ABSTRACT This essay studies the utopic societies in Animal Farm by George Orwell and Life of Pi by Yann Martel in an attempt to examine certain human behaviors that undermine the creation of a utopic society in the real world. First and foremost, this essay gives a brief overview of the concept of utopia followed by the description of how a utopic environment is described in each of the two literary works. It shows how Animal farm highlights equality and peace as the core principles of establishing a utopic society whereas Life of Pi emphasizes on the possibility of living the life with freedom and security. Afterwards, the essay discusses three specific human behaviors – the quest for power, deceit, and violence –in order to elucidate how …show more content…
The pigs, except for Snowball, are portrayed as deceitful characters due to their ability to manipulate the rest of the animals through words. Napoleon achieves his reign at the Manor Farm through the exploitation of other animals’ innocence with the help of the dogs and Squealer, which is another ambitious and shrewd pig. The author describes Squealer as “a brilliant talker, and when he was arguing some difficult point he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail which was somehow very persuasive.” (Orwell 13). His talent in convincing others enable him to take advantage of naïve and loyal animals in the same way that shrewd politicians in the real world manage to convince people of their statements, which usually turn out to be lies that prevent the human society become …show more content…
For instance, the animals, under the command of Napoleon and Snowball, declare the Battle of Cowshed to end humans’ dominance over them at the Manor Farm. They choose brutal methods to torment their enemies, whom they consider as tyrants. Moreover, during the battle, Boxer, a naïve and strong male horse, accidently kills a boy. This proves the recklessness of violent behavior and how people engaged in a violent conflict target everyone, including the innocent such as children. Therefore, the violent behavior of the pigs and other animals once again reminds the reader of human cruelty, which makes it impossible for a utopic society to
Propaganda is the spreading of ideas, rumors and other information to injure or help a person or an institution. One can see this concept in the book Animal Farm, a tale written in 1945 by author George Orwell. Orwell illustrates the use of propaganda in the Russian Revolution by utilizing animals as the main characters. In the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell, the animals use elements of propaganda like scare tactics, scapegoating and disinformation to influence the other animals on the farm.
The pigs took away rights and lives of their own citizens as did the Soviet’s, which helps teach what the book was trying to show that when these political figures gain such power, that they should not use it to only their advantage but to everyone’s. This can be represented at the end of the book when Napoleon has a meeting with humans and starts to resemble the humans exactly. This is because Napoleon used his power for his own well-being like the humans and eventually resembled one. “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” pg.124 The image of the pigs appearance is tarnished by the way the pig treated his citizen as did Stalin.
Juliette Blalock Singh 4/5 Animal Farm In the satiric novel Animal Farm by George Orwell, the character Napoleon represents a dictator in society, who turns a self-governed and unbiased farm into his own. Napoleon initially unifies with the rest of the animal’s, but soon decides to take matters into his own hands and disposes of Snowball and his proposals towards the farm. He takes advantage of the vulnerable animals so he can become in command. Napoleon is clever, brutal, and dictatorial to the animals.
Squealer, an allusion of propaganda, both publicizes and directs the animals to follow the decisions that Napoleon makes. Since the animals listen to and believe what Squealer says, they quit singing Beasts of England. They never get any ideas of rebelling against the pigs, and Napoleon retains the power and
In Animal Farm, Squealer, chief propagandist, attempts to convince the animals that their lives under the regime of the animals is better than that of the humans. Squealer tries to convey this message, for example, by telling the animals that the animals would better off if Napoleon made decisions for them. Squealer says, “No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves.
In addition to being used for eliminating uncomfortable opponents, violence is used as a tool for political oppression in Animal Farm. The situation at the Manor Farm conjures up Maximilien Robespierre 's reign of terror, where any political opponents were violently punished. Likewise, in Animal Farm, any animals that oppose the leadership of Napoleon and the pigs are brutally punished. For example, when four pigs at the farm give Napoleon a distorted account of how they kept in touch with Snowball after his exile, Napoleon decrees his dogs to “tore their throats out” (Orwell 59). Napoleon’s use of violence is so effective that it helps him to instill the idea that he “is always right”
Animal Farm- Lies and Deceit The book Animal Farm by George Orwell portrays the theme of how someone can lie and deceive others to get what they want just like how the two pigs Napoleon and Squealer used lies and deceit to gain power over Animal Farm. Napoleon lied to other animals, Squealer lied to other animals and they both deceived the other animals, but the sad part is that neither of them lied for the better of the other animals. They both lied to get what they want- power over the animals and the farm.
But in the end the pigs and humans not only look alike but, also sound alike. Napoleon uses three different tactics to seize and control, but also maintain the farm those tactics are propaganda, loyalty of the farm, and fear. Napoleon uses propaganda by allowing Squealer to talk to
Furthermore, Napoleon gives the other animals the impression he was the sole leader of the rebellion on Animal farm and makes Snowball -a leader who wanted what was best for the animals- seem like an enemy who was in cahoots with Farmer Jones since long before the animals took over the farm. Napoleon and Squealer (another “fat cat” pig.) always put the blame on Snowball whenever something went wrong in the farm to avoid having the blame fall on them. Napoleon is an exemplary example of just how selfish and hypocritical people can be in furthering their own aims because he continued to subtly but purposely change the seven rules put in place as the pillars of animalism. For example, Napoleon and the other pigs move into Farmer Jones’s house and sleep in his bed after commanding “No animal shall sleep in a bed”, so he changes the commandment to read “no animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets”.
Napoleon’s system of ruling is no different, if not even more dictatorial, than that of Mr. Jones because he can never be appeased by his starving desire for more power. He shows that there is no guarantee of satisfaction to greed because it never ceases to grow. Orwell illustrates this visualization perfectly through Animal Farm by using Napoleon’s unceasingly growing desire for power to bring upon destruction to the social
As someone gains more and more power, they increasingly become corrupted with that power. In the novel, Mr. Jones, the owner of the farm, neglects, abuses and mistreats his animals until he is thrown out. When one of the pigs, Napoleon, takes power, he eventually behaves so human-like that it becomes impossible for the other animals to tell him apart from Mr. Jones. As Whymper was led to the store-shed, he caught a glimpse of the bins and was deceived, and continued to report to the outside world that there
Napoleon also uses manipulation to gain and maintain a firm control by changing the Commandments for the farm in ways that work to his benefit. Squealer, Napoleon’s propaganda department, Keeps the farm animals believing in Napoleon by describing what they hear and see to make it seem harmless. Using effective tactics of fear, convincing propaganda, and manipulation, Napoleon gains and maintains control of Animal Farm. “Animal Farm” has corruption and equality in a way the animals try to succeed and achieve a goal to make the farm better. Power corrupts in “Animal Farm” because the pigs have a goal which is working together and helping one another.
In addition, Squealer often threatens the animals that Mr. Jones will return if they did not follow as instructed by Napoleon to manipulate the farm animals. For instance, pigs decided that the milk and windfall as well as the main crops of apples should be reserved for the pigs alone. Ostensibly, pigs need to be in healthy state as they claimed to be the Einstein of the welfare of the farm. Here also, Squealer threatens the animals that Jones would return if they oppose the idea. Therefore, the animals agreed with
Animal Farm Essay How are allegories relevant when discussing societies issues of human nature? George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm explores this question through the characters in his book. The Novel was based around people and events of the Russian revolution that occurred during 19… and revealing many truths of human nature and existence throughout the novel. George Orwell portrays his characters as animals with human traits and allows readers to infer what he is revealing about human nature through these characters.
Some would say power is the ability to control a group and have them become your followers while maintaining a strong leadership role. The two books, Animal Farm and Lord of The Flies use power through the two main chiefs of the novels. The book Animal Farm, by George Orwell, is about a group of animals that declare a rebellion against the owner of their farm. They take the farm over, and make Napoleon, the main character who is also the dictator of the book, take leadership of the farm. On the other hand, the book Lord of The Flies, by William Golding is about a group of boys who are stranded on an island with no adults.