'Animal Farm' by George Orwell

 

Hello Readers! In this blog I am going to discuss about the novel Animal Farm' by George Orwell.

Introduction of George Orwell:

George Orwell (1903-1950) was the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, one of the most influential British writers of the 20th century. Orwell was a novelist, essayist, journalist and critic known for his advocacy of democratic socialism and criticism of totalitarian regimes. His two most famous works, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, are among the greatest satirical novels in the English language. These books made powerful criticisms of totalitarianism through the use of allegory and fictionalized worlds that served as warnings about social injustice, authoritarianism and repressive institutions.

‘Animal Farm’:

Animal Farm, published in 1945, is Orwell's classic allegory about the Russian Revolution and the rise of Stalin's totalitarian regime. In the novella, Orwell employs a farm and its denizens as a metaphor for the Soviet Union under Stalin's rule. The story begins when the animals of Manor Farm rebel against their human master after being inspired by the idea of "Animalism" from an old boar named Major. The animals successfully seize control and rename the property Animal Farm. However, the intelligent pigs gradually twist the rules and ideologies of the new society to their advantage, eventually emerging as the brutal dictators of a regime just as oppressive as the one they overthrew.

Through the animal fable, Orwell crafts a brilliant satirical critique of the corruption of idealistic political motives and the Soviet betrayal of the Russian Revolution. The novel's final image of the pigs behaving indistinguishably from the former human oppressors leaves a haunting condemnation of totalitarianism and the perversion of political power. Animal Farm rapidly became one of the most famous and widely read political satires in the English language. It cemented Orwell's legacy as a writer deeply opposed to the abuses of totalitarianism and injustice in any form.

characters of ‘Animal Farm’:

Boxer represents the hardworking and dedicated working class, who are often exploited due to their trusting nature and inability to see through the manipulations of those in power. Despite their honesty and industriousness, they are ultimately betrayed by the clever and self-serving elite.

Snowball symbolizes the well-intentioned leader who genuinely wishes to involve the masses in decision-making processes. While charismatic, inventive, and popular, Snowball is too naive and fails to recognize the devious machinations of rivals like Napoleon, leading to their downfall.

Napoleon embodies the ruthless dictator, driven solely by an insatiable lust for power, glory, and wealth, with no regard for the well-being of others. Highly intelligent and cunning, Napoleon compensates for his lack of oratory skills by employing the services of Squealer as a propagandist, and relies on the dogs, whom he rewards with food, to maintain control and eliminate threats like Snowball.

Squealer represents the master of propaganda, a smooth-talking manipulator who can sell even the most outrageous lies to the gullible masses. With his confusing rhetoric, false statistics, and scare tactics, Squealer serves as Napoleon's mouthpiece, spinning narratives to justify the dictator's demands, in exchange for a comfortable life.

Clover symbolizes the kind-hearted but not overly intelligent working-class woman, who dutifully cares for her companion, Boxer, and represents the compassionate yet naive segment of society.

Moses represents the religious leaders who exploit the hardships of the downtrodden by offering them the promise of a better afterlife, distracting them from their current struggles with tales of a heavenly "Sugarcandy Mountain."

Benjamin represents the intellectual class, who, despite their intelligence and ability to see through the deceptions of the ruling elite, lack the power to effect meaningful change. While cynical and unwilling to believe the lies, Benjamin's passive resistance can be criticized for not doing enough to enlighten the other animals to the truth of their situation.

Thematic Study of ‘Animal Farm’:

The Corruption of Revolutionary Ideal:

Animal Farm serves as a powerful allegory that critiques the way revolutionary ideals can become corrupted by those in power. The novella depicts how the animals' overthrowing of the human oppressor Mr. Jones and their establishment of a utopian society based on equality quickly devolves into a stratified society where the pigs emerge as the new ruling class. The power struggle between the idealistic Snowball and the ruthless Napoleon mirrors the real-life conflict between Trotsky and Stalin. Just as Trotsky was expelled from the Soviet Union by Stalin, Snowball is run off the farm by Napoleon and his oppressive regime. The pigs' adoption of human behaviors and the perversion of the Seven Commandments illustrate the erosion of the core principles of "Animalism," mirroring how Stalin's tyrannical rule betrayed the founding ideals of the Russian Revolution.

Orwell's critique is aimed not just at outright tyranny, but the hypocrisy of regimes that claim to fight for liberation and equality yet end up oppressing their own people. The novella exposes how language and ideals can be twisted to justify the unprincipled actions of those in power.

The Inevitable Emergence of Class Divisions

Animal Farm explores how class stratification tends to reestablish itself even in societies founded on the principle of equality. Initially united against their human oppressors, the animals quickly become divided once the common enemy is gone. The natural split between intellectual and physical labor allows the "brainworkers" like the pigs to use their superior intelligence to manipulate society for their own benefit.  

Orwell shows how the idealistic vision of total equality is undermined by the pigs' embrace of the same systems of oppression and privilege that they initially rebelled against. The utopian ideals of the revolution inevitably give way to a new tyrannical hierarchy, as the pigs adopt the humans' vices of luxury, oppression and deceit. This downward cycle suggests that attempts to create a purely egalitarian society may be futile in the face of ingrained human selfishness and greed for power.

The Dangers of an Uneducated Working Class

Orwell skillfully portrays not just the oppressive figures in power, but also the mindset of the oppressed themselves. The novella is narrated from the perspective of the common animals as a whole, allowing Orwell to illustrate how situations of tyranny arise from both the oppressors' tactics and the naivete of the oppressed who lack education and critical thinking skills.

The loyal and hard-working animals like Boxer represent the gullible working class, who unquestioningly accept the proclamations of their leaders like Napoleon without puzzling out the implications. Their inability or unwillingness to challenge authority condemns them to suffer under the ruling elite's oppression. Orwell suggests that an uneducated populace enables demagogues to rise to power.

The Abuse of Language as a Tool of Oppression

A central concern in Animal Farm is how language can be twisted and abused as an instrument of control by those in power. The pigs gradually distort the rhetoric of the socialist revolution to justify their oppressive actions and keep the other animals subjugated through deception.

What begins as the animals' sincere embrace of Old Major's idealistic vision of equality devolves into the pigs redefining the meaning of his words for their own benefit. The repeated rewriting of the Seven Commandments exemplifies this abuse of language, culminating in the ultimate doublespeak of "all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others."

Orwell exposes with profound insight how language and ideals can be twisted and misappropriated through audacious lies when the populace lacks the education and vigilance to refute it. This manipulation of truth via the abuse of language and meaning remains one of the novella's most poignant warnings about the slippery slope towards oppression.

Symbols:

Animal Farm

Animal Farm, known at the beginning and the end of the novel as the Manor Farm, symbolizes Russia 

and the Soviet Union under Communist Party rule. But more generally, Animal Farm stands for any 

human society, be it capitalist, socialist, fascist, or communist. It possesses the internal structure of a 

nation, with a government (the pigs), a police force or army (the dogs), a working class (the other 

animals), and state holidays and rituals. Its location amid a number of hostile neighboring farms 

supports its symbolism as a political entity with diplomatic concerns.

The Windmill

The great windmill symbolizes the pigs’ manipulation of the other animals for their own gain. Despite the immediacy of the need for food and warmth, the pigs exploit Boxer and the other common animals by making them undertake backbreaking labor to build the windmill, which will ultimately earn the pigs more money and thus increase their power. The pigs’ declaration that Snowball is responsible for the windmill’s first collapse constitutes psychological manipulation, as it prevents the common animals from doubting the pigs’ abilities and unites them against a supposed enemy. The ultimate conversion of the windmill to commercial use is one more sign of the pigs’ betrayal of their fellow animals. From an allegorical point of view, the windmill represents the enormous modernization projects undertaken in Soviet Russia after the Russian Revolution.