Later he was to recount his experiences and his reactions to Imperial rule in his novel 'Burmese days' (1934) and in two autobiographical sketches "Shooting an elephant" and "A Hanging". After being injured, Orwell resigned from the Imperial Police and declaring himself an anarchist, took cheap lodgings in London's East end, living among the poor labourers.
He spent some time in Paris, and then in 1931 he went back to England, moving around the country eventually settling at a farm. All these experiences provided the material of Orwell's first book, 'Down and Out in London'.
Through the years, Orwell wrote many more novels and his anarchism settled into a more mature socialism. He made a tour in order to gather material for a book on the social conditions in the industrialised cities and improvised mining communities in the North of England.
He also kept a diary during February and March 1936 that would form the basis of this book 'The Road to Wigan Pier'.
In 1936, Orwell rented the small general store in Wallington, which he ran as a business with his wife. Although they left Wallington in 1940, Orwell visited often and the village's most enduring legacy was its Manor farm; this would form the basis for 'Animal Farm'.
Like Gulliver's Travels, Animal Farm can be enjoyed on more than one level, as readers who have no intellectual experience of the political parallels will still receive the raw emotional jolt. Regardless of whether you know a lot about Russia and the revolution, 'Animal Farm' has an absorbing story which adults and children should find enjoyable.
However, knowledge of the political comparisons helps bring about a better overall understanding of the book and help you to appreciate Orwell's motivation for writing. Orwell's original intention for writing was to 'expose some lie' and his initial concern was to 'get a hearing'. He realised, like Swift that the world held many political problems which needed to be brought to the attention of the public, and found writing to be the most effective and "aesthetically pleasing" way.
Fortunately for Orwell, he did not need to use the same level of subtlety in his writings to avoid government intervention although he realised the power of satire and employed it throughout the whole of 'Animal Farm'. Both Orwell and Swift's works are attacks on humanity in general and both satirised certain individuals.
In 'Animal Farm', Orwell's characters are a representation of historical people who were involved in the Russian revolution of 1917. For example Napoleon, the large fierce looking Berkshire boar is a satire of Joseph Stalin. "Snowball was a more vivacious pig than Napoleon, quicker in speech and more intelligent". In this passage Orwell is comparing Stalin to Leon Trotsky, another leader of the October revolution.
Napoleon uses Squealer the pig as his propagandist because of Squealer's excellent persuasion skills. Joseph Stalin also used propaganda and this kept him on top of the Russian government. Napoleon's main advantage over controlling the animals of the farm is his exploitation of the dogs. Orwell uses them to represent the KGB or perhaps more accurately, the bodyguards of Stalin. Orwell almost speaks of the dogs as 'mindless robots' so dedicated to Napoleon that they cannot really speak for themselves. This is supported by Napoleon's early and suspicious removal of six puppies from their mother.
Orwell's satirisation of characters in his book goes into such detail that even characters as frivolous as the pigeons represent important parts of the Russian revolution.
Early on in the book, the pigs create seven commandments for all animals to abide by but gradually; they change over time as the pigs become increasingly dominant. The pigs prey on the weaknesses and forgetfulness of the animals and slowly each commandment is altered in some way. For example, the commandment, No animal shall drink alcohol, is changed to No animal shall drink alcohol to excess after Napoleon gets drunk and subsequently has a hangover. Although the animals generally do not realise it, the pigs are exploiting the animals into living a life worse than how it was before the pigs took over.
Another example of Orwell's satire is when the most powerful and perhaps gullible animal, Boxer falls after the strains of building the windmill, and is taken away in a glue cart much to the animals despair. Squealer then goes on to tell them that the cart was for a hospital and once again the animals are tricked. The ironic fact is revealed when a crate of whisky arrives for the pigs and the reader realises what they have done.
After the removal of Snowball by Napoleon at the beginning, Napoleon has acquired himself a scapegoat for all the bad things that happen on the farm by blaming them on Snowball. For example, Napoleon explains to the animals that the food shortages are because of Snowball sneaking in at night. At a gathering in the barn, many animals come forward to explain that Snowball has been telling them to cause trouble amongst the farm and Napoleon's dogs kill them in front of the other animals. This is a most likely to be a tactic of Napoleon to get the animals to say that, to reinforce Snowball's existence and act as a deadly warning of Napoleon's power and authority.
Like Swift, Orwell uses humour as a part of satire in certain places to make a point. Orwell's humour is much more subtle, he shows the pigs difficulty in getting to grips with human tools in a comical way "it is not easy for a pig to balance on a ladder". Whereas Swift blatantly uses 'toilet humour' throughout which caused much offence to certain people. Orwell's writing style is similar to Swift's in that it is clear, strong and precise. These qualities are vital for a book where it is important for the reader to understand the message they are trying to convey. It also increases the impact and can be very influential "There was a deadly silence. Amazed, terrified, huddling".
On a personal level, I enjoyed 'Animal Farm' more because of its simple persuasive style, which I found absorbing and kept me interested right to the very end. However, I also enjoyed 'Gulliver's Travels' because it is so different to any book I have read and its subtle, yet provocative satirical points enhanced the pleasure of reading it.
