Orwell attempted to draw parallels to Soviet tyrant Josef Stalin and his policies, which despite their oppressive nature made him a popular figure in the media in US and UK, due to Soviet's alignment with these countries in the Allied Powers in World War II. Orwell wrote an essay with the novel, which is available in some of the issues. Just like 1984, it is a classical example of dystopian literature and has also made into the
Time Magazine's Top 100 Novels of the Century. Ever since serving NKVD during the Spanish Civil War, Orwell had been anti-Stalin and was wary of the spreading Stalinism elsewhere including UK. The book has found its place in pop-culture, and lines such as “from pig to man”, “four legs good, two legs bad” have been extensively used. In one of Orwell's lines himself “I saw a little boy, perhaps ten years old, driving a huge carthorse along a narrow path, whipping it whenever it tried to turn. It struck me that if only such animals became aware of their strength we should have no power over them, and that men exploit animals in much the same way as the rich exploit the proletariat”, which made use the analogy of animals to represent slaves among humans.
The book is very small, and divided into a few chapters. The tone is variant, but the pattern can be noticed easily. Although it begins with a huge ray of optimism, with every passing chapter (indeed page) pessimism keeps on encircling the narrative. Thus the deterioration in the enthusiasm is consistent. Music is a key element in the narrative, as even the novel begins with a song when the 'intellectual' boar- Old Major inspires the rest with tenets of 'Animalism' through the poem "Beasts of England", which is sung throughout the novel by different characters at different points of time, and in different tones. The other one liners like "Four legs good, two legs bad" also appear musically throughout the text.
The scene of Animal Farm is itself a caricature of Soviet Union, with each of the characters in it finding an analogue in the Russian Revolution. Old Major can be compared to Karl Marx himself, Animalism to Communism, Napoleon- the pig to Stalin, Snowball to Leo Trotsky and so on. Just like in Soviet, the inspired animals rebel by physical force and kick out Mr. Jones,who had been mistreating them till now and gave them minimal part of the produce. Mr. Jones can be compared to the ruling class Czars prior to the revolution. Tenets of animalism, with Seven Commandments are established summarized as "Four legs good, two legs bad" and centered out "All animals are equal". At this part of the novel, the tone is mysteriously funny as animals think for themselves, conspire to be above humans and self-ruling. A sort of bathos is also built indicating the Utopian dream shall never sustain.
Such undercuts are evident in warnings issued by the writer as he attempts to build the expectations of an idyllic world in parallel, such as “But the milk was stolen”, suggesting a smack of corruption. The tone for disappointment begins quickly as the pigs claim intelligential superiority to the others, and thus start commanding the rest. But the turning point occurs when among the two pigs- Napoleon and Snowball- apparently warring for the final authority over the decision, Napoleon becomes the tyrant by blatant use of physical force on Snowball in such a way, that Snowball is never ever seen.
However, Snowball’s image perseveres and becomes a scapegoat for every act of failure, which occurred due to lack of Napoleon’s capabilities declaring in the end, Snowball was never with animals and was an ally of Mr. Jones. Life under Napoleon often is reflected as worse than under Mr. Jones, with Napoleon’s and Squealer’s (his spokesman) continual insistence that whatever they did was “for themselves”. The line when used many times arouses pity in the reader’s mind for the animals who actually seem to have lost their power to reason, and accept all the betrayal, lies and oppression of Napoleon, without even the thought of rebellion. The seven commandments are modified, but the animals who couldn’t read can’t perceive it. Benjamin, the donkey, the only one who can see through it all is rather depicted as a nihilist repeating the line “nothing ever changes” and thus doesn’t take interest in inciting a rebellion.
The mockery of commandments, tenets of animalism incite pathos for Animal Farm as Napoleon imitates humans in every possible sense, as the rest can just watch and the hardworking horse Boxer repeats his lines “I shall work harder” and “Napoleon is always right”. The cruel ending Napoleon has in store for Boxer surely leaves the reader with hatred, and not just pity. The novel gets darker, as Orwell seems to be able to make his point progressively. One can compare Benjamin with the skeptics inside and outside Russia, while Boxer compares well to the dedicated and cheated supporters of Stalin.
The ending is again dark, without a tinge of hope for the reader and the setting gets darker than ever. All the hope in the beginning has entirely vanished, being replaced by typical Orwellian pessimism of much higher magnitude. The suppressed is unable to comprehend their own misery, and is made to live under illusions. Overall, Orwell manages to make powerful comments about Communism, apart from singling out the tyrant regime of Josef Stalin. He shows what power left to concentrate in the hands of a few people, unchallenged can do. "In general, the novel reflects how greed, indifference, wickedness would destroy any possibility of utopia". (Wiki) Despite its small size, for anyone who has been moved by his magnum opus 1984, Animal Farm is a must read.
Siddharth Bhattacharya
2008MT50461
Group -1
www.messingtheunmessed.blogspot.com
Just for a further insight, as mentioned by the reviewer that this novella was published after being suppressed for a long time, what actually happened was that the Soviet Union was so popular in the United States and Great Britain that Orwell couldn’t find a publisher for his novel. In fact, the Russians were so strongly associated with the fight against the Nazis that it wasn’t until 1945, when the Second World War was over, that Animal Farm was finally published.
ReplyDeleteAnimal Farm is, of course, a satirical allegory, very specifically of the Russian Revolution and of Stalin (Napoleon in the book), but more generally of revolution and the way in which people take control of societies founded on principles of equality. The mappings of the characters in the book given by the reviewer as exact as they are obvious, and I enjoyed the story as both a specific satire and a general commentary on revolution and government.
Like every book which is influenced by the happenings of the period it is written in, the book is very much a comment and the author’s viewpoint about the political climate of the mid twentieth century where in many countries, leaders rose to power with the trust of the people and soon the leadership converted into dictatorship and they seized control.
The course of events in the animal farm have been made to follow the exact same course as did the history of Russia, which when freed by the rule of czars in hope of utopia and freedom, only got further degraded by the corrupt politics of power and the ordinary people could not find any hope for a better life which was promised to them by the leaders.
In all, this novella appears to be like a lesson of the 20th century world politics taken from the history books of high school with names of the characters changed and told in a metaphorical way without direct reference.
Kshitij Mittal
2009CE10307
‘Animal Farm’ an ‘allegorical novel’ reflects on events leading up to and during the ‘Stalin era’ before World War II. Orwell a democratic socialist and a member of the independent labour party for many years, was a critic of Joseph Stalin.
ReplyDeleteThe Animal farm is famous as a critique of the Russian revolution. The story of the emergence and development of the soviet communism is shown in the form of an animal fable. Animal farm shows the rise to power of the dictator Joseph Stalin. In the book, the overthrow of the human oppressor Mr. Jones by a democratic coalition of animals gives quickly way to the strengthening of power among the pigs. The pigs establish themselves as the ruling class.
The novel not only addresses the corruption of the revolution by its leaders but also how ignorance and greed destroy any possibility of a utopia. The flaw does not lie in the act of revolution, but in the corrupt leadership. It also shows how ignorance and indifference to problems within a revolution can have disastrous results.
-SHAHZAD GANI
2009CE10338
this book has fascinated me since i first read it as part of our studies in high school during the mid seventies. Since then i have seen its many parallels when dealing with unions ,corporatioins and governments. On an even smaller scale its lessons can be applied to any group making decision process that involves people and their need for power and control. "Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth"- John F. Kennedy
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