A Comparison Between Orwells Concerns And Methods

Of Making His Points With Swift?s Essay, Research Paper

A

Comparison between Orwell?s concerns and methods of making his points with

Swift?sEric Arthur Blair,

now more commonly known as George Orwell was born in India in 1903, and his

father was an official in the Indian Civil Service. Throughout Orwell?s childhood

he felt a deep sense of isolation, a factor to later influence his

writing.? In 1911 he was sent to a

boarding school on the Sussex coast where he was distinguished by his poverty

and intellectual brilliance. He grew up a

morose, eccentric boy and in 1953, wrote of his miseries in an autobiographical

essay, ?Such, Such Were The Joys.? Orwell won

scholarships to Winchester and Eton.? He

chose Eton and stayed from 1917 to 1921, and during this time published his

first writing in college periodicals. Despite being offered a scholarship to

University, Orwell became an Imperial servant at Burma in 1922, serving in a

number of countries.Yet he had a desire to become a writer, and when he

realized how much the Burmese were ruled by the British against their will, he

felt increasingly ashamed of his role. He later recalled his experiences and

reactions to Imperial rule in his novel, ?Burmese Days? and in two

autobiographical sketches, ?Shooting an Elephant? and ?A Hanging?. In 1927, Orwell

retired his post and left Burma, choosing to live among the poor, outcast

people of Europe.? He resided for some

time within the slums of England and France.?

These experiences were conveyed in, ?Down and Out in London and Paris?

where he voiced his concerns for those worst off in society. Orwell?s politics

as a socialist writer became progressively more anti-Communist and also

patriotic. After his failing to enlist in World War II, due to grounds of ill

health, Orwell joined the Home Guard and increased his journalistic output. He

became the literary editor of the Tribune and as did Swift, contributed

articles to many papers.? Orwell

had a family life, and after the death of his first wife in 1945, married Sonia

Brownwell and moved to a Scottish Hebridean island also with his sister and

adopted son. However, in 1950 his health had gradually declined and Orwell died

of tuberculosis a few days before hoping to visit Switzerland to improve his

health. ??????????? Orwell?s

first popular success ?Animal Farm? was published in 1945. It conveys political

tyranny and its effects on a society. As the title suggests the novel is set on

a farm, detailing the farm animals struggle with the farm?s manager to achieve

an equitable, sharing and harmonious community.? Orwell?s motivation lay within his life experiences and

influences, as did Swift?s. The two novelists had each experienced different

forms of power and regime, yet both were able to express and convey the flaws

of these authorities in different styles. ???????????? Today, Swift?s novel would be unbelievable in the

context that he wrote it.? However, by

using this approach, he managed to avoid political retribution. Orwell in

comparison, expressed his views, but in an unbelievable style to add interest

and amusement. ?I write it because there is some lie I want to expose, some

fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a

hearing. But I could not do the work of writing a book, or even a long magazine

article, if it were not also an aesthetic experience.? As with ?Gulliver?s

Travels,? ?Animal Farm? can be read on different levels.? It is subtitled ?a fairy story,? drawing the

readers? attention to the artificial aspects, yet we know it is not ?a fairy

story? as there is no happy ending. The reader, by being drawn in has to look

closer, exploring and interpreting the true intentions of Orwell?s

writing.? Orwell uses animals to make

serious moral points. Another example of this is ?Aesop?s Fables? where the

characters do not behave naturally or realistically but are symbolic of certain

human attitudes and ideas?. Although Orwell

satirizes dictatorship and individuals? abuse of power in general, there are

many points the novel makes that correspond with the Soviet Union and events

following the fall of the Tsar in 1917.?

A few examples of this include: many of Marx?s? ideas lying within

Major?s speech, the failed attempts to create an equal society, the

disagreements between Stalin and Trotsky that correspond with the animals Napoleon

and Snowball, and the increase of Stalin?s, and therefore Napoleon?s power, in

the use of terror and propaganda in becoming a dictator. Swift satirizes

human nature in general, but of individuals putting him and his friends down

rather than the society around him, perhaps creating more of a personal

retribution in his writing. Orwell struggled

throughout the majority of his life and received conflict at the hands of

power, whereas Swift generally had a more comfortable upbringing receiving

hardships at the beginning, yet with personal disagreements throughout.? Orwell and Swift both satirize the abuse of

power and suggest the moral of human nature, that Utopia?s are not possible due

to the flaws that will always be found and created by individuals.? Orwell once said,

?Totalitarianism has abolished freedom of thought to an extent unheard of in

any previous age.? He believed this idea was achieved by forbidding freedom of

thought or action but also by telling the people exactly what to think. This is

demonstrated in ?Animal Farm? right from the start where Major?s statement,

?whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy? has been condensed to ?four legs good

two legs bad? in order that the unintelligent sheep could understand the

principals of Animalism. This simplification caused its loss of meaning, and

later has appalling implications, when used to drown out or prevent uproar and

revolt. This parodies the less intelligent masses of the Soviet Union and the

disregard of attention to these people?s understandings of events. There are

indications that the proposed utopia will never materialise. The animals?

society is not an equal one as three pigs are seen immediately taking the best

positions in the barn. Some animals are protective to others, whilst others

seem intent on fighting amongst themselves.?

The irony of the first chapter is clear in that it establishes through

Major?s speech an idealistic vision of the future in contrast of the suffering

under Jones. The eventual progress of ?Animal Farm? shows that as the pigs

distort Major?s ideas, they alter and corrupt the principles of Animalism The element of

realism is introduced by the first actions of the dogs, directly after Major?s

speech where they attack the rats. This openly contradicts what Major has just

stated. The rats represent the majority of the rural peasants whom the

revolutionaries tried to shape to their views.?

Orwell suggests here that human behaviour is essentially selfish and

ruthless.? Swift made the same point

when Gulliver discovered how the court were planning to blind and starve him

slowly to death. In ?Animal Farm?

the equality Major emphasized so much is jeopardised by the pig?s greater

intelligence, ?with their superior knowledge it was natural that they should

assume leadership.?? By becoming the

farm?s administrators, the pigs avoided physical work. Orwell suggests here

that there is not equality, labour not being equivalent to ?brainwork?.?? Napoleon?s rise to

power begins from his nature, ?a large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar,

the only Berkshire on the farm, not much of a talker, but with a reputation for

getting his own way.? This description implies power through aggression, which

is exactly what happens.? When

Napoleon?s dictatorship is threatened by Snowball from the animal?s preference

to his idea of the windmill, he is chased out of the farm by the nine dogs.

Napoleon, who generally represents Stalin, saw Snowball, representing Trotsky?s

strategies, and his attempts to educate the other animals, as a threat.? He understood that if he kept the animals unintelligent,

they would be easier to control for his own benefit, rather than the farms.? It is clear these

are his intentions from the start, privately rearing the nine puppies. The nine

dogs represent the secret police that silenced, many by death, any rebellious

individuals. Their presence in the novel adds a sense of fear and darkness that

symbolises corruption, while their actual contribution, is by fighting in the

battle of the windmill, and even this is beneficial to Napoleon?s leadership.? Boxer, the

hardest working animal on the farm, ?who is universally respected? represents

the lower class, hard working society of Russia, without him the farm would not

succeed. His two maxims?, ?I will work harder? and ?Napoleon is always right?

are both results of his experiences at the hands of dictatorship and limits his

thought. There is again no thought given to his feelings or emotions, and even

his ?retirement? is exploited to the advantage of the pigs. The pigs? use of

language makes the suffering of the animals sound acceptable. This is the use

of propaganda. Squealer?s use of this is crucial to Napoleon?s success in

convincing the animals of Napoleon?s fitness of power and validity for the

apparent ?sacrifices? made.? Many words

and even whole speeches are not fully understood by the animals, and they are

not questioned, due to the convincing act Squealer puts on.? The threat of the nine dogs, their own vain

hope that things are okay, and that their faith in their leaders, prevents them

seeing themselves being systematically betrayed. Propaganda was used

throughout the Russian revolution and this is the point Orwell is making, that

the shameless use of it has conflicting effects. Humour is used in

both novels to similar effect. In ?Gulliver?s Travels,? ?toilet humour? is used

throughout, ?to ease myself with making water; which I very plentifully

did.?? This is rare in any writing but

Swift continually refers to it, which is quite shocking to the reader.? Swift describes his actions with the same

tone and format that he uses throughout the story, thereby creating the ironic

humour.? Orwell similarly applies humour

but with greater subtlety, ?with some difficulty (for it is not easy for a pig

to balance on a ladder) Snowball climbed up.??

Here the reader can imagine the event Orwell has described, which

creates the humour.? The idea of

including humour teaches the reader to study other ideas, specifically the

satirical aspect. Both Orwell and

Swift wrote about politics. The treatment they received at the hands of those

in power influenced their writing. As Orwell once said, ?Every line of serious

work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly,

against totalitarianism and for democratic Socialism.? Orwell suggested

that language had to try, as far as possible to reflect the truth of an issue.

In his writing style, thoughtless language and complex writing was avoided, and

straightforward wording used. This technique was used in the hope of not

misleading the reader and helped make the message as clear as possible. There

is the satirical parody here of the contrast of how political writing is often

distorted and purposely relays false meanings.?

Swift was not able to do this with the same impact.? This was probably due to the fact, that by

making his point too obvious, he would endanger himself from the people he was

satirising, this creates a sense of irony. The main point that

both these novels compare on is the great irony in the general outline of each

story.? ?Gulliver?s Travels? tell us of

the supposedly successful, civilised people of Lilliput.? Gulliver exposed them as corrupt, disloyal

and animal-likes individuals.? Animal

Farm however, tells us of these apparent, well-meaning and thoughtful animals

that are exposed as having careless, slovenly and corrupt human

characteristics.? Despite several

hundred years separating the two authors, there are many similarities and

contrasts between ?Gulliver?s Travels? and Animal Farm?. The novels were both

very successful and were appreciated by a wide audience.? On a personal level I found, Gulliver?s Travels? and

?Animal Farm? equally appealing. I was surprised to find how subtle techniques,

use of language and the general style, left me to interpret the writers?

intentions.? Both novels are exceptional

and have inspired me to find and explore similar styles of work.