...Corruption of Pigs, Leaders and Modern Day Life Corruption is a provoking issue for many societies around the world, impacting multiple generations and at various degrees. Corruption is defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary as, ‘dishonest or illegal behavior especially by powerful people’. It is displayed by Hitler in the Holocaust, George Orwell’s book Animal Farm, and even in our modern day. George Orwell conveys a powerful message that applies to all three situations, supporting Orwell’s compelling message. Orwell’s political message about corruption of the government and leaders abuse of power is depicted in the way Hitler led Germany, the current U.S. government and George Orwell’s portrayal of the Russian Revolution in Animal Farm. There are many examples of people taking advantage of power in our country today. In a New York Times Article titled “ "Officials Push to Bolster Law on Wiretapping", author Charlie Savage informs readers of the government’s new push for an increase in surveillance. Recently, phone companies and networks have updated their software, causing it to be additionally difficult for the government to spy on them and take the customers personal information(Savage 1). As the U.S. government continues to wiretap and collect information from large phone carriers such as AT&T and Verizon(Savage 1), it will become an extreme and impactful invasion of privacy. This push will extend the laws to companies like Gmail, Facebook and Skype(Savage 2). Savage...
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...alternative to Napoleon? George Orwell’s Animal Farm is a satiric allegory of the Russian Revolution, and shows how power tends to corrupt the characters in possession of it. The two prominent pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, are shown to slowly accept the temptations of power and succumb to its effects. After Snowball’s expulsion, Napoleon takes control of the farm. But what if Snowball became the unquestionable leader and Napoleon was written off the board. Would Snowball become a better leader and conduct activities on the farm to ensure everyone was equal? It is clear the Snowball would not pose as morally legitimate political alternative as there are many instances that he was complicit with the pigs’ corrupted behaviour. To what extent is the weakness and foolishness responsible for the abuses of power committed by Napoleon and his followers? George Orwell’s Animal Farm is a satiric allegory of the Russian Revolution, and extensively shows the naivety of a simple working class and manipulated by propaganda. The foolishness of the simple animals demonstrates how they are unable to question the corrupt rule of the pigs and thus condemns them to suffer the full extent of the pigs’ oppression. It creates a loophole for Napoleon and his followers to abuse their power and manipulate it to suit their own benefits After Napoleon gains unquestionable control of the farm, he starts to abuse his power and change the Seven Commandments to shadow his corrupt behaviour. George Orwell’s...
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...A TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THE SIGNET CLASSIC EDITION OF GEORGE ORWELL’S ANIMAL FARM By HAZEL K. DAVIS, Federal Hocking High School, Stewart, OH S E R I E S W. GEIGER ELLIS, ED.D., E D I T O R S : UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, EMERITUS and ARTHEA J. S. REED, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, RETIRED A Teacher’s Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of George Orwell’s Animal Farm 2 INTRODUCTION Animal Farm is an excellent selection for junior and senior high students to study. Although on one level the novel is an allegory of the 1917 Russian Revolution, the story is just as applicable to the latest rebellion against dictators around the world. Young people should be able to recognize similarities between the animal leaders and politicians today. The novel also demonstrates how language can be used to control minds. Since teenagers are the target not only of the educational system itself but also of advertising, the music industry, etc., they should be interested in exploring how language can control thought and behavior. Animal Farm is short and contains few words that will hamper the reader’s understanding. The incidents in the novel allow for much interactive learning, providing opportunities for students to dramatize certain portions, to expand on speeches, and to work out alternative endings. The novel can be taught collaboratively with the history department as an allegory of the Russian Revolution, allowing students to draw parallels...
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...could have found the right arguments.” This quote, taken from Animal Farm, an allegory written by George Orwell, shows that if people aren’t educated then they can’t fight back against their government. This is the case in Animal Farm, where a pig by the name of Napoleon, took rule of Animal Farm, after overthrowing the previous leader, a human, and eliminating his only other competition, a pig called Snowball. The pigs in Animal Farm were the only animals that could learn english so the rest of the farm animals could not question the corrupt government that the pigs set up. Looking at this structure of the story and many other aspects of writing, I believe that the purpose of George Orwell's writing...
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...George Orwell’s, first highly successful novel, Animal Farm, was published on the heels of World War II. Orwell wrote the book during the war as a cautionary fable in order to expose the seriousness of the dangers posed by Stalinism and totalitarian government. In Orwell’s novel he portrays many World War II leaders through the animals on the farm (GradeSaver 1). In the beginning of the book the readers find out that Mr. Jones, the farm owner is a drunk and does not remember to care for the animals. Then the readers find out that old Major, the prize Middle White boar, had a strange dream that the animals take over the farm a live without humans. Napoleon, a large rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar, is one of the few animals that Orwell uses to portray the leaders from World War II (Animal Farm 35). Throughout the chapters of the novel, Napoleon slowly gains control over the farm by letting Snowball organize things, by helping with little things, and by finally chasing Snowball off the farm. Napoleon slowly takes control over the farm by sitting back at letting Snowball organize things after old Major dies. Shortly after old Major died the animals chased Mr. Jones off the farm. They then burned anything and everything that led them back to Mr. Jones. The next day, after all the animals had woke up, they held a meeting. Snowball says, “Comrades, today we begin the hay harvest. Now comrades, to the hay field!” (Animal Farm 42-43). This is an example of Napoleon letting...
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...Animal Farm George Orwell’s Animal Farm can be said to be one of the most popular parodies, dealing with politics, which has ever been written. It is shown to be against communism and shows how the author observed the disloyalty of the ethics and beliefs of revolutionary Communist Party of the Soviet Union. It describes the meaning of tyranny in general and sarcasm at the mannerisms of any ruling class, to think what they know is right and it is the best course of action for those they rule. Animal Farm was written for almost sixty years now and it still impacts the way people think mentally. Animal Farm warns of blind faith, the abuse of power, and propaganda. The story mostly tells readers how a revolution of farm animals emerged against a cruel master. They were all revolting against the unethical, greediness and a power hungry master. There is something we refer to toxic leadership. Being in the military, there are times where myself rarely make decisions. There is always somebody that out ranks me, giving a demand, and I go about following out those orders. That is where all the decisions come from, those higher ranking. Those high-ranking individuals sometime misuse their power to do unjustifiable things in my eyes. It is not something that happens all the time, but it does happen. In Animal Farm, the pigs abuse their power by changing the law to their own advantage. In the Novel, Boxer has a motto. This motto is “Napoleon is always right!” Before you know it...
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...boy, George Orwell had always loved writing and literature. He began writing poems before most kids today can even spell their name. This love lead him to receive scholarships and become an authorauthur. It did not all come easy for him though, and he had many obstacles in his way, including some life threatening ones. By looking at Animal Farm, one can see that George Orwell included the themes of the corruption of sSocialist ideas and the danger of a naive working class because he was very opposed to the cCommunistic ways of the Soviet Union. George Orwell, who was born Eric ArthurAuthur Blair, was born on June 25, 1903, in Motihari, India. He was the son of, Richard WalmesleyWalmasley Blair, a British civil servant officer, and...
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...a utopia??. In George Orwell’s novella, Animal Farm, the farm animals are restricted and mistreated. They have an overseer named Mr. Jones who is not only a drunk, but is slowly losing his ability to take care of Manor Farm. Gradually the animals are moving toward the idea of revolution against their dictator. Lois Lowry once said, “The life where nothing was ever unexpected. Or inconvenient. Or unusual. Is a life without colour, pain or past.” This quote can be interpreted as a life without problems, surprises or consequences, is a life with no originality or vitality. George Orwell uses a large variety of literary elements such as, symbols, dramatic irony and conflict...
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...AP Literature The classic novel Animal Farm written by George Orwell unravels the story of a group of farm animals who craved freedom from humans. Many of the characters in Animal Farm relate to ideas and people involved in the Russian Revolution such as, Joseph Stalin, Karl Marx and the idea of communism. George Orwell tends to give animals on the farm characteristics of those who lead the Russian Revolution. The novel is simply a reflection of this time period with the twist of the people involved being portrayed as animals instead. George Orwell's novel Animal Farm is directly related to the Russian Revolution in several ways. In the novel Animal Farm, Mr. Jones treats his animals extremely poorly and fails to give them enough food to be healthy (Orwell 18). He is sometimes cruel in which he beats his animals with whips and on the other hand he is sometimes kind by mixing milk into the animals' mash. This relates to Czar Nicholas II of the Russian Revolution. He was a poor leader compared to his western kings and he was sometimes cruel and brutal with opponents, and other times he was kind and hired spies to make money (CITE). Old Major is also a character that can be compared, he taught animalism as Karl Marx had taught and invented communism. Major also spoke of how the animals did all the work while the humans kept all the money and for that reason the animals should revolt against mankind. Marx believed that the workers of the...
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...have those rights, and in the novel, Animal Farm, by George Orwell, the animals struggle under a dictatorship where rights are limited. The following three paragraphs will include, how the novel Animal Farm written by George Orwell portrays a farm in which there is a need for natural and human rights, the reality of North Korea, where conditions are poor and human rights are minimal, and how George Orwell was trying to warn his audience of the future. In Animal Farm, Orwell creates a farm where the animals have a need...
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...ideology of George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm by the means of why government is necessary. The concept of the necessity of government is brought up in the beginning of the novel when Mr. Jones is ran out of his farm due to nationalist uprising brought upon by Old Majors speech and song. When the animals rebelled against Mr. Jones there was no standing army to put them down. There wasn’t any laws or rules for the animals to follow so this led to anarchy due to no government or authority to enforce them. The novel Animal Farm demonstrates a lot of ideologies and themes that are similar to our politics today. In Animal Farm we see a repetitive theme of the consequences...
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...their veins taking hold of their mind ultimately causing them to stop at nothing to gain power. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the pigs new surge of power leaves them unsatisfied causing them to exploit and manipulate the other animals. The pigs defy their code to gain authority eventually leading to the corruption of the farm by their own greedy desires. George Orwell reveals the destruction that greed causes through the main antagonist, Napoleon, the affects of communism and his own life experiences. This ultimately leads the animals and Orwell into a world they do not recognize. Greed can be seen as a silent force that has the ability to conquer one’s life, where their selfish attitude allows his or her’s infatuation of power to consume them. Napoleon’s desire to become the only leader devours him as he becomes deceitful to animals except to the pigs. The animals on the farm are captivated by this new forming idea that they can become their own individuals by overthrowing the owner, Mr. Jones. This results in the animal to rejoice as they believe that they are able to control themselves and not be controlled, “And so, almost before they knew what was happening, the rebellion had been successfully carried through; Jones was expelled and the Manor Farm was theirs. For the first few minutes, the animals could hardly believe their good fortune” (Orwell 12). Napoleon secretly gains power from this rebellion as he and Snowball are the leaders of the newly named...
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...powerless into subservience. The allegories by George Orwell and Arthur Miller denounce the harmful effects of tyranny, as it generates deception and fear, enabling despotic individuals to gain power and control. Miller’s play, The Crucible, advocates for the necessity of transgression to gain autonomy, as Salem’s theocracy is eventually broken; however, it is Orwell’s novella, Animal Farm, that exposes the unjust reality in which rebellion does not always guarantee freedom,...
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...Snowball and Leon Trotsky “Animal Farm was meant to help destroy the Soviet myth.” – George Orwell. Orwell was a democratic socialist and this led him to denounce that what was going on in the Soviet Union had anything to do with socialism. As people equated the Soviet Union with socialism, he thought no one could appreciate what democratic socialism is. Orwell doesn’t criticize the act of revolution itself but the misery it could cause if the leaders go corrupt, shortsighted, and greedy. George Orwell’s Animal Farm demonstrates a symbolism of the Russian Revolution through features of Snowball and the historical figure of Trotsky. Animal Farm is an allegorical novel written by George Orwell in 1945 that reflects the social issues of the Soviet Union in the time period of 1917 to 1943. This essay will explain about who Snowball is, who Leon Trotsky was, similarities and differences between these two characters, and the author’s purpose of using Snowball to represent Trotsky in his novel. Snowball is a Napoleon’s rival who contends for control of the Animal Farm after the rebellion. In Animal Farm, chapter two on page 16, it describes Snowball as an eloquent, inventive, and vivid leader. He is most clearly attuned to Old Major’s thinking and devotes himself to actualize it. Snowball insists that in order to defend Animal Farm and strengthen the reality of Old Major’s dream without human beings, the animals should stir up rebellions in other farms throughout England. He brings...
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...The story takes place on a farm somewhere in England. The story is told by an all-knowing narrator in the third person. The action of this novel starts when the oldest pig on the farm, Old Major, calls all animals to a secret meeting. He tells them about his dream of a revolution against the cruel Mr Jones. Three days later Major dies, but the speech gives the more intelligent animals a new outlook on life. The pigs, who are considered the most intelligent animals, instruct the other ones. During the period of preparation two pigs distinguish themselves, Napoleon and Snowball. Napoleon is big, and although he isn't a good speaker, he can assert himself. Snowball is a better speaker, he has a lot of ideas and he is very vivid. Together with another pig called Squealer, who is a very good speaker, they work out the theory of "Animalism". The rebellion starts some months later, when Mr Jones comes home drunk one night and forgets to feed the animals. They break out of the barns and run to the house, where the food is stored. When Mr Jones sees this he takes out his shotgun, but it is too late for him; all the animals fall over him and drive him off the farm. The animals destroy all whips, nose rings, reins, and all other instruments that have been used to suppress them. The same day the animals celebrate their victory with an extra ration of food. The pigs make up the seven commandments, and they write them above the door of the big barn. They run thus: 1. Whatever goes upon...
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