Preview

Animal Farm Satire Essay

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2086 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Animal Farm Satire Essay
Module C: Satire

Part A:
Discussion Essay:

“While the satirist makes us laugh, the main objective of the satirist is to cause us, by the use of various techniques, to reflect on ourselves as humans. In reflecting upon ourselves we learn important lessons about people, about issues confronting society and about life in general.”

Question: In an essay of about 1800-2000 words, demonstrate the truth of this quotation by referring to George Orwell’s Animal Farm and two related texts of your own choosing.

Satire is the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, and other satirical techniques, to expose, criticize and ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself. Humour is used to analyse issues, events, people
…show more content…
It is known for its effective use of satire in portraying the story of the Russian Revolution. One of the satirical techniques that were used is irony. The story started out with a common belief that all animals are equal and should earn and work the same amount. This was called animalism (symbolises communism), however over time, things changed and the values of Napoleon (who symbolises Joseph Stalin) differed from the rest of the farm. His morals and values had changed and the whole idea of animalism eventually is altered to suit the needs of the pigs rather than the needs of all animals, which is ironic, in saying that putting oneself is the exact opposite to the whole idea of animalism. His change can be seen in the difference between some of the laws that were established at the beginning of the novel and how they ended up near the end of the novel. For example one of the laws that was agreed by all was “No animal shall sleep in a bed”. This was ultimately changed into “No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets”. Eventually all the seven laws are replaced with "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others", and "Four legs good, two legs better!" as the pigs become more human. This irony throughout the book enables the reader to see Joseph Stalin’s, and the whole communism ideal, flaws and mistakes in a new fashion. This supports the quote in saying that the use of irony as a satirical technique is effective in making the reader reflect about issues confronting society and about life in

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    5. Satire is literary work where vices, follies, stupidities are ridiculed and mocked. Some important elements to include in a satirical piece of text include irony, hyperbole, wit, and humor.…

    • 1512 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Analysing Satire

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Satire uses a number of elements to help portray their view across. Different elements can be categorized more commonly in barbed, gentle or savage satire. Irony is a commonly used element in satire pieces often like the use of puns or parodies. Savage humour sometimes utilises the form of black humour which is a play on light hearted humour of a subject that is usually taken seriously. Juxtaposition and hyperbole are used mainly to add more humour to the piece by pointing out the obviously targeted demographicwith even more banter or additive statements.…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Satire is the use of humor or irony in order to raise critiques about people. Satire is found in many works of controversy or politics. Its uses are important because they point out the faults of a particular time and gives a voice to those who cannot openly express their views. Two works of literary merit which feature Satire are A Modest Proposal and The Rape of the Lock.…

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In a child-like setting in an almost fantastical realm where animals can talk, read, and even govern themselves, Animal Farm possesses a light-hearted beginning where a simple, countryside farm delves deeper into the consequences a dictatorial sovereign. After World War II, many countries began to notice the ideals of communism and its potential benefits nurtured from the Russian Revolution, without acknowledging the negative ramifications involved. George Orwell mirrors the Russian Revolution through situational irony, where the outcome is unexpected verbal irony, when the words contradict the intended meaning, and dramatic irony, where concepts are unclear to the characters although the reader understands. Orwell’s allegorical fable, Animal Farm, effectively informs the reader of significant incidents which portray Stalin’s degradation in the Russian Revolution through the implementation of three distinct types of irony to convey his personal opinions on each matter.…

    • 1162 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Crucible Essay Questions

    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages

    7. What is satire? The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues…

    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Analysis Of Satire

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Satire uses several literary devices, such as exaggeration, invective, parody and irony to ridicule and criticize people’s stupidity, folly and/or vice, particularly in the context of politics and other topical issues. Satire aims to change people’s views.…

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    criticizes some aspect of society through the use of humor. If your satirical essay isn’t trying to…

    • 1566 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    A satire is an artistic work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit. A successful…

    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Satire is defined as a literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit. Voltaire, George Orwell and Charles Dickens used satire to provide a humorous perspective to the social, political and ideological views of their times. Candide by Voltaire, Animal Farm by George Orwell, and Hard Times by Charles Dickens are very successful in using satire to show the flaws of each era 's current views. Voltaire, Orwell, and Dickens use different forms of satire to make their points. Voltaire and Dickens are very extreme with their depiction of satire, while Orwell uses a fable to soften his view. These three authors do a great job of using themes, characters, and style to satirically show the grey areas of their era.…

    • 1713 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Candide Satire

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Satire is defined as a literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit. Candide is a successful satire because it includes the main components of satire, and in writing it Voltaire intended to point out the folly in philosophical optimism and religion.…

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Satire In Animal Farm

    • 707 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The novella, Animal Farm, satirizes the lifestyle of Stalinist Russia. The author, Eric Blair, known by the pseudonym George Orwell, uses a farm in which every animal and conflict is allegorical to the lifestyle of the Soviet Union. In the story, Orwell portrays how the animals are unaware of their power similar to the working class in Russia. After the rebellion, which represents the Russian Revolution, the animals anticipate an exponentially better life that consists of bigger rations, proper care, and a society with no social classes and equality among all animals, similar to communism. The pigs, who are naturally the leaders, create a list of commandments, but due to the lack of education among the farm animals, the pigs sum up the commandments…

    • 707 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Satire vs Politics

    • 441 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Like an open window, satire gives people a new perspective and vision on the things and issues they thought they knew well but others believe that it may be a destructive way to show and reveal every negativity about someone or something and neglect the bright side of things.…

    • 441 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    What Is Political Satire?

    • 3316 Words
    • 14 Pages

    Satire has the power to induce change by exaggerating issues within a historical context. If people see the satirical representation as being close enough to the reality of the situation, then this effect can be prove to be a catalyst for social and political change, at least in the ideologies of the readers of a satirical text. “Satire is a “mixed dish” that reflects any number of different balances of rhetorical argumentation and narrative storytelling” (Holbert et. al. 2013). By combining this rhetorical argumentation and situating it within a larger narrative, satire has the capability of reaching large audience, and the fact that it is such a loaded term which derives its characteristics from many different fields makes it more targeted…

    • 3316 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Satire is loosely defined as the use of humour, irony or exaggeration to ridicule specific topics. It is a notoriously difficult literary technique for authors to employ successfully and often ends up being either a “hit or miss” with its intended audience. One such example of satire being utilized both effectively and skilfully is within the highly acclaimed novel, Animal Farm. First published in 1945 by George Orwell, Animal Farm was written in reaction to the events of the Russian Revolution and its totalitarian regime. Deeply perturbed by the total dictatorial control Stalin had assumed over the Soviet Union, Orwell wrote this novel in order to criticize the events leading up to Stalin’s rise to power. Orwell’s entire novel was essentially…

    • 151 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wordlist Form 1

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages

    satire- a kind of writing in which evil or foolishness is held up to scorn; the use of wit and sarcasm to attack a person or action.…

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics