Animal Farm Essay

Animal Farm Essay Animal Farm Essay Moshe Kramer Explore the ways in which Orwell changes the reader’s attitudes toward Napoleon in Animal Farm. ‘Animal Farm’ is a satirical allegory which mocks Communism and the Soviet Union. Orwell does this by subtly criticising every aspect of communism by using the parallel parable of animals on a farm. Orwell himself refers to the book as a fairy tale. This is clear from the simple, almost child-like style that the book is written in. Orwell writes in this fashion to give him license to ridicule Communism and Stalin without being too controversial and direct. Joseph Stalin is represented in ‘Animal Farm’ by the â€Å"large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar†: Napoleon. He â€Å"was not much of a talker but with a reputation of getting his own way.† This is how Napoleon is first introduced in the book. At first Napoleon is portrayed as a quiet but resourceful pig as he â€Å"served out a double ration of corn to everybody.† The celebrative and joyful tone of this sentence reflects the freedom and happiness that the animals felt. The repe tition of â€Å"Snowball and Napoleon† when orders are given by the pair suggest that they were the ones in charge. However Snowball being mentioned first every time suggests that he seemed destined to become the next leader of the farm (just like Trotsky- his parallel- had been in Russia). At first he was just seen as an alternative leader with different ideas as he â€Å"took no interest in Snowball’s committees†. The first allusion to Napoleon’s true motives takes place when he distracts the animals so he can take the milk and apples for the pigs. â€Å"That will be attended to† he said. The short sentence alludes to the selfish intentions that Napoleon was concealing. This is the point where the transformation of Napoleon by Orwell began; from a seemingly calm and composed potential leader to the exploitative dictator that he eventually becomes. Further negative characteristics of Napoleon are displayed in the following pages. He is not mentioned at all during â€Å"the battle of the cowshed,† which alludes to his cowardice and weakness of character. Napoleon â€Å"urinated over the plans† that Snowball had created to better the life of the animals. This shocking event in a so-far conservative and innocent book -along with the long sentence that it happens in- draws attention to the fact that Napoleon was counter-productive and power hungry rather than actually wanting to improve the animals’ quality of life. Further evidence of this is that: â€Å"Napoleon produced no schemes of his own.† This apparently solid statement is riddled with irony since all Napoleon did do was scheme- but just nothing productive. For example when he took the puppies â€Å"away from their mothers† and â€Å"the farm soon forgot of their existence.† The fate of these dogs is soon revealed as Napoleon  "uttered a high-pitched whimper† and â€Å"nine enormous dogs wearing brass-studded collars came bounding into the barn. They dashed straight for Snowball†. The powerful verbs and adjectives: â€Å"enormous,† â€Å"bounding,† and â€Å"dashed,† allude to the intensity of Napoleon’s evilness and his complete willingness to utilise force and exploitation to achieve his self-seeking aims. His expulsion of Snowball also hints to his shrewd and cunning personalities as he had been planning for this for a long time. This is the first major action that Napoleon does that confirms and exposes his exploitative and selfish tendencies. The reader’s attitude towards Napoleon is further changed and developed when he uses a combination of Squealer, the growling dogs and the sheep’s bleating chorus of â€Å"four legs good, two legs bad,† to eliminate any possible opposition to his position of power. Later â€Å"Napoleon announced that the windmill was to be built after all.† This was an endeavour that Napoleon had previously been bitterly opposed to. However Squealer justified this action by saying that â€Å"Napoleon had never in reality been opposed to the windmill,† but it had been his idea from the start. Animal Farm Essay Animal Farm Essay Orwell was born Eric Hugh Blair in 1903 to Richard and Mabel Blair in Motihari, Bengal. Orwell had two sisters but was never able to grow close to them as a result of his distant travels. About eight years later Orwell was shipped to England where he would begin what would become a rather promising foundation to his education. Orwell graduated from Eton at age eighteen only to be sent back to India as he acquired the job of an Imperial Police Officer. Following his five years of service Orwell moved to London by free will where he truly absorbed the world of the unequally impoverished. Grasping these sights would soon spark something in Orwell as they helped lay the foundation for his two well-known political satires â€Å"Animal Farm†, and â€Å"Nineteen Eighty-Four†. Not only bound to books, Orwell wrote an intricate essay â€Å"Politics and the English Language† depicting how manipulation can result from vague writing as he continued to branch out from his pri mal ideas. At the age of forty-seven unfortunately, Orwell pasted away due to an artery bursting in his lung. Luckily, his works are here to continue to entertain as well as enlighten readers. â€Å"Animal Farm† by George Orwell is a novel based on the lives of animals living on the Manor Farm. Even though the title of the book suggests the book is simply about animals, the story is a much more in depth re-creation of the workings of society in Communist Russia. The animals in the book show identical characteristics to those that were a part of the Russian Revolution. The animals of Manor Farm are unhappy, in fact, growing angry. Jones the farmer is not only a drunk, but also a terrible farmer. Led by the pigs, which are the â€Å"brain workers†, a successful revolution is carried out. They plan a future for the good of all animals, as they hope for a better life. They operate the farm themselves as they struggle through the hard times and battle to retake the farm. L ater on there are political struggles between the pigs who can’t agree who should be leader as they are filling up with greed. With greed there is always downfall. The pigs seem to be changing the rules to suit themselves while having ways of frightening those who speak out, similar to that of the Russian KGB. The one pig that really had a good heart (Leon Trotsky) is run out by the power hungry pig (Stalin). The plan turns into a nightmare, as living conditions for the animals fall even worse than before. In the end the provisions from the start are broken as pig befriends man and man befriends pig turning the sole purpose of animalism into something completely different. Disturbingly, it was â€Å"impossible to say which was which†, as the differences of both pig and man were no longer present. Animal Farm’s purpose is to shed light on the Russian Revolution by sizing down the different parties and armies to a sense where their interactions are more understand able. The characters in the story are given extremely similar characteristics to those that actually took part in the Russian Revolution. The satire in Animal Farm is not direct, but allegorical because the human beings are disguised as animals. The actual â€Å"human† beings in this story symbolize the capitalist class of society, while the animals represent Communists. The Rebellion against Mr. Jones is most likely a historical portrayal of the Russian Revolution, while the sign of the hoof and horn on the flag adopted by the animals is the hammer and sickle on the Russian flag. Orwell’s â€Å"Animal Farm† can be enlightening to readers on the subject of the Russian Revolution and its ties, as it’s basically a re-enactment. This book does have great significance as it helps the average person look past the face of communism and into the horrors that it created. Orwell’s book completely covers the topic, but only