Animal Farm As A Social Criticism Essay, Research Paper
Writers often use social criticism in their
books to show corruptness or weak points of a group in society. One way
of doing this is allegory which is a story in which figures and actions
are symbols of general truths. George Orwell is an example of an author
who uses allegory to show a social criticism effectively. As in his novel
Animal Farm, Orwell makes a parody of Soviet Communism as demonstrated
by Animal Farm’s brutal totalitarian rule, manipulated and exploited working
class, and the pigs’ evolution into the capitalists they initially opposed.
Totalitarianism is a political regime based
on subordination of the individual to the state and strict control of all
aspects of life. It was used by Stalin and the Bolsheviks in Russia during
the 1920’s and 30’s and is parodied in Animal Farm by Napoleon, the “almighty”
leader, and his fellow pigs and their ridiculous propaganda and rigorous
rule. In the book, Napoleon is deified and made superior to all other animals
on the farm, for example he is called emperor or leader while everyone
else was referred to as a “comrade”, and all the pigs were given higher
authority then the rest of the animals. An inequality between the pigs
and rest of the farm was that the pigs lived in the farm house while the
other majority had to sleep in pastures. A certain pig Squealer who could
“turn black into white” was in charge of propaganda, and he would often
change the commandments of the farm so that they would fit the actions
of Napoleon or the “upper class” of the farm which was supposedly classless.
For example, at one time a commandment read “No animal shall drink alcohol”(P.
75), but soon after Napoleon drank an abundance and almost died the commandment
was changed to “No animal shall drink to excess.” which made it seem as
though Napoleon was within the rules. Another instance where Napoleon showed
severe rule was when everyone on the farm who had either pledged for or
showed support at one time for Snowball, the exiled former leader, was
executed on the spot. This act was a humorous resemblance of The Great
Purge in Russia where all opposition was killed off. The governing system
of the Animal Farm was truly corrupt, but it did not stop with the propaganda
and executions.
At first on the Animal Farm, it was promised
to the majority of the animals who were neither Napoleon or a pig, or the
so-called “working class”, that “from each according to his ability to
each according to his needs”, no more, no less. In other words, if all
the animals worked to their capabilities they would get the work back in
rations. This system worked for a while, but stopped when Napoleon and
his Totalitarian government took over, and the system was manipulated.
Napoleon and his fellow pigs gave the animals unfair hours of labor and
unfair rations for their work which corrupted the system. Napoleon attempted
to keep the animals intact by inspiring them with slogans, “Napoleon is
always right.” and “I will work harder.”(P.40) This seemed to work because
no animal would refuse to do their job because of the fear of their food
supply being cut as a penalty. As an example, Napoleon announced that all
animals would have to work voluntary Sunday afternoons, but any animal
who absented himself from it would have his ration reduced by half(P. 42).
Napoleon gave the animals long, many hour days so that the farm could move
toward industrialization with the building of a windmill, much like The
Five Year Plan of Russia. This act was made comical because much like in
Russia the plan kept on failing, but the government proceeded in actions
anyway. The so-called “working class” of the Animal Farm which at first
had a bright future was turned into more of a “slave class”.
Animal Farm started with a dream, a dream
of old Major’s which was for the animals of England specifically the Manor
Farm to rebel against the humans, take over the farm, and live at peace
amongst themselves. This dream soon became a reality for the animals of
the Manor Farm as they defeated their master, Mr. Jones, in the Battle
of Cowshed with their battle cry “Four legs good, two legs bad”, and took
over the farm which they renamed Animal Farm. The first leader was Snowball
who ruled along with his fellow pigs and kept Major’s dream alive, only
to be expelled from the farm soon after he took over. The next leader was
Napoleon, who brought a whole new type of Totalitarianist government to
the Animal Farm. The farm which was supposed to be equal and free of class
had a distinct governing body or “upper class” with the pigs and a distinct
“working class” or majority which was everyone, but the pigs. The “working
class” was manipulated and old Major’s dream was going away. Eventually,
the seven commandments which were set forth at the beginning were changed
in to one commandment that read “All animals are equal but some animals
are more equal than others”. Indeed, the pigs had become like their worst,
most hated enemy, the human, and Major’s dream and the hard work of the
majority of the animals on the farm had been wiped away much like Lenin’s
dreams for Russia were.
In fact, Animal Farm and the Russian Revolution
were alike in many ways. Both started with bright ideas for a future and
ended with a corrupt government taking over only to turn the colony into
what it initially opposed. The setting of a farm with animals to represent
revolutionary figures in an extreme country seems outrageous, but the idea
can be perceived very well in this novel. Orwell combines some great humor
into this symbolic story to give a bad effect on Russia in the time of
its Revolution, making a mockery of Totalitarian rule, the “working class”,
and idealization for the future.