Orwell
Farm: George Orwell=s Animal Farm: A metonym for a dictatorship
Harry Sewlall Vista University Distance Education Campus PRETORIA
E-mail: swlll-h@acaleph.vista.ac.za
It seems, to warp George Orwell’s elegant phrase, that “All animals may speak freely but some may speak more freely than others” (Ronge, 1998:13). It is the lesson of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, a little book I am sure much of the ANC leadership would have read, if not always taken to heart (Carlin, 2001:4). Abstract Orwell= Farm: George Orwell=s Animal Farm: A metonym for a dictatorship George Orwell’s Animal Farm is traditionally read as a satire on dictatorships in general, and the Bolshevik Revolution in particular. This article postulates the notion that the schema of the book has attained the force of metonymy to such an extent that whenever one alludes to the title of the book or some lines from it, one conjures up images associated with a dictatorship. The title of the book has become a part of the conceptual political lexicon of the English language to refer to the corruption of a utopian ideology. As an ideological state, Animal Farm has its vision, which is embedded in its constitution; it has the vote, a national anthem and a flag. It even has its patriots, double-dealers, social engineers and lechers. In this way the title Animal Farm, like Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, or Thomas More’s Utopia, functions metonymically to map a conceptual framework which matches the coordinates of the book. The article concludes with a look at contemporary society to show how Orwell’s satire endorses the words of Lord Acton, namely, that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Literator 23(3) Nov. 2002:81-96 ISSN 0258-2279 81
George Orwell’s Animal Farm: A metonym for a dictatorship
1. Introduction
The critic John Wain, who has written prolifically on Orwell’s work, testifies to the prescience of Animal Farm as a reflection on contemporary reality:
Animal Farm remains powerful
Harry Sewlall Vista University Distance Education Campus PRETORIA
E-mail: swlll-h@acaleph.vista.ac.za
It seems, to warp George Orwell’s elegant phrase, that “All animals may speak freely but some may speak more freely than others” (Ronge, 1998:13). It is the lesson of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, a little book I am sure much of the ANC leadership would have read, if not always taken to heart (Carlin, 2001:4). Abstract Orwell= Farm: George Orwell=s Animal Farm: A metonym for a dictatorship George Orwell’s Animal Farm is traditionally read as a satire on dictatorships in general, and the Bolshevik Revolution in particular. This article postulates the notion that the schema of the book has attained the force of metonymy to such an extent that whenever one alludes to the title of the book or some lines from it, one conjures up images associated with a dictatorship. The title of the book has become a part of the conceptual political lexicon of the English language to refer to the corruption of a utopian ideology. As an ideological state, Animal Farm has its vision, which is embedded in its constitution; it has the vote, a national anthem and a flag. It even has its patriots, double-dealers, social engineers and lechers. In this way the title Animal Farm, like Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, or Thomas More’s Utopia, functions metonymically to map a conceptual framework which matches the coordinates of the book. The article concludes with a look at contemporary society to show how Orwell’s satire endorses the words of Lord Acton, namely, that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Literator 23(3) Nov. 2002:81-96 ISSN 0258-2279 81
George Orwell’s Animal Farm: A metonym for a dictatorship
1. Introduction
The critic John Wain, who has written prolifically on Orwell’s work, testifies to the prescience of Animal Farm as a reflection on contemporary reality:
Animal Farm remains powerful
Bibliography: Literator 23(3) Nov. 2002:81-96 Harry Sewlall Literator 23(3) Nov. 2002:81-96 ISSN 0258-2279