Animal Farm Essay on Utopia
“THE UTOPIAN DREAM, WHILE NOBLE, IS SHORT SIGHTED BECAUSE IT FAILS TO ACCOUNT FOR THE FLAWS IN HUMAN NATURE.”
George Orwell's allegorical novel ‘Animal Farm’ demonstrates the rapid shift from hopeful Utopian Dream, to reproachful dystopian nightmare as a result of fundamental flaws in human nature, such as avarice, selfishness and the thirst for power over others. In the novel, the animals are promised a better life if they revolt and institute the system of Animalism, then they are promised a better life if they build the windmill and, if all else fails, the raven promises a better afterlife on ‘Sugarcandy Mountain’. However, the animals ultimately never achieve their utopia because of the avaricious and power-hungry nature of Napoleon and his pig cronies. Whether it is the ambitious and power hungry Napoleon and his cronies, the animals' blind loyalty and ignorance to Napoleon's ulterior motives or the resigned apathy and passivity of some of the animals, it is clear that not one, but all are responsible for sending the once hopeful utopian society spiralling into the chaos of a dishevelled, dystopian regime.
Throughout the novel, the Animal Farm’s Utopian Dream is corrupted repeatedly by the ambitious and selfish agenda of the power- hungry Napoleon and his pig cronies. Since the very beginning of his reign as “Commander Napoleon” (pg. 55), the leader of the pigs uses many of the advantages he possesses as an educated member of society to control and mould the 'working class' animals that populate the farm. This can be seen by the way Napoleon shamelessly uses his own and his right hand pig Squealer’s intellect and way with words to persuade and utterly bamboozle his subjects into reform and forces them to work harder under false pretences. Even when his actions are in direct violation of the seven commandments, such as the brutal execution of the chickens after they refuse to give up their eggs to the pigs (pg. 62), Napoleon's connections and overall
George Orwell's allegorical novel ‘Animal Farm’ demonstrates the rapid shift from hopeful Utopian Dream, to reproachful dystopian nightmare as a result of fundamental flaws in human nature, such as avarice, selfishness and the thirst for power over others. In the novel, the animals are promised a better life if they revolt and institute the system of Animalism, then they are promised a better life if they build the windmill and, if all else fails, the raven promises a better afterlife on ‘Sugarcandy Mountain’. However, the animals ultimately never achieve their utopia because of the avaricious and power-hungry nature of Napoleon and his pig cronies. Whether it is the ambitious and power hungry Napoleon and his cronies, the animals' blind loyalty and ignorance to Napoleon's ulterior motives or the resigned apathy and passivity of some of the animals, it is clear that not one, but all are responsible for sending the once hopeful utopian society spiralling into the chaos of a dishevelled, dystopian regime.
Throughout the novel, the Animal Farm’s Utopian Dream is corrupted repeatedly by the ambitious and selfish agenda of the power- hungry Napoleon and his pig cronies. Since the very beginning of his reign as “Commander Napoleon” (pg. 55), the leader of the pigs uses many of the advantages he possesses as an educated member of society to control and mould the 'working class' animals that populate the farm. This can be seen by the way Napoleon shamelessly uses his own and his right hand pig Squealer’s intellect and way with words to persuade and utterly bamboozle his subjects into reform and forces them to work harder under false pretences. Even when his actions are in direct violation of the seven commandments, such as the brutal execution of the chickens after they refuse to give up their eggs to the pigs (pg. 62), Napoleon's connections and overall