Preview

Animal Farm: the Danger of an Uneducated Working Class and the Use of Language as Instrumental to the Abuse Ofpower

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1800 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Animal Farm: the Danger of an Uneducated Working Class and the Use of Language as Instrumental to the Abuse Ofpower
“ANIMAL
FARM”
by George Orwell
“The Danger of an Uneducated Working Class and the Use of Language as Instrumental to the Abuse of Power”

Teacher:

De Giacomi, Ana Carolina.

Student:

Resoalbe, Cecilia Analí.

English History and Literature of the
Twentieth Century.

ANIMAL FARM: “The Danger of an Uneducated Working Class and The Use of Language as
Instrumental to the Abuse of Power”

Born in 1903, Eric Arthur Blair, better known as George Orwell, was an English political novelist and journalist, who became a recognized writer due to his sharp criticism of political oppression around the world. Having experienced hard times during the Spanish Civil War and the Russian
Revolution, Orwell turned into a biting critic of both capitalist and communist political systems. He was a devoted socialist, who believed in the consolidation of a government which aimed to support and ensure dignity, freedom and social equality above any kind of selfish individual benefit. As a result, “a profound awareness of social injustice”1 outstands in the majority of his works.
Orwell’s fable story Animal Farm, first published in 1945, cleverly portrays the author’s strong opposition to totalitarian regimes. Through common farm creatures, he illustrates how scarce or lack of education, dooms the working class to suffer the tyranny of a power-hungry dominant group. A cause that at first unified members of a society rebelling for a common reason, as the animals fighting against the human-ruling, is later divided, letting some of them prevail and rule over others. Thus, despotism and manipulation arise not only from the astute and educated ruling class, which instruments language to the abuse of power, but also from the ignorance and naivety of the uneducated oppressed class.
When the animals from Manor farm, encouraged by a dream deceased Old Major had, get rid of Mr.
Jones, the pigs assume the position of governors, since they are “generally recognized as being the cleverest of the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Animal Farm is the account of a fictional farm under the tyrannical ownership of Farmer Jones. The animals reach breaking point, and start a revolution against the tyranny of man. The revolution starts off to better the situation and the animals are happy with what they have. But over time, the pigs become most powerful animals on the farm. They turn the farm from a free democratic state into a communist state. The pigs then state that “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”. As the book is actually a satirical commentary, it has a direct analogy to society. In Animal Farm’s case, it is the…

    • 604 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    George Orwell was the pseudonym for Eric Arthur Blair, and he was famous for his personnel vendetta against totalitarian regimes and in particular the Stalinist brand of communism. In his novel, 1984, Orwell has produced a brilliant social critique on totalitarianism and a future dystopia, that has made the world pause and think about our past, present and future, as the situation of 1984 always remains menacingly possible. The story is set in a futuristic 1984 London, where a common man Winston Smith has turned against the totalitarian government. Orwell has portrayed the concepts of power, marginalization, and resistance through physical, psychological, sexual and political control. The way that Winston Smith, the central character, has been created is purely to delve particular emotions from the reader, as he struggles against the totalitarian rule of Ingsoc. The reader is encouraged through Winston to adopt negative thoughts on communist rule and the themes of the dangers of totalitarianism, psychological manipulation and physical control are explored through Winston's journey. Through Winston's resistance and ultimate downfall, the reader is able to fully appreciate O'Briens reasoning, "Power is not a means, it is an end."…

    • 2273 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Socialists had support from lower classes and political left with the Provisional Government holding state power leading to a period of dual power ensuing…

    • 1287 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Satire Assessment Task

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages

    It is the ignorance of the working class on the farm, and their inability to question authority that Orwell is outraged about. The reader gets a feeling of frustration too, particularly with that of Squealer. Squealer is Napoleons propagandist, which brings up another feature of the Russian Communist regime that Orwell has expressed in the novel. With comments like, “production efficiency has doubled in the last year!” and other somewhat confusing stats and figures, the working class has no other option but to agree and continue with their unfair hard labour. The 1930’s oppression of the working class by Stalin’s regime showed the same ignorance represented in Animal Farm, and Orwell has clearly demonstrated this to…

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cited: “George Orwell-Animal Farm-Interpretation of characters and symbols.” The Complete Newspeak Dictionary. 7 December 2011 <http://www.newspeakdictionary.com/goanimalfarm_farm.html>.…

    • 966 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    George Orwell was a prominent political writer during the post-WWII era who openly opposed totalitarian governments. In the novel 1894, Orwell creates a dystopian society where the idea of individuality does not exist. The novel takes place in Oceania, a fictional country, where the party and its ruler, Big Brother, seek to have complete control over the population. The party implements many tactics in order to achieve this, such as surveillance, propaganda, and degradation of language to gain control of the population’s minds. Furthermore, the party destroys all aspects of independent thought and identity.…

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Language can control and manipulate situations in many ways. In the book "Animal Farm" situations are twisted and turned around with the use of language and propaganda, thus being done so by a pig named Squealer. Propaganda is information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. Squealer can talk his way out of everything, but why he can do this is because of his outstanding use of clear and precise language.…

    • 108 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eric Arthur Blair, also known as George Orwell, was known for having written novels about the government during the Cold War and communist era. He used the pen name and false identity of George Orwell because he felt the need to protect himself from the government due to the the lack of free speech. Orwell is considered by many, a “democratic socialist”, similar to ex-presidential nominee Bernie Sanders. According to him, a totalitarian government is too oppressive. Orwell displays what a complete totalitarian government would be like in his novel 1984, where the government has complete control from the way people speak, to what is written in the history books. George Orwell demonstrates the corruption of society in terms of political…

    • 352 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel Animal Farm, George Orwell hints that power corrupts through the use of an allegorical storyline. By using historical criticism, one can analyze the causes and effects of ruthless ambition. During the WWII era, there was widespread corruption in many nations, as seen in Germany with Hitler and Russia with Stalin. This time period of chaos exposed the lack of compassion among humans. Similar to this era, there were cultural and political struggles among the humans and animals in the farm as well. Ironically, in the animal’s struggle to free themselves of human dictatorship they end up oppressing their own kind.…

    • 1399 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Beadle, Gordon B., “George Orwell and the Victorian Radical Tradition.” Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies, Vol. 7, No. 4 (Winter, 1975), pp. 287-299, The North American Conference on British Studies…

    • 2554 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Orwell wrote at a time when communism seemed likely to spread across the word, which is a similar situation that we see today in some countries. Studying the Orwell’s works is relevant as it parallels with modern times. Orwell’s writing mostly focused on the nature of human in the society; his opinion about the non-democratic world and central authority focused in social and political areas. He wanted to educate people and expose everything he was against. Through the use of symbolism, extended metaphors and intensive imagery, Orwell wrote “naturalistic novels with unhappy endings, full of detailed descriptions and arresting similes” (Orwell, Why I Write) thus turning his harsh words into an art form.…

    • 909 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cited: Orwell, George. Animal Farm. Penguin UK (PB) | January 15, 2013 | Trade Paperback…

    • 588 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    George Orwell, whose real name was Eric Blair, was born in Bengal, India, in 1903. When he was eight years old, as it was customary, his mother brought him back to England to be educated. He was sent to a boarding school on the south coast, a school whose students were sons of the upper class. He was allowed in with lower tuition and not being from a wealthy background, he was subject to snobbery of the others at the school. In 1917 he went to Eton on a scholarship and he enjoyed himself, making friends and reading many books. Orwell graduated in 1921 and instead of going on to a university; he joined the Civil Service and went to Burma as a sergeant in the Indian Imperial Police. He served as a policeman in Burma from 1922 until he took leave in 1927 and resigned his post.…

    • 1473 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    1984: Oppression of Truth

    • 1597 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Cited: Harris, Harold J. "Orwell 's Essay 's and '1984 '." Twentieth Century Literature 4 (1959): 154-161.…

    • 1597 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Animal Farm 33

    • 3470 Words
    • 14 Pages

    Afterwards, they try to destroy and burn everything that belongs to Mr. Jones which is a night mare for them. The other animals think that Mr. Jones’s house is not a suitable place for them to live, except for Napoleon. Meanwhile, snowball gathers the other animals and organizes a new society with several rules:…

    • 3470 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays