Animal Farm Literary Analysis

In the novel Animal Farm, George Orwell hints that power corrupts through the use of an allegorical storyline. By using historical criticism, one can analyze the causes and effects of ruthless ambition. During the WWII era, there was widespread corruption in many nations, as seen in Germany with Hitler and Russia with Stalin. This time period of chaos exposed the lack of compassion among humans. Similar to this era, there were cultural and political struggles among the humans and animals in the farm as well. Ironically, in the animal’s struggle to free themselves of human dictatorship they end up oppressing their own kind.
Orwell’s hatred towards Hitler and other communist, fascist, and authoritarian leaders was evident in this work. Specifically,
The animals go from disregarding an unwritten, unspoken set of rules (the common belief that animals are lesser than humans) to disobeying a written set of rules. The pigs created the Seven Commandments as the definition of animalism, a philosophy that preached animal equality. The pigs say, “These Seven Commandments would now be inscribed on the wall; they would form an unalterable law by which all the animals on Animal Farm must live for ever after” (Orwell 9). The Seven Commandments stated that animals must never wear clothing, sleep in beds, or drink alcohol, as those things are characteristic of humans. However, as the pigs started doing all of the things that were prohibited, Squealer, the propagandist, modified the commandments to allow whatever the pigs were doing. Orwell suggests that there will always be a disruption of order. The animals disrupt the order that the humans established, while the pigs disregard the order that they themselves
In order for there to be equality in a society there must be a balance between popular power and governmental power. It warns against corruption of not only the state, but also of the citizens. Worldly pleasures frequently change people’s principles. In the end, both worlds are identical, filled with abuses of power, propaganda, and disregard of previously held values. George Orwell wants the reader to analyze the abuses of power seen today. He advocates for an overthrowing of authoritarian leaders, but he also advocates for a moderate use of that newly gained power. Moderation is the key to creating a stable