One of human's biggest failures is our negligence to abuse of power and control. Manipulation of others by a person with authority for their own personal gain is a form of abusive power and control. The novel highlights the hidden faults of communist rule as well as the inevitable return of a totalitarianism-based society. Animal Farm, George Orwell (1945) uses satire to critique and highlight the flaws of the Russian revolution while using farm animals to symbolize important characters and being able to appeal to many.
Corruption is a strong motif in George Orwell's animal farm, exploring how excess political power can corrupt an individual into changing into the very thing they swore not to become. In “ uttered a high-pitched whimper of a kind no one had ever heard him utter, the use of allusion emphasises the aggression and abuse of power displayed by a corrupt leader, which is a reference to the rhetoric used by Stalin to suppress the Russian society under his communist rule. The Book explores the ideas of Leadership and its flaws from the beginning of the animalist revolution. “ The pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others. With their superior knowledge it was natural that they should assume the leadership”, uses incongruity to demonstrate Orwell's criticism of our own human failings and the wrongly perceived ideas about society. Linking to how Stalin's rule of communist Russia abused intellectual superiority to obtain power and control.. Orwell also uses dramatic irony in, “All animals are equal with some more equal than others” to directly criticize the governing bodies that exploit their own citizens to gain power for themselves as they fail to understand the body of corruption within their own country. Orwell writes the novel in an attempt to educate the masses on how to identify the subtle steps of corruption towards the introduction of a totalitarian state as well as criticising our own human failings in the corruption of power.
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Fear is an aspect of political rule that is often overlooked, but it is a key idea in George orwell’s animal farm. He casts light and satirises the problems in the governing bodies of communist Russia, that must use fear to control their own people. Orwell describes both aspects of fear, being the fear of returning back to the previous as well as the physical fear and oppression of the government. In the book, fear of change is what keeps a revolution going. The quote, ”Man is the only real enemy we have, remove man from the scene and the root cause of overwork is abolished forever”, uses dramatic irony to demonstrate the breeding of fear into a revolution from the very beginning to keep everyone in line, even if the current situation is worse than the previous. This links back to how Stalin was able to obtain control over communist Russia, with the fear of returning to a totalitarian rule constantly acting in his favour. In the quote, “Surely there is no one among us that wants to see Mr Jones back”, Orwell uses exaggeration to demonstrate the animals changed perception of how Man is the problem as well as casting light on the problems of the communist Russian rule, where fear was one of the constant drivers of the revolution. This constant fear of change are one of the driving factors towards the pigs acquiring complete control over the other animals. The other aspect of fear that Orwell casts light on is the oppressive and cruelty of the government that sends fear across communities. This is demonstrated in chapter 7, when Napoleon orders his dogs to kill any animal that spoke different from the animalist cause. The quote “When they had finished their confession, the dog’s promptly tore their throats out” uses reversal to emphasise how fear is used to keep people in line as well as relating to the Stalinist Executions that spread fear, allowing Stalin to obtain power and control over russia. George Orwell casts light on the aspects of fear in obtaining power and control and effectively criticises our own failings in society.
George Orwell ingeniously addresses the problems of manipulation in society that allow leaders to obtain power and control in Animal Farm. The book uses satire to cast light on how propaganda can be used to manipulate the masses into believing in the false as well as how lies allow leaders to obtain power and control. Orwell’s use of exaggeration in “All men are enemies, all animals are comrades” and “four legs good, two legs bad” demonstrates from the beginning how old major is able to plant the seeds of rebellion, which directly correlates with the ideas of how propaganda can be used to persuade the masses. The book also criticises the way propaganda is used for leaders to obtain power and reputation. The quote, “Napoleon is always right”, uses dramatic irony to emphasise how propaganda can be used for leaders such as napoleon to obtain power and control through the manipulation of the masses. This links back to how Stalin was able to obtain power through the lies of propaganda. Orwell satirises how the masses can be so easily swayed by the likes of propaganda through snowball and his outrageous claims to raise the status of Napoleon. Orwell also critiques the intellectual prowess of the masses, claiming that any piece of propaganda that is released will be taken in. Animal farm directly satirises and critiques our own human failings by addressing how propaganda can be used for leaders to obtain power and control through the manipulation of their own citizens.
Animal Farm addressed the idea that One of humanity’s biggest failures is our negligence to abuse of power and control. George Orwell’s Animal Farm correctly critiques and satirises our own human failings, making it a longstanding novel that is still relevant in society to this present day. Orwell’s allegorical form allows the novel to appeal to many and give an insight on the reality of the Russian revolution and how corruption, fear and manipulation makes for the inevitable return to a totalitarian rule.
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