FARM”
by George Orwell
“The Danger of an Uneducated Working Class and the Use of Language as Instrumental to the Abuse of Power”
Teacher:
De Giacomi, Ana Carolina.
Student:
Resoalbe, Cecilia Analí.
English History and Literature of the
Twentieth Century.
ANIMAL FARM: “The Danger of an Uneducated Working Class and The Use of Language as
Instrumental to the Abuse of Power”
Born in 1903, Eric Arthur Blair, better known as George Orwell, was an English political novelist and journalist, who became a recognized writer due to his sharp criticism of political oppression around the world. Having experienced hard times during the Spanish Civil War and the Russian
Revolution, Orwell turned into a biting critic of both capitalist and communist political systems. He was a devoted socialist, who believed in the consolidation of a government which aimed to support and ensure dignity, freedom and social equality above any kind of selfish individual benefit. As a result, “a profound awareness of social injustice”1 outstands in the majority of his works.
Orwell’s fable story Animal Farm, first published in 1945, cleverly portrays the author’s strong opposition to totalitarian regimes. Through common farm creatures, he illustrates how scarce or lack of education, dooms the working class to suffer the tyranny of a power-hungry dominant group. A cause that at first unified members of a society rebelling for a common reason, as the animals fighting against the human-ruling, is later divided, letting some of them prevail and rule over others. Thus, despotism and manipulation arise not only from the astute and educated ruling class, which instruments language to the abuse of power, but also from the ignorance and naivety of the uneducated oppressed class.
When the animals from Manor farm, encouraged by a dream deceased Old Major had, get rid of Mr.
Jones, the pigs assume the position of governors, since they are “generally recognized as being the cleverest of the