The Modern Period of literature was an era of tumultuous change around the world. New writers were coming out with material that had previously been considered explicit. Writing had changed its focus and orientation. It was very much like a revolution in the world of literature. Books were written with a political purpose, and some achieved international notoriety. Of these books, one of the most influential was undoubtedly Animal Farm. It is difficult to decipher the book however, as it was written as a fable. Also, the international media, over the years, have passed down many different interpretations of the book. Animal Farm has little base on any actual fact apart from a few plot developments, which are loosely based on Soviet politics. Animal Farm is a good book, if it is to be interpreted and understood by the reader individually.
George Orwell released Animal Farm at end of the Second World War. It was his first real success in writing. Animal Farm wasn’t successful upon its inception. The first release of Animal Farm was written in Ukrainian to the displaced peoples after the war. The Americans who remained in Europe after the war confiscated all these copies of the book. The real political purpose of this book was to disenfranchise the current government of the Soviet Union. It was timely released when the United States and the Soviet Union were doing well in peace talks. Interestingly enough, Stalin’s name does not appear in the book. This was of course intentional, Orwell was under the belief that the world was falling at Stalin’s feet, and decided that he couldn’t directly use this book to convert them. Indirectly he intended the readers to discover the illegitimacy of Stalin on their own. Orwell wanted to show the truth to the world, from this book, people around the world would open their eyes to the realities of the Soviet Union. In generic terms however, the real point of this book was to explain that even the most wholesome ideals could be so easily corrupted by power.
The Essay on Animal Farm George Orwell
Animal Farm George Orwell 128 Pages George Orwell, the pen name of Eric Blair, was born in Bengal in 1903. He was educated at Eton School in England, and then served with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma. He returned to Europe and became a writer of novels and essays. Much of his work was political, and although he had a hatred of Communism, he was a socialist. Orwell died at the age of forty- ...
It is for exactly this reason that none of the characters could be considered dynamic. The purpose of this was to show the animals as people in society with a broad spectrum of personalities. The animals were not really individual because they experienced change not individually, but as a group, just as society does. Orwell has distinctly drawn parallels from Soviet politics and events that occurred in the history of the Soviet Union. Although this puts a bias on the entire book, it does not extort the warning Orwell has conveyed. The animals in Animal Farm follow unquestioningly, and they do not seem to know or care what is going on. If we the readers and as members of society are not careful, that could happen. As Orwell put it “The moral is: Don’t let it happen. It depends on you.”
George Orwell is a controversial gentleman. Since his rise in fame from Animal Farm and successive titles, his personality, has been thrown out of context. Before Animal Farm he was a struggling journalist. After his death, he has come to be regarded as an International hero. His fame is inconsistent with his actions. George Orwell, previous to Animal Farm, had dedicated his life to the revolution. He had hoped that during his lifetime he would be able to achieve a legitimate revolution that really worked. When he had succumbed to the reality that this hope could never occur during his lifetime, he started to write Animal Farm. The book is not a reflection on his life experiences, as he wrote it after he had a major shift in ideas. When Orwell is brought up, he is only remembered for Animal Farm, and possibly his equally famous 1984. It is not remembered what he had accomplished in the rest of his life.
The Term Paper on Critical Analysis Of Themes In George Orwells animal Farm
Animal Farm by George Orwell was written in an importune time where communist ideologies were spreading across the globe. As a socialist himself, he despised the idea, as it was not a pure socialist form of government, instead it was a deception of leaders in mansions whilst others suffered outside of their palace walls. Animal Farm is a struggle between the old regime and an ever-changing world ...
George Orwell was a middle class man in England who was a strong supporter of the British Left through his life. As critical as he was of the Soviet Union, ironically enough he didn’t have much to say about the United States, and England’s colonialism. Orwell simply refused to English colonialism as “skeletons in the closet.” As to the United States, Orwell had nothing substantial to mention about their errors. This is interesting for a man who was such an ardent supporter of the Far Left. It has led to the interpretation that Orwell was really in support of a liberal or conservative democracy. That is not true and is used really just to distort the message of the book.
Interestingly enough, Orwell never travelled to the Soviet Union himself. Whatever he knows of the Soviet Union may be simply judged as hearsay. Orwell has showed the Animals as being poor and helpless under the rule of Napoleon. They were barely surviving and conditions were much worse under Napoleon that they had ever been. This is not true. Living conditions improved dramatically, and were this highest they had ever been in Russia. Unfortunately, as strong as the message of Animal Farm is, it does contort the reality, which it tries to accurately portray.
One of George Orwell’s less known accomplishments was his attempt to blend into the poor working class of France. He submitted himself to the poverty to understand what it was like fully. He came to an interesting conclusion “You thought that it would be terrible; it is merely squalid and boring.” This didn’t change his views to support the poor; he was in fact showed disdain towards them. It is a misconception that Orwell really supported the poor, he was distinctly against the upper class, which is what has led to this misconception. Orwell was not new to this kind of behaviour. His name was originally Eric Blair, and he changed it to Orwell so he would not have to associate himself with his Scottish—or Scotch he liked to say to annoy Scotsmen—heritage and ancestry. He would not attend a dinner party at the house of someone with the last name Muir simply because their name was Muir. George Orwell also was known as being an intelligent man in his time. Yet he referred to the intelligentsia disdainfully too. Orwell believed that the “willingness to criticize Stalin was the test of intellectual honesty.”
The Essay on Comparison Between Swifts Gullivers Travels And Orwells Animal Farm
... important parts of the Russian revolution. Early on in the book, the pigs create seven commandments for all animals to abide by but ... individuals. In Animal Farm, Orwells characters are a representation of historical people who were involved in the Russian revolution of 1917. ... make a point. Orwells humour is much more subtle, he shows the pigs difficulty in getting to grips with human tools in ...
Beyond Orwell’s life and the politics of Animal Farm are the important messages within. Orwell’s disdainful feelings do come through in many aspects of the story. The fact that the characters are animals is meant to show the Animals as stupid creatures incoherent and incapable of any form of thought. Orwell had a lack of any real optimism for a revolution to occur. This could be due to one of Orwell’s key beliefs. He tended to see the powerful as being wrong, and the powerless as being right. And if a revolution puts a new group in power, then Orwell must automatically switch his viewpoint. This really proves that the animals or, his representation people, are incapable of actually ruling themselves. It is better to be exploited by whatever oppresses you than to rise up against it, because, you will only replace the force you removed, and there can never really be a successful revolution. Orwell clearly proves this by showing the Pigs to look identical to the humans in the end of the story.
There is of course, an alternative way to look at this. Animals, are not humans, it is scientifically proven that they are of a lesser intelligence than humans. The mistakes that animals make can most obviously be overcome by humans if they are to work towards it. The flaws pointed out in Animal Farm illustrate the potential problems of a revolution. They point out that if the revolution were to truly be successful the gradual removal of equality would not have happened. If all members of the revolution are to be honest and honourable, this should not happen. The pigs are portrayed as pigs for a number of reasons. The connotations behind Pig are greedy, gluttonous, and in general a distasteful type of creature. If all members of the revolution were honourable individuals like Boxer, perhaps the revolution could have worked. Orwell has showed the problems of the revolution, and given the reader no set of boundaries to figure out the solutions, in this way, it is entirely open to imaginative response.
From the aforementioned paragraphs, it may be seen that there are entirely different interpretations of the story. It does not matter which is right or wrong. A lesson shall be learned. The book, if interpreted from a personal perspective will offer insight towards the individual. If read in an institutionalized settings, one will only obtain the dominant paradigm surrounding the book, and the knowledge obtained from the book will ultimately result to nothing beneficial. The reason Animal Farm is such a popular book is evidently because of the room for interpretation it offers the reader.
The Essay on Russian Revolution Animals Orwell Animal
... Russian revolution or represent the behaviors of various types or classes of people during this event. Orwell's book shows that animals in ... is considered a noble animal. This is unlike Orwell's pigs which were used to portray the worst in human nature. As the ... humans and pigs converse while the other animals outside look on. They, the lowly creatures according to the pigs and humans, look from pig ...
