Utopia to Dystopia: The Collapse of Animal Farm The attempt at creating a utopian society led the animals closer to a dystopia. The novel Animal Farm demonstrates that a fantasy paradise is unattainable and is parallel to the attempt of the Soviet Union. As leaders, the pigs paraphrased the rules, and made themselves as superior to the working class of animals. Not all the animals acknowledge the idea of a farm governed by animals and disregard the rules. The corrupting effect of power has divided the united farm and drifted the animals far from the ideals of the revolution. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, an ideal utopian society cannot be achieve because there was a lack of equality, cooperation, and the farm’s corrupt leadership. Equality …show more content…
Government by coalition often fails or one member will find a way to gain an advantage. “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which” (139). It is shown how the pigs start out with Old Major's vision, but are exactly like the people (oppressive) by the end of the book. The pigs become like the humans by the end of the novel. Throughout the novel they have revealed similar traits; they want to seize power and maintain control over all the other animals. This is exactly what the humans did and the pigs, in effect, take over from the humans and rule in just the same oppressive manner. In this way, they destroy the original ideals of the revolution which called for complete equality for all animals and the rejection of all human contact. By the end of the novel, the pigs are in an open alliance with the humans and behave just like them, even by walking on two legs. A revolution aimed at improving the lives of the animals, with the best possible intentions, has degenerated into a nightmare. Similar to the creation and destruction of the Soviet Union, Napoleon in Animal Farm is directly connected to Joseph Stalin, while Snowball represents Leon Trotsky, and Old Major is Vladimir Lenin. Since Old Major's original idea was to create revolution around the
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Show More1. A story, poem or a picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral; the Allegory of animal farm it reflected the events of World War II in the resolution of Russia in the 1970s. For example, the pigs believe they were superior to everyone. Textual evidence: “they explain that by their studies of the past three months the pigs had succeeded in reducing the principles of animals 7 commandments.”
In Animal Farm, George Orwell warns how power will often lead to corruption. Napoleon was placed in a position of power after Major died, and he slowly starts to lavish in his power and become addicted to the lush life of a dictator. When Napoleon first becomes a leader, he expresses how everyone will work equally, but as his reign goes on, he shortens the work hours. At the very end of the novel, the observing animals even start to see that pig and man had become the same. The irony present in the above example, illuminates how regardless of how much a ruler promises to maintain equality and fairness, the position of power that they hold, will corrupt them.
The pigs took away rights and lives of their own citizens as did the Soviet’s, which helps teach what the book was trying to show that when these political figures gain such power, that they should not use it to only their advantage but to everyone’s. This can be represented at the end of the book when Napoleon has a meeting with humans and starts to resemble the humans exactly. This is because Napoleon used his power for his own well-being like the humans and eventually resembled one. “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” pg.124 The image of the pigs appearance is tarnished by the way the pig treated his citizen as did Stalin.
George Orwell portrays Napoleon as Stalin in many similar ways. Just as some leaders use dictatorship to control political aspects, pigs also use dictatorship to control animals. Animal Farm uses characterization to suggest that although cruel leadership can be effective, it will lead to
The pigs became selfish and violent, changing the animal 's view until it was almost completely different from the original. A very similar thing happened with communism, during Joseph Stalin 's rule he left a majority of the country helpless and to fend for themselves. He would sentence people to death for showing the smallest bit of resistance against his newly formed
The ensuing rebellion under the leadership of the pigs Napoleon and Snowball leads to the animals taking over the farm. Vowing to eliminate the terrible inequities of the farmyard, the renamed Animal Farm is organised to benefit all who walk on four legs. But as time passes, the ideals of the rebellion are corrupt, then forgotten. This is all due to the lust for power that the pigs Napoleon and Snowball have that made them all selfish and corrupted. Animal farm in context to The Russian Revolution in terms of corrupting influence of power : Orwell 's goal was to portray the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the early years of the Soviet Union that resulted in a more oppressive and deadly government than the one it overthrew.
But the search for Utopia could lead one to be taken advantage of by others. Animal Farm reveals clearly a way that Utopia is searched for but is never
Animal Farm, A Dystopian Society Dystopian societies involve bloodshed, espionage, and countless tragedies among the citizens of the society. The goal of creating a successful society is very difficult to accomplish due to the amount of criteria a society must meet to become successful. A utopia is a society where everything is perfect and everyone is happy, while a dystopia is a society where everyone is under complete control and the government is often conniving. Animal farm can be portrayed as a dystopian society due to the farm’s cunning, but evil, leader and the multiple traits of dystopian societies that can be clearly seen on the farm. The propaganda used by Squealer in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, as well as the frowned upon dissent and false fantasy of the farm being a utopia, prove that The Animal Farm is a dystopian society.
The novel Animal Farm continues to stand as the best example of a dystopian society. It illustrates the story of a farm run by pigs after overthrowing Man. One pig specifically, Napoleon,
I read a book called, “Animal Farm” written by George Orwell. The book is about animals on a farm who are overworked and aren 't treated well. Then, an insurgency made up of animals with pigs as their leaders, rebel against Mr.Jones (owner of the farm) by driving him off his farm. The animals try to make the perfect life for themselves, but that doesn’t go as planned. The animal farm then starts to fail.
One dominant theme in animal farm is totalitarianism and abuse of power. Totalitarianism is defined as a political system in which the state possesses complete authority over the society and controls all aspects of public and private life whenever necessary. The author criticized totalitarianism and believed that it was inevitable in a communist system, as those put in charge will result in the abuse of their power. The theme Orwell intended to get across was that all totalitarian regimes are the same and those who hold power will do anything to maintain it. The pigs, who were the leaders, frequently displayed this throughout the novel.
Due to this, the novel written by George Orwell is clearly a dystopia. Orwell composed Animal Farm as an allegory of the Russian Revolution. He wanted his readers to understand what an unsuccessful society looks like, and how power can lead to corruption, like it did in Russia under Stalin’s rule. Citizens became narcissistic, and a totalitarianism government developed. For a society to truly prosper, it must be occupied by citizens who do not have excessive interests in only
This relates to the theme because, throughout the story, the pigs have been in charge because they have more knowledge than the other animals. They were also really clever and could think of a way around every difficulty the farm experienced. ( Orwell 13) In the middle of the story, some crucial rules were being changed and the animals did not do anything about it. “ … pigs not only took their meals in the kitchen and used the drawing-room as a recreation room, but also slept in the beds.”
The contrast to this perfect society is a dystopian society. Dystopian societies are marked with fear and have little to no chance of improvement. Animal Farm, an allegorical novel by George Orwell, includes a dystopian society. The novel takes place on a rural farm known as, Animal Farm, which is a dystopian society alluding to Soviet Russia. Although Animal Farm is portrayed as the perfect utopia, the animals living on the farm cannot create individual thoughts because of the way they are controlled by propaganda, characterizing Animal Farm as a dystopian society due to these traits.
It is important to remember that this period represented the recent past and present at the time of writing and that Orwell understands the significance of the story’s action to be immediate and ongoing rather than historical. Analytical Review Chapter 1 Although Orwell aims his satire at totalitarianism in all of its guises - communist, fascist, and capitalist - Animal Farm owes its structure largely to the events of the Russian Revolution as they unfolded between 1917 and 1944. Because of Animal Farm’s parallels with the Russian