Fiction vs. Reality
Fiction Vs. Reality
Animal Farm is a book that relates to everyday problems of leadership and authority. There is a stark correlation between fiction and reality in the book, highlighted by George Orwell through two characters that have power and use different manipulative techniques to secure different outcomes. In reality, Orwell uses the pigs to symbolize the powerful people in our society, such as Muammar Gaddafi, who manipulate their people using suppressive and alluring tactics. Through Napoleon’s use of fear and Squealer’s persuasive techniques, it is clear there are two different approaches to strengthening their authority. Napoleon, the antagonist in the book, assumes the role of a dictator, ruling the animals on the farm through the use of fear and terror. Being one of the less articulate pigs, he is obligated to use this power against the other animals, in order to remain an authoritative figure in the society. Napoleon takes nine newborn puppies away from their mothers and rears them privately. These young pups soon enough grew into “huge dogs… as fierce-looking as wolves” (34), playing as a part of Napoleon’s retinue and constantly following his every move. No animal was given the right to speak-against, question, or even doubt Napoleon or his commands, and if done so the dogs would step in to force total agreement by using threats and violence, while “uttering growls that sent shivers down all the animals’ spines.” (52) Earlier in the year, Muammar Gaddafi was the cause of a rebellion in Libya after ruling for 40 years. He suppressed the people for a long time, through violence, until they learned to fear him, thus relating to the case in Animal Farm. Napoleon takes the ‘throne’ and threatens to kill the other animals if they refuse to obey his orders, just as Gaddafi had done with his people, making Napoleon a representation of Ghaddafi . The dogs are a symbol of the army Gaddafi had at his disposal while he was ruling and was used to
Animal Farm is a book that relates to everyday problems of leadership and authority. There is a stark correlation between fiction and reality in the book, highlighted by George Orwell through two characters that have power and use different manipulative techniques to secure different outcomes. In reality, Orwell uses the pigs to symbolize the powerful people in our society, such as Muammar Gaddafi, who manipulate their people using suppressive and alluring tactics. Through Napoleon’s use of fear and Squealer’s persuasive techniques, it is clear there are two different approaches to strengthening their authority. Napoleon, the antagonist in the book, assumes the role of a dictator, ruling the animals on the farm through the use of fear and terror. Being one of the less articulate pigs, he is obligated to use this power against the other animals, in order to remain an authoritative figure in the society. Napoleon takes nine newborn puppies away from their mothers and rears them privately. These young pups soon enough grew into “huge dogs… as fierce-looking as wolves” (34), playing as a part of Napoleon’s retinue and constantly following his every move. No animal was given the right to speak-against, question, or even doubt Napoleon or his commands, and if done so the dogs would step in to force total agreement by using threats and violence, while “uttering growls that sent shivers down all the animals’ spines.” (52) Earlier in the year, Muammar Gaddafi was the cause of a rebellion in Libya after ruling for 40 years. He suppressed the people for a long time, through violence, until they learned to fear him, thus relating to the case in Animal Farm. Napoleon takes the ‘throne’ and threatens to kill the other animals if they refuse to obey his orders, just as Gaddafi had done with his people, making Napoleon a representation of Ghaddafi . The dogs are a symbol of the army Gaddafi had at his disposal while he was ruling and was used to
Cited: Orwell, George. Animal Farm;. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1954. Print. "Sleeper effect - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2012. .