Animal Farm is not just about a story about animals it is about human nature and behaviour. Discuss.

Animal Farm

Animal Farm is not just about a story about animals it is about human nature and behaviour.

“Animal Farm” by George Orwell is a novel based on the lives of a society of animals living on the Manor Farm. Although the title of the book suggests the book is merely about animals, the story is a much more in depth analysis of the workings of society in Communist Russia. The animals are used as puppets to illustrate how the communist class system operated, and how Russian citizens responded to this, and how propaganda was used by early Russian leaders such as Stalin, and the effect this type of leadership had on the behaviour of the people of Russia.

One thing which relates to the topic is how the pigs are favoured on Animal Farm. The main source for this was because their leader Napolean was a pig, the pigs were subject to favouritism by Napolean, and were given privileges that other animals were not given, such as sleeping in beds, wearing clothes and drinking beer. The pigs were also the only animals involved in making the vital decisions on Animal Farm.

The fact emulates in a way how our Government tends to operate. The Government Party members are paid an exuberant amount of money, with this money the members of the Government can purchase costly cars and houses, if they wish to do so. They make all the important decisions about the country where as the tax payers rarely have a say in it.

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Another thing that “Animal Farm” and todays society have in common is that the powerless people are subject to propaganda . In “ Animal Farm” Squealer and Napolean used propaganda by telling the animals that Snowball was a traitor, and convincing them that he was a criminal. They threatened that if Napolean was not in leadership Jones may come back. This happens in our society during the election period , the opposing parties all warn the public of the consequences of voting the other party, and how bad it would be if they were in power.

The issue of Boxer the horse represents how people are used for their skills and talents. As soon as they are not needed they are disregarded. Boxer was the hardest worker on the farm, he contributed the most to the development of the windmill. As soon as Boxer was unable to continue working, Napolean got rid of him. “Boxer’s face disappeared at the at the window…Boxer was never seen again.” This scene illustrates that “Animal Farm” is a story about human nature, as it is a human tendency to use people to achieve certain means, but disregard them as soon as they are no longer needed.

Clover’s feelings for Boxer also illustrates how animal farm is about human nature and behaviour, Cover’s fondness for Boxer showed when Boxer confided in Clover admitting to her how much his split hoof hurt, Clover treated Boxer’s troubled hoof with poultices of herbs. After Boxer’s hoof had healed, he worked harder than ever, Clover tried to convince Boxer he shouldn’t be working so hard and he should be taking better care of his help , but Boxer paid no attention. When Boxer had his fall Clover was first to come to his aid, for the next two days Boxer had to stay in his stall, Clover would give Boxer medicine, In the evenings Clover would lay in his stall and talk to him. When the Knacker’s came to collect Boxer Clover did all in her power to stop the knackers taking Boxer away. This example of behaviour indicates the human quality of love and compassion towards others.

Although “Animal Farm” tells the story of Russian society using animals, the fact that it is a story about real people makes “Animal Farm” a story about human nature and behaviour.

Lauren Archibald

word count: 627

Plan

Paragraph 1) Introduction “Animal farm” is a novel based on the lives of a society of animals living on the manor farm.

Paragraph 2) Discuss how the pigs are favoured on Animal farm, and how they get special privileges that the other animals don’t get, such as making important decisions, this relates to human behaviour because it relates to our leaders ( government )Based on how class system operates in a communist society - government and it’s advisers are the highest class, whilst the workers are catergorised as the lower class (proletariat).

Paragraph 3) Discuss the human behaviour of love: Clover taking care of Boxer and spending time with him when he was ill.

Paragraph 4)

Peer Reviews

Here's what a star student thought of this essay

sydneyhopcroft

8th of Sep 2012

Quality of writing

The Quality of Written Communication is fine. Though no challenging lexis is used at any time, the candidate still demonstrates very good control over their use of the English Language. There is no cause for concern with regards to the candidate's grammar, spelling and/or punctuation.

Level of analysis

The Level of Analysis is also very good. The candidate shows through a number of perceptive comparisons that the novel by Orwell is far from the simplistic and ironically labelled "Fairy story" (as Orwell calls it). It's historic and social resonance goes far beyond something of fantasy and the candidate does an excellent job of recognising this. The analysis is nicely structured and demonstrates a good grasp of how to coherently form an effective essay (aided by the plan), and how the animals of Animal Farm come to represent very real people, rather than just vehicles for a fictitious plot.

Response to question

This is an excellent essay. The contextual analysis far exceeds the expectations of any GCSE student and the comparisons drawn between the events of the Russian Revolution and the events of the novel are explicitly noted and commented on critically to a great extent. I love the way the candidate incorporates Orwell's parallels into their analysis, as it shows the examiner the candidate has a good knowledge of world history as well as how to analyse prose effectively. The detail supplied to individual characters is also good and demonstrates a close attention to detail with regard to character appreciation - overall a great essay.

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