work of literature intentional.

According to Foster, the author of How to Read Literature Like A Professor, there were authors “from the modernist period… around the two world wars of the twentieth century” called the “Intentionalists” (Foster 91). These authors would “attempt to control every facet of their creative output” and “intend virtually every effect in their works” (Foster 91). Orwell is one of the many Intentionalists. His Animal Farm was written towards the end of the Second World War. And Orwell controls “every facet of his creative output” and “intends virtually every effect” in “his work” (Foster 91). But how can the reader know that Orwell’s story has its intentions? The reader can know Orwell’s story is all intentional because of the pattern and allusions he implements, in his allegorical novella Animal Farm.
Allegories reveal an intentionally hidden meaning, while symbols are left ambiguous. The reason why Animal Farm is even considered an allegory, rather than a symbolic novel, is because of its timeliness. The book was first published in England on August 17, 1945, approximately around the time of the end of the Second World War. The timing could not be any better because after World War two is the Cold War, when the US goes head to head with Soviet Russia. Ideas from Animal Farm such as animalism could have been commonly associated with communism, at the time. However, Orwell’s timeliness is not what makes Animal Farm’s message altogether intentional. Orwell’s intentions in Animal Farm can also be seen through the certain patterns and allusions he uses in his allegory, making Animal Farm’s intentions timeless.

Although Orwell has Animal Farm in a third person narrative, he approaches the story as if the readers had the same mindset as the animals. Orwell has

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