Animal Farm
Draft During chapters 7-10 Orwell goes to great lengths to show sympathy for the animals in animal farm. He achieves this by using different techniques which I am going to show you. George Orwell based Animal Farm on the Russian revolution which occurred many years beforehand. Orwell tries to make us feel pathos for the animals to show what the Russian revolution was like for the people affected by it. In chapters seven to ten the animals have to work harder than ever and one wrong move would take them to the chopping board. One quote which stands out for classical satire of the Russian revolution is "ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS." (Chapter 10, pg. 112) This quote makes people feel pathos for the animals because they would think that they were only on the farm to serve Napoleon and build windmills whilst the pigs whop were obviously better off just lazed around or did less of the work. The animals blamed their faulty memories for forgetting the commandment. At this point the animals would probably feel that they were hard done by in the reign of napoleon. Orwell has done well to create pity for the animals here. "The truest happiness, he said, lay in working hard and living frugally" (Chapter 10, pg. 107) this quote is written by the pigs who lived the best lives whilst doing the exact opposite, the animals would feel that they would
Animal Farm
How does George Orwell reflect the Russian Revolution in Animal Farm? Towards the end of the First World War in 1917 the defeated Russian nation was forced to surrender to the mighty German army. This lead to the abdication of the Russian Monarchy and the installation of a liberal provisional government. Within nine month however, the provisional government was overthrown by a new system of government which had previously not been seen, Communism, which lead to the establishment of the Soviet Union. In 1945 George Orwell released his well respected satirical allegory of the communist government which was a parody of the soviet revolution in 1917. The book highlights the downfall of communism which eventually developed into a totalitarian dictatorship. In the book Snowball is a fictional character, a pig that is commonly believed to represent Leon Trotsky. The two characters display striking similarities, both appear to have the best interests of their nations at heart. Snowball is concerned with the improvement of conditions on the farm, such as the building of the windmill and the improvement of the animal's social welfare, which is apparent at the battle of the cowshed. This battle represents the civil war in Russia between the Tsarist forces and the Bolsheviks where the old regime tried to retake power. During the battle of the cowshed Snowball is in the thick of
Focusing on THREE key incidents, explore the extent to which language is an effective method of control in "Animal Farm".
IGCSE English Literature Coursework - Animal Farm 4. "The pen is mightier than the sword" Focusing on THREE key incidents, explore the extent to which language is an effective method of control in "Animal Farm". Animal Farm is a fable, and all fables have meanings. This fable, "Animal Farm" has a very strong meaning and that is that the pen is mightier than the sword, which means that language can alter many things that violence can't. In Animal Farm, we can see violence but we also see a small character who could "turn black into white" by his language. He changes everything that happens in the farm only in language, and all the other animals believe him. His name is Squealer and he was one of the cleverest pigs in the farm. We first see him in the novel when George Orwell describes the pigs. "All other male pigs on the farm were porkers. The best known among them was a small fat pig named Squealer, with very round cheeks, twinkling eyes, nimble movements, and a shrill voice. He was a brilliant talker, and when he was arguing some difficult point he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail which was somehow persuasive. The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white."(p.9) Here with only his first description we can see that Squealer was a very good talker, and he was good at arguing things. In the story, Napoleon gets advantage of
The Use of Language in Animal FarmAnimal Farm by George Orwell is an allegory in which animals are personified to represent the struggles
The Use of Language in Animal Farm Animal Farm by George Orwell is an allegory in which animals are personified to represent the struggles and conflicts of the Russian Revolution. The main point emphasizes in the novel is that language is a powerful tool, which can be used to manipulate and control people in order to bring about change, whether big or small. In the story the pigs govern everything that happens, whether it is something as miner as eating a meal, or something as major and important as fighting a strategic battle. Napoleon, the foreman, or leader of the pigs is the most powerful of them all. Napoleon and his "side kick", Squealer, abused the powers of language to manipulate the animals of the farm into thinking that the farm was a beautiful society flourishing with life and freedom, when in fact, it was quite the opposite. An example of how language is used is given at the beginning of the story when Major tells all the animals his predictions for the future, and explains that which must occur, in order to have freedom. They all hear what he is saying, and seemingly agree with it. However, when he dies, the other pigs, Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer, are able to take control, and twist his words around to make the farm the way they want it, so that, the other animals can not argue against them without going against the idea of the revolution. They have no
Explore and evaluate the ways in which Orwell presents and structures Old Majors
EXPLORE AND EVALUATE THE WAYS IN WHICH ORWELL PRESENTS AND STRUCTURES OLD MAJORS' SPEECH, AND CONSIDER THE EFFECT ON THE AUDIENCE. There are many different aspects of Old Majors' speech that are presented and structured by Orwell to create an intended effect on the audience of animals which were listening, as well as the readers of 'Animal Farm'. In his speech, Old Major raises the concern that "[animals] are not allowed to reach their natural span" by humans, and thus jumping on the bandwagon to generalise his cause with the concerns of the listeners, the other animals, who would be extremely worried about their life span due to their "laborious" lifestyle; even though Old Major describes himself as one of the "lucky ones" to have lived for "over twelve years". By doing this Orwell presents Old Major as a great leader, who empathises with, and knows the problems of the general population, even if they are not his. However the fact that Old Major is called "Willingdon Beauty" by Orwell, and boasts of his superior lifestyle also presents him as a character who thinks of himself as a cut above the rest; and therefore Orwell plants the seeds of the flaw in the idea of equality between the animals straight away. It can therefore be evaluated that Orwell presents old Major as a good leader through the 'empathy' of old Major, but shows flaws in his idea, for the readers,
How does Orwell use the fable form to explore ideas about power in Animal Farm?
How does Orwell use the fable form to explore ideas about power in Animal Farm? Remember to write about the society in which the stories are set. Orwell wrote this play to illustrate the Russian revolution. He used the animals to symbolise the main characters in the Russian Revolution. The moral of this fable is that power can corrupt anyone if they are not careful. Animal Farm is used to represent Russia in the time when Stalin was ruling Russia. Orwell represents the populations of Russia through the animals. Boxer is used to represent the community of Russia that did just as Stalin liked and didn't question his word. When the dogs attacked him he held them down with his hoof with ease. "Boxer looked at Napoleon to know whether he should crush the dog to death or let it go." He doesn't understand that the dogs were sent to attack him by Napoleon. This shows just how imprudent Boxer is. He is not as clever as Napoleon at all. If Boxer had a brain as good as a pig he would have been a great leader of the farm. Snowball is meant to symbolise Leon Trotsky and how he tries to do good for the country. Snowball has many attributes. He is a very helpful character and tried to help all the animals on the farm." He formed the Egg production Committee... the clean Tails League..., the wild Comrades' Re-education Committee" This shows that Snowball is dedicated to spreading the
Shooting an Elephant - Orwell's insecurities prompted the murder of a defenseless animal.
Jordan Fife 1 English 1 David Zehr 03-01-03 Shooting an Elephant: Orwell's Insecurities Prompted the Murder of a Defenseless Animal The short story "Shooting an Elephant", by George Orwell, is a narration that subtly discusses Orwell's motives for killing an escaped elephant. As a sub-division officer for imperialist Britain in 1936, Orwell attempts to keep the favor of the native townspeople where he is stationed and to avoid humiliation. The townspeople of Burma neither favored nor respected Orwell until an event occurred that would allow a character opinion to be made. The event was a disruptance where he had to shoot an elephant for the alleged safety of the public. Orwell is not motivated to kill the elephant for the safety of the public, but by his fear of his own insecurities that plague him. Orwell is uniquely susceptible to peer pressure and pressed forward to action through humility. Upon initial assessment of the situation that would test the strength of Orwell's character he concludes "at that distance, peacefully eating, the elephant looked no more dangerous than a cow. I thought then and I think now that his attack of "must" was already passing off; in which case he would merely wander harmlessly about until
How has George Orwell used Animal Farm to criticise the Russian Revolution
Animal Farm Essay, page 1 Animal Farm is an allegory and a warning, written by George Orwell. Orwell wrote books about societies and was interested in how people worked in a group. Animal Farm is a story about animals, based on events that happened in the Russian Revolution. Orwell wrote it to criticize the Russian Revolution and show how the people of Russian ended up worse off. In Animal Farm, farmer Jones represents Tsar Nicholas II, who was the leader of Russia before the revolution. He believed in his divine right to rule, as humans believe in their right to rule over animals. The Communists seized power and drove Tsar and his family out, as the animals chased the Joneses out. Napoleon represents Stalin, and Snowball represents Trotsky. They were Russian leaders. Stalin took control of the secret police, just like Napoleon took control of the puppies. Stalin became a dictator. A propaganda about external enemies helped him keep control of Russia, after he drove Trotsky out. There was famine. Stalin became distant, just like Napoleon was seen less and less. Stalin encouraged his followers to worship him. The idea of hard work was proved wrong, and Stalin had absolute power. Boxer is a strong, hard-working horse. He believes that the solution to any problem is to work harder. I know this because Orwell writes "His answer to every problem, every setback, was 'I will work
Animal Farm - Power Corrupts, and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely
In 1887, Lord Acton told his friend in a letter, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." In 1945, George Orwell published the short novel Animal Farm, which was as allegory to Soviet totalitarianism, in which he made his views about several topics clear. Many of the characters in the book are corrupted by power, particularly the pigs, as they begin to manipulate their position of leadership to exploit the other animals, showing that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Firstly, it can be seen how power corrupts the pigs in Animal Farm simply by their actions, which include the changing of the commandments and their manipulation of the other animals. The actions of the character Napoleon are a particular case in this argument. In the fifth chapter of the book, Napoleon ousts Snowball from the farm during one of the regular debates with the aid of his trained dogs. Napoleon, not being satisfied with the amount of power that he currently had, decided to expel Snowball from Animal Farm with the support of his trained dogs. He did this in blatant disregard to the second of the Seven Commandments of Animalism. "Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend. (Chapter 2)" The law is written so that every animal is considered a friend. However, Napoleon chose to treat Snowball as an enemy because Snowball's
Overview of Animal Farm
Overview of Animal Farm George Orwell (who's real name is Eric Blair) wrote animal farm in 1943 to describe how he felt about dictators and leaders during revolutions. A good example of this is Russian revolution (the events of which are paralleled in Animal Farm), Orwell believe that once leaders had achieved their goal, they should resign and let the community take over and a committee should make the decisions. However in the Russian revolution Josef Stalin (the leader in this case) did not resign and (in my words) became corrupt, as he thought that Capitalism no longer communism was the best way to go, the idea that the original plan that even was equal got thrown out the window after the revolution. People greed and hunger for power is overwhelming and each time someone has obtained this power it has been met with by conflict. The only way the human race has progressed (shall we say) is by the slaughter of one another. Most wars are a good example of this. However when someone does come to total power (totalitarianism) the community don't realize what power they have in these situations. If one worker refuses to do his duty then he is met with conflict and is set t death or another form of punishment, but if the mass of them form together and protest then there is little that the person with total dominance can do, he has to met the problem with another solution than
