Animal Farm: the Meaning of Equality
Francesca Rael
Mr. Reese
2PreAP English, Period 7
19 December 2012
The Meaning of Equality
In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, he examines the impact of communism and the post-war anxiety of World War II. Orwell uses allegories to thoroughly explain the pain and worry following the clash between countries. He uses farm animals and a farm to represent the major events and figures in the time of Stalinism and the Soviet Union. The animals want to “get rid of man” (Orwell 30), and man stands for capitalist society. Communism, or “Animalism” as the animals call it, starts out as a society of equals, but gradually mutates into a dictatorship. The leaders created a dystopian world where everything they had planned took a turn for the worse instead of the originally planned utopia. All of the animals (except for the pigs/leaders) ultimately lose all of the power they believed they had gained. Post-war anxiety plays a large role in the novel, Soviet Russia, and around the world. In the years following WWII, America was constantly in fear of Russia bombing them and Russia was afraid that America was going to invade. In Animal Farm, the animals wake up every day with the anxiety of the humans coming back to retake the farm. The humans (both Mr. Jones and the owners of other farms), on the other hand, are afraid that their animals will follow suit and revolt against them.
Russell Baker explains how Orwell experienced the war first hand and how he believed that the decent people of Western Europe were being tricked into thinking that Soviet reality was remarkable in his “Preface” of Animal Farm. Orwell called the book a fable, but it is also a “satire on human folly” (Russell vi) and has numerous lessons for human morality. Post-war anxiety was tremendous in both the ‘50s and the 60’s and George Orwell found this out when he went searching for a publisher. Stalinism and the Soviet Union were so popular that neither British nor English publishers wanted to hear any criticism
Mr. Reese
2PreAP English, Period 7
19 December 2012
The Meaning of Equality
In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, he examines the impact of communism and the post-war anxiety of World War II. Orwell uses allegories to thoroughly explain the pain and worry following the clash between countries. He uses farm animals and a farm to represent the major events and figures in the time of Stalinism and the Soviet Union. The animals want to “get rid of man” (Orwell 30), and man stands for capitalist society. Communism, or “Animalism” as the animals call it, starts out as a society of equals, but gradually mutates into a dictatorship. The leaders created a dystopian world where everything they had planned took a turn for the worse instead of the originally planned utopia. All of the animals (except for the pigs/leaders) ultimately lose all of the power they believed they had gained. Post-war anxiety plays a large role in the novel, Soviet Russia, and around the world. In the years following WWII, America was constantly in fear of Russia bombing them and Russia was afraid that America was going to invade. In Animal Farm, the animals wake up every day with the anxiety of the humans coming back to retake the farm. The humans (both Mr. Jones and the owners of other farms), on the other hand, are afraid that their animals will follow suit and revolt against them.
Russell Baker explains how Orwell experienced the war first hand and how he believed that the decent people of Western Europe were being tricked into thinking that Soviet reality was remarkable in his “Preface” of Animal Farm. Orwell called the book a fable, but it is also a “satire on human folly” (Russell vi) and has numerous lessons for human morality. Post-war anxiety was tremendous in both the ‘50s and the 60’s and George Orwell found this out when he went searching for a publisher. Stalinism and the Soviet Union were so popular that neither British nor English publishers wanted to hear any criticism
Cited: Baker, Russell. “Preface.” Animal Farm. By George Orwell. New York: Signet Classic, v-xii. Print. Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York: Signet Classic, 1996. Print. "The Flow of History." FC130B: The Communist Dictatorships of Lenin & Stalin (1920-39). Web. 04 Dec. 2012. <http://www.flowofhistory.com/units/etc/19/FC130B>. Woodhouse, C.M.. “Introduction” Animal Farm. By George Orwell. New York: Signet Classic, 1996. xiii-xxiii. Print.