Karl Marx’s perfect society described in his Communist Manifesto is in direct conflict with the implementation of Soviet Communism, which was scathingly criticized by George Orwell’s book Animal Farm. Karl Marx believed that in order to form a just and equal society, the working class, called the proletariat, would have to overthrow those who owned the means of production, who were known as the bourgeoisie. This was to be known as the Proletariat Revolution where the oppressed laborers in capitalist societies, such as England, would unite under a common cause to overthrow the oppressive bourgeoisie, and establish a communist society. This would be a society where all were equal, each performing to his ability, and each receiving according …show more content…
Fortunately for them, they never got to see their systems go amiss, as they did on Animal Farm and in the Soviet Union.
In Animal Farm, and in the Soviet Union, both regimes after the revolution stuck pretty closely with the ideals of Communism (Animalism as it was called to the inhabitants of Animal Farm). Unfortunately, things quickly collapsed. In the beginning, the animals worked together and they lived a life they had never before lived. None of the animals went to the slaughterhouse, and each got adequate amounts of food. Napoleon and Snowball represented the Soviet Union’s Lenin and Trotsky, respectively. Napoleon was “leader” of the revolution, but was still a comrade like all the other animals. Snowball was enthusiastic about Animalism and stuck to the ideals. After a while, Napoleon had a change of heart, and did not seem to like Snowball’s enthusiasm. He was convicted of being a traitor and driven off the farm by Napoleon’s guard dogs. This is the same thing that happened to Trotsky in the Soviet Union. After Stalin came to power, Trotsky was no longer wanted, was declared a traitor, and lived the remainder of his life in exile. The Soviet Union erased all records of Trotsky’s affiliation with the Communist Party. The same thing happened to Snowball. His heroics at the Battle of Cowshed were played down and eventually reversed, and he was the scapegoat of all things that went wrong
Orwell effectively conveys the rise of communism in Russia throughout the book Animal Farm by the accurate elucidation of the context in the Soviet Union from 1917-1945. Orwell’s attitude and political view towards Russia is evident in his representation of the farm animals on Communist Party leaders: Napoleon and Snowball, for example, are figurations of Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky, respectively. He expresses the anthropomorphic characters of farm animals, and major events in Animal Farm such as the Rebellion and the construction of the windmill, reminiscent of the Russian Revolution and the “Five-Year Plans”. Orwell also uses many techniques to describe the crucial points in Animal Farm by metaphoric language and allegorical means
I have decided to explore the theme of how ‘Fear is a powerful motivator’. Different leaders and influential people have various ways of using fear to motivate people. Two of my texts: ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell, and ‘The Rise of Evil” directed by Christian Duguay, both show how totalitarian leaders used violence to motivate the public. The other texts: ‘Bowling for Columbine’ directed by Michael Moore, and ‘Who’s for the Game’ by Jesse Pope, both show how two different influential people motivated the public without using violence, instead creating fear using words.
Many writers, artists, novelists, journalists, and the sort seek to bring awareness to political and cultural issues through their work. It is not often, though, that their work attains such critically acclaimed status and subsequently creates a platform by which people are moved to respond to the writing’s purpose.
In the year 1917, the Russian Revolution overthrew Tsar Nicholas Romanov and afterwards it converted into a communist state. George Orwell mimicked this event in his book Animal Farm, using the animals as the people and the farmer as Tsar Romanov. A pig named Old Major, who all the animals looked too, shared a dream he had that portrayed the happy lives of the animals after they rebel against the farmer. Old Major died three days later which led to the other animals planning and acting on the rebellion; however, what came about was not what Old Major had told them would happen. In Animal Farm, the farm symbolizes hoe communism spread throughout Europe and hoe the rulers manipulated their inhabitants while also showing how the idea of a capitalists and a socialist’s society fails to work.
Animal Farm by George Orwell Is Animal Farm by George Orwell merely a political argument or does it manage to entertain the reader as a story in itself In this Personal Study I shall be writing about how Animal Farm by George Orwell entertained me as a novel while putting over a political argument in the process. The opening chapter introduces the theme of revolution that dominates the whole novel, and aswell as doing that it also introduces the farm animals. In Chapter 1 Old Major is the central figure, he gets all the other animals into the barn one night and talks about a revolution, which gets the smartest animals - the pigs, thinking about what could happen.
There are many similarities between the characters in the novel “Animal Farm” and between the people who lead to the Russian Revolution. For example, Joseph Stalin and Napoleon are alike in several ways. After Old Major’s death, Napoleon and Snowball take over the farm and become the leaders. Similarly, Joseph Stalin becomes the leader along with Leon Trotsky after the Russian Revolution (Kim, 2012). In addition, Napoleon is not as smart and intelligent compared to Snowball.
How would you feel if your leader did not treat you as equal as his people? In Animal Farm by George Orwell, Napoleon treated his people as if they were more important than the other animals. He changed the rules, to rules in which he desired. The animals were not intelligent enough to realize who Napoleon was brainwashing them to live as he wanted them to live. Napoleon took control of Animal Farm by using the Seven Commandments, dogs to make the animals fear him, and Squealer as propaganda. Through these ways, Napoleon maintained full power of Animal Farm.
There are several themes in Animal Farm, some including: Leadership and corruption, control of naïve working class, lies and deception, and dreams and hopes. The main themes in Animal Farm leadership and corruption. Animal Farm portrays the history of the Russian Revolution by retelling the development of communism. In the novel, by overthrowing Mr. Jones, the animals give the power to the pigs who take complete control of the farm. The struggle for superiority between Leon Trotsky, a Russian revolutionary, and Stalin, a Soviet statesman, is portrayed by the rivalry between the pigs, Napoleon and Snowball. In both cases, the less powerful one, Trotsky and Snowball, is eliminated by the more superior one, Stalin and Napoleon. Stalin's rule
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.
The novel Animal Farm, is solely based on the corrupt ideas of Communism after the Russian Revolution. The story itself was inspired by personal grievance or passion for reforment. Orwell made the book as an attack on a group of people that were social evil. Animal Farm itself represents being the history of Russia and the concept animalism acting as communism. Orwell, sums up the ideals of communism by writing, “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.”
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
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.
George Orwell, the author of Animal Farm, was a soldier in both World War II and the Spanish Civil War. Throughout both of these wars, he had gone through many tough situations. He did not agree with much that was going on during this time, including the communism that was starting to take place, as well as some people that were starting to believe in capitalism (Menand 084). Writing this book allowed him to show his feelings towards what was happening and what he agreed with / disagreed with. Orwell was known as a man who “had a special pleasure with confronting his confreres” (Rodden and Rossi 16-21), which brought him to write this book making sure that he could express his opinions on their beliefs to them. Starting off the book with everything being happy and interesting caught the attention of the readers, and their attention was kept by portraying different people through the different type of people and animals. Keeping the reader’s attention was the main goal for Orwell, because of the fact that he was replaying situations that had already happened before, so he wanted people to know what he lived through. Wanting to keep it as real as possible but not boring was one of the largest factors that had played a part in his writings. George Orwell’s Animal Farm analyzes the communist political system through the functioning use of a farm, reflecting on Joseph Stalin, Leon Trotsky, and Adolf Hitler.
Northgate High School Production Workshop 2017, Peter Hall and Jeff Hagerstrand adapted George Orwell’s Animal Farm in an outstanding performance in the Jack De Rieux Theater. The production used comedy with a sadistic twist to express the novella. The themes that were expressed, with the staging of the performance and the choices the actors made all added up to having a very intriguing play that was well orchestrated.
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.