Orwells Animal Farm - Research Paper Example

Orwell’s Animal Farm A short story which conveys a certain moral is known as fable, Animal Farm with its satire about soviet communism and totalitarianism coveys it’s moral at the end where Orwell writes “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others” (Menchhofer 5) . George Orwell’s Animal farm is fable which aims to portray 1917’s Russian revolution, which resulted in formation of government that was more tyrannical, oppressive and deadlier than previous one. The characters and the events in Animal farm are similar to those that existed and occurred in Russian revolution. One of the main reasons for Orwell’s choice of using a fable to condemn the communism in soviet union and the dictatorship there is that the audience would understand that concept in fable better and it would reach out more as the book is widely read medium compared to essays. Another major reason for Orwell to use a fable to criticize Stalin’s Russia was that at the time when he wrote Animal farm in 1945, the environment generally was pro Russian. To directly criticize it wouldn’t have been a smart move on his behalf as it would stir a rebellion against him in his readers before they warm up to his point of view in the first place. The use of fable made his point subtle yet a lot more effective to the readers who would not get offended by a perspective which was portrayed in such a manner. He even had a hard time finding someone who would publish this book which did not have direct form of criticism, let alone write a political essay which might not have been published in the first place. Fables or the parables through out history have given writers a freedom to criticize institutions or the individuals without in any way endangering themselves by being very straight forward or direct and offending not only the accused party but their own readers who have contrary beliefs too. They can always claim by using fable that their aim was only to write fairly tale which is a meaningless story instead of being accusatory. Even at present with increased freedom of speech, fables are still preferred in writing as they don’t give impression of accusing or use threatening tone. It is not only smart but also safe to use fables in form of writing where the issue is sensitive and controversial yet the writer effectively wants to change the opinions or perspectives of his readers without throwing them off or being offensive to their believes in any regard. In Animal farm Orwell has not at any instance condemned or criticized Stalin directly, as this would have thrown a group of readers off or alienated them if they believed in a different perspective, as Stalin had been an ally to the forces against the Nazi army of Adolf Hitler. Yet it is obvious from Napoleon, a pig at farm under whom all the pigs get corrupted is in direct reference to Stalin (Head 32). Apart from that the language used in a fable portrays a gentle image that invites the reader in and is unassuming, so that the reader can relate, be drawn easily in the story as well as follow where the plot is heading easily instead of having to read a drag about rigid perspectives on controversial issues. The effectiveness of Orwell’s fable is apparent from the fact that before beginning his argument he warms his potential readers to his perspective. I personally believe that Orwell chose to write a fable so that if ever he gets in trouble regarding aiming for criticism he can claim that it wasn’t related. A fable also has a wider audience as it is more widely read compared to any of the other form of documentation would have. The usage of names although would have served the purpose better and be helpful yet it wasn’t necessary to use them in order to convey the message. The fable also allows the writer more freedom. Another reason Orwell would have preferred using fable instead of an essay directly criticizing, apart from the obvious fact that former is more tactful than the latter is that fable also allows development of several different characters, this allows writer to use different characterizations to gather sympathies of audience to the arguments he is presenting. Orwell by using the animals as characters and basing the point of view from them makes us related with his portrayal of the working class very effectively. Thus his choice of fable over the political essay allows his to evoke intense emotions in variety of readers which the political essay would not be able to do. He very carefully used his animal characters to portray the one’s in Russian revolution, although not named directly it is apparent which characters refers to the one from real life. Mr. Jones for example portrays the real life character of Czar Nicholas II who was a cruel leader; Old Major the most respected animal on farm portrays Karl Marx who invented communism (Peter 2). Snowball referred to Leon Trotsky who was firm believer in communism, Napoleon represented Joseph Stalin who didn’t follow Marx’s ideology and killed anyone who stood to oppose him, The Dogs were the representation of Secret Police who although weren’t real police but forced people into following Stalin, the notion of animalism referred to ideology of communism itself etc. In addition to that, the book Animal farm in a sharp contrast to the corrupt, malevolent and dark sides it aims to expose to public is set in an atmosphere that is lighthearted, innocent and rural. This stark contrast adds a streak of irony to the story just like its presentation in a tranquil setting beneath which lies its core subject matter which is desolate and miserable; this is how the ideals of utopian socialism make room for the totalitarian regime, where the classes at lower ends suffer miserably (Brad, 2012). Another advantage of using the fable as medium of conveying his arguments is that Orwell globalized his message. Although the precise animals and the events that are portrayed in his fable evidently suggest there parallels in real world, their status symbol makes allowance for them to signify past the specific place and time. The span of interpretation is encouraged by Orwell himself; for example, where as the character, Napoleon is in direct reference to Stalin in his circumstance as well as deeds, the name however brings to mind Napoleon who was a French general and turned into an autocrat. Another reason why I think he chose to write a fable instead of a bland political essay is to make it more convenient for all kinds of readers even the youth to understand what happened in Soviet Totalitarianism and communism, it let him express all of it in a language/words that almost everyone would be able to understand and be interested in. In conclusion, choice of Orwell to choose a fable in his attempt to condemn the communism and totalitarianism in Soviet Union is so that the readers would understand concept of fable as well as his message better, as more people prefer reading a book and there isn’t a controversial issue in getting it published. He was successful in his approach as first published in 1945; Animal farm is still one of the most effective Satire’s about Russia in Stalin’s time and has inspired the readers from the perspective which Orwell wanted to induce in his audience. Work Cited Brad, Stone. “Amazon Erases Orwell Books From Kindle". The New York Times. July 17, 2009. Web. 1 Nov. 2012. Head, Dominic. The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge University Press, 2006. Print. Menchhofer, Robert W. Animal Farm (ENHANCED eBook). London: Lorenz Educational Press, 2000. Print. Orwell, George. Animal Farm. London: Penguin Group, 1946. Print. Peter, Davison. George Orwell: Animal Farm: A Fairy Story – 'A Note on the Text. England: Penguin Books, 2000. Print. Read More