Preview

Animal Farm: Communism Through the Eyes of George Orwell Essay Example

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2620 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Animal Farm: Communism Through the Eyes of George Orwell Essay Example
Animal Farm: Communism Through The Eyes of George Orwell

Throughout history, writers have written about many different subjects based on their personal experiences. George Orwell was the pen name of Eric
Blair. He is one of the most famous political satirists of the twentieth century. He was born in Bengal, India in 1903 to an English Civil Servant and died in 1950. He attended Eton from 1917 to 1921, and served with the Indian
Imperial Police in Burma from 1922 to 1927 before moving to Europe.Two of his most famous books, Animal Farm, written in 1946, and Nineteen Eighty-Four, written in 1949, were written about the political and social environment surrounding his life. "The driving force behind his two satires is an intense revulsion against totalitarianism, combined with an even stronger revulsion against its defenders among left-wing intellectuals."1 In most of George
Orwell¹s books and essays, there is a strong autobiographical element due to the fact that he spent many years living with Communists in northern Great Britain
(a small number of people started to follow Communism in northern Great Britain when it started in Russia). George Orwell¹s writing was affected greatly by his personal beliefs about Socialism, Communism, Fascism, and Totalitarianism, and by the revolts, wars, and revolutions going on in Europe and Russia at the time of his writings. George Orwell was a Socialist2 himself, and he despised Russian
Communism3, and what it stood for. Orwell shows this hatred towards Communist
Russia in a letter he wrote to Victor Gollancz saying, "For quite fifteen years
I have regarded that regime with plain horror."4 Orwell wrote this letter in
1947, ten years after announcing his dislike of Communism. However, he had thought a great deal about Communism and what he disliked about if for a long time before he announced it to the public. Orwell "did not expect anything good from the Communist"5 and therefore Communism

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    A shimmery golden gossamer curtain blowing delicately in the wind twinkles provocatively in your mind at the thought of sweet power being just within your grasp, doesn't it? Don't be afraid to be honest as this is the reality of many humans and even some animals. In fact, the classic novel Animal Farm, written by George Orwell in 1945, is an allegory that symbolizes the powerful politicians and those close to them during the Russian Revolution. This fairy story quite successfully uses pigs to represent communist and fascist leaders Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. Orwell composes the complex tale that effectively communicates all the points made in Lord Acton's infamous declaration: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Tracy Sutherland an English teacher provides an analysis of America’s education system by having her high school student’s apply George Orwell’s concepts in Animal Farm to their school. She writes about this is an article titled: Speaking My Mind: Orwell Farmed for Education for The English Journal. The article addresses the issue of what will come of our education system when the foundation is being tampered with and new concepts are constantly reshaping the system. Several students raise important points in their writing. Also, the article allows for a reflection on the types of teachers compared to characters in the novel: working ever so harder never questioning, just going through the motions, too nice to address key issues, or adamantly…

    • 150 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Satire Assessment Task

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Eric Blair, pen name, George Orwell, was a British political essayist and novelist. Along with this he was a passionate socialist, although did not consider the Soviet Union a good representation of what socialism truly is. It is the Soviet Union/Russian Revolution that acts as the general bases of moral outrage Orwell has transformed into art. Leadership in particular is questioned, along with the greed that comes with a corrupt leader. Joseph Stalin is this leader, and Orwell’s strong anti-totalitarian views are expressed in the novel through the satirical technique of an animal fable. To…

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Orwell's 'Animal Farm' is an allegory because it represents Stalin's rise to power in Russia. His dictatorship to the people of Russia is how Napoleon treated the animals on the farm. Napoleon the pig represents Joseph Stalin, the dictating leader of the Soviet Union. Napoleon tricked the other animals into believing he was the only one that wanted the best for them. He slowly brought the farm from a more equal state to a state where he was considered and treated as a king. He also murdered any of the animals who opposed him or stood in his way, without trial. Stalin did the same by consolidating power and expanding the limits of his role. He eliminated anyone who tried to oppose him. He organized a massive purge where "enemies" were imprisoned,…

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In George Orwell’s novel “Animal Farm” displays a society in a farm transforming from a utopian society into a dystopian society. Old Majors vision of a utopian society was successful after a win against their leader, however this perfect utopian society changes because of Napoleons gain in power, the inequality and human characteristics that the pigs had, these are excellent reasons on how Old Majors vision of a utopian society quickly becomes destroyed into a dystopian society. George Orwell fascinates the reader on…

    • 84 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Certainly the ramifications of oppression and absolute authority are outrage and this is conveyed throughout Animal Farm. Old Major tries to convince them that the reason behind their servitude and despair is Man, because Major believes that "Man is the only real enemy [they] have" (Orwell 7). Through expressing his anger, Major criticizes the fact that Man does not lay eggs or give milk, "yet he is the lord of all animals" (Orwell 8). It is clear-cut that the animals are affected by Major's speech which urges them to obtain their freedom. Major's point of view is that "all men are enemies. All animals are comrades" (Orwell 10). From here, the reader can deduce that Old Major represents V. I. Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevic Party that seized…

    • 195 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    What are the qualities that make a utopian society? How does a society react and live in a utopia? Will all impurities in a utopia be forever expunged? Will everything be equal?…

    • 771 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Orwell vision of 1984 was shaped by his experiences though out his time as a volunteer in the Spanish civil war and upon returning to Britain post-war when the country was a place of shortages and rationing. Orwell struggled against fascism, but was intent on destroying its anarchist and Trotskyist allies. The defeat of fascism involved the success of and the emergence of the USSR as a great power. Orwell was deeply concerned about this fact. Orwell remained a believer in the fundamental goodness of the “common people”, the workers or “proles”. Due to Orwell’s personal circumstances, his fading life expectancy from tuberculosis may have influenced the bleak creation of the world that is “1984”.…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the past, the Russian Revolution is falling into action throughout these events in Animal Farm. George Orwell, the author of the novel, writes on how he feels about the October and February Revolutions. He uses characters to portray the history in the people and events during the revolution. These characters allow readers to know how George reflected the purpose of the historic event. Three major characters used are Boxer, Squealer, and the sheep. Orwell critiques society through Boxer, Squealer, and the sheep with their actions, characterization, and dialogue in the novel.…

    • 1258 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Beadle, Gordon B., “George Orwell and the Victorian Radical Tradition.” Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies, Vol. 7, No. 4 (Winter, 1975), pp. 287-299, The North American Conference on British Studies…

    • 2554 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Animal Farm by George Orwell was trying to show the dislike of communism. Because the old form of government end up being quiet similar to the new form. Orwell shows this by getting rid of Mr. Jones for mistreating the animals, and overtime Napoleon a pig comes to power, the same thing happened but with a different look. George Santayana wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This quote is similar to Orwell’s dislikes and the way he shows it in the book. Both the people and the animals forget the past and end up as before.…

    • 283 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How does Orwell explore the problem of rhetoric in Animal Farm? Paying particular attention to the character of Squealer, how is language used as instrument of social control?…

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    He makes an attack at communism though the line, “But if you go carrying pictures around of chairman Mao, you ain’t going to make it with anyone anyhow.” Stating that if you are known to be a communist no one will want to have much if any association with you and the same applying to those within communist…

    • 1202 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Animal Farm by George Orwell there are two key chapters that can be compared. In chapter two it is the morning after the rebellion and the animals are overjoyed. “They woke at dawn” shows the beginning of a new day, this creates a sense of hope and represents the start of their new life without humans. However in chapter seven it is the night of the slaughters and the reader can see the caparison between the time of day when Orwell says “gilded by the level rays of the sun” This shows the sun is setting on Animals Farm and represents the end of their hopes and dreams. There is also a difference between Orwell’s word choice in both chapters, in chapter two the animals “raced” “rushed” and “hurled” portraying their excitement, enthusiasm and…

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    xThe pigs were able to rise to power fairly easily through their imposition of propaganda to alter the animals’ thoughts and actions to the pigs’ favor. The pigs come to resemble humans, the last sign of their total dominance so the farm continues to run as it had for years, still ridden with oppressive leaders. The tale shows that a revolution does not always bring great change or a better outcome because the story does not end in a resolution or promise of a revolution. The idea of propaganda being implemented by a leader in order to rise to power is a theme that recurs throughout history, but as a teacher points out not only in governments.…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays