What Are The Similarities Between 1984 And Animal Farm

Improved Essays
George Orwell is one of the most perused writers from the 20th century who led a captivating life and had complex political views. George Orwell’s life was reflected in his books Down and Out in London and Paris and An Homage to Catalonia. 1984 and Animal Farm are also both works of literary art that Orwell wrote which reflect his political views. Animal Farm is an allegory of the Soviet Union and its ironies, and 1984 is a dystopian novel that shows a not so distant future from our own. George Orwell’s fascinating political views are engrossing and fun to explore as they are reflected in his works. George Orwell was born on June 25th, 1903, in Motihari, India. He was the son of a British Civil servant and lived in India until he went to …show more content…
Animal Farm is an allegory for the Communist Revolution in Russia all the way up to Stalin Era U.S.S.R. Animal Farm is a popular novel to use in History and English classes because it is a superb allegory and satirical novel that is easily accessible to all. It is also a great novel to display the ironies of the Communist system. One of the ironies that the book shows is how the Animal revolution turned into the thing it despised because of the pigs’ inner corruption. This is exemplified by the quote, “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.” This quote is meant to show that the Communists tried to create a new system, but ultimately ended up the same as their previous oppressors. The onlooking animals had no choice but to sit and see the cycle repeat again. This book also reflects George Orwell’s political opinions which are indicative of his global upbringing as a lower middle class child and a tramp in London and …show more content…
These political stances appear in his novels, 1984 and Animal Farm. His anti-fascism and anti-totalitarianism appear in 1984 by showing what a truly fascist and totalitarian dictatorship looks like and why we need to avoid this type of government, but really we most see George Orwell’s political views come out in Animal Farm. In fact, it is theorized that the old cynical goat named Benjamin is an allegory for George Orwell’s own political views of the Communist Revolution. George Orwell’s anti-communist ideas are shown in the way he writes the novel to highlight that the Communist Revolution was just as oppressive as other Capitalist nations it claimed to be superior

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    In Animal Farm, one of George Orwell’s main goals was to portray the Russian Revolution of 1917 in his writing through character’s, events, and concepts. His goal was clearly shown in his text because many important people of the Russian Revolution were seen through animals, events that took place in the Russian Revolution were reflected in his writing, and many concepts of the time were shown in a different form. He accomplished his goal by using simpler characters and an easier concept to grasp. Orwell wrote Animal Farm in the style he did to appeal to a wider variety of people but still reflect an important time in history. His objective for making this book an allegory to the Russian Revolution was to show the readers the negatives of…

    • 1796 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In 1945, George Orwell’s novella Animal Farm is a classic satirical an allegorical novella. Orwell’s fable sets about exposing the corruption of political ideals all too often experienced in Soviet, Communist society. These political ideals which underpin the ideology of ‘Animalism’, include equality, freedom and unity. Propaganda techniques are used by the pigs to gain optimal social control over all the other animals through the manipulation of these ideals.…

    • 1271 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1984 George Orwell Power

    • 690 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Folly Power of a Surveillance State Orwell’s novel, 1984, was written in a tumultuous time during the Cold War where the largest perceived threat to humanity came from an all-powerful, all-conforming government principle. Orwell uses hyperbolic portrayals of the Party’s procedures and degrading comparisons of humans to defects, to show the negative societal effects of a totalitarian government. Ultimately, Orwell argues against totalitarian governments on the basis that they prevent human equality and freedom, and subject humans to inhumane and unjust treatment. Orwell creates hyperbolic portrayals of the notions of conformity and surveillance to argue against the absolute power of a government and provide a shock factor on the techniques…

    • 690 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Connection: George Orwell’s 1984 is an example of political writing. The book is about the politics of a dystopia society. It covers how the government had complete control over the people. The government used the symbol of “Big Brother” to control the people. He was always watching and listening in on conversations.…

    • 387 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    1984 Free Essay

    • 1531 Words
    • 7 Pages

    1984 was composed by Orwell as a caution of the perils of a totalitarian government and its impact on society. Orwell demonstrates how a totalitarian government can be in total control of a general public and how it can have absolute power. He demonstrates this through the abuse of freedom and the persecution of individual thought. In Orwell’s 1984, a dystopian world is depicted with a vision of hope for humanity, which consists of love and freedom, however, hope lies within the proletarian class in the novel and in today’s teenagers who need to become conscious that the party is totalitarian.…

    • 1531 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Animal Farm is a scathing critique of communism by George Orwell. However, he presents it in an interesting format by spoofing another historical event at the time. The story in Animal Farm bears more than a passing resemblance to the Russian Revolution, as many animals share characteristics with the people of the Russian Revolution, the result of both the story and the revolution is the same, and common themes emerge in both events. One way Animal Farm shows similarities to the Russian Revolution is that many characters overlap.…

    • 485 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In the story, the leaders of their communist like society, abuse their authority and in their end the pigs fall from power and ends with a devastating effect. This aspect of the story symbolizes human violence in the today’s culture. In the book the different animal species get separated into social groups according to their intelligence and education. For example in the book the leader of the rebellion are the pigs while the chickens get treated like slaves to the rest. One lesson that is taught in Animal Farm that how the Pigs abused their power to be controlling over the other animals.…

    • 726 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Also in Shooting an Elephant and in A Hanging, there is a death scene. The main character is the cause of the death, and kills them because it is their duty. Each time, leading up to the death scene, the character realises how innocent that the victim must be. This is exemplified with the elephant being unknowing and slowly dying and with the dog that is friendly to the prisoner.…

    • 1112 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dystopian societies will often show signs of totalitarianism and dictatorship. George Orwell does a pretty good job at expressing the thought of a dictatorship and totalitarianism through his novels. 1984 and Animal Farm have pretty big influences from the historical events that were going on in Orwell’s time, such as the Nazis and the Soviet Union. Throughout his writing that theme comes up quite a bit. 1984 and Animal Farm demonstrates irony, tone, and foreshadowing, Orwell addresses them to express the hopelessness of the two dystopian novels.…

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    George Orwell, author of the political satire, Animal Farm, once said, “[I]f thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” Language, as Orwell comprehends, can be used as a written or spoken tool to express thoughts and gain support. Its meaning is wholly in the hands of the orator or the writer, but can often be altered by the audience. Similarly, in the novel, Orwell uses language to support the theme of how knowledge can be used as a weapon and tool to manipulate the uneducated. Orwell portrays the deterioration of Communism from the ideal to the worst through the pigs’ persuasive speeches, the usage of propaganda, and written language, emphasizing the power-seeking nature of human beings.…

    • 1399 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Having lived in totalitarian societies such as Spain and Russia, George Orwell was able to experience the abominable lengths that the governments around him were willing to go to secure and extend their mass amounts of power. He showcases and explores the major flaws of a totalitarian government through his writing, making it clear to the reader that it is not his government of choice. In an essay by John Rodden, I learned a lot about Orwell’s life and how he came to be a writer. Born in India in June of 1903 Orwell, born as Eric Arthur Blair, lived until 1950.…

    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    If a person has to choose between living in a society where they have an equal say in the decisions made about their lives and have freedoms to act as they please, versus a society where a leader has complete control over everyone’s actions and freedoms are taken away from the people, it seems obvious which choice would be made. However, oftentimes the latter is apparent. Dangerous totalitarian societies are evident in the novels 1984, Animal Farm, and The Hunger Games. 1984, written by George Orwell, is a novel revolving around a man named Winston who struggles in Oceania, a place where the Party scrutinizes human actions and has total control over its people. Animal Farm, another George Orwell novel, is an allegory to the events of the Russian Revolution where pig leaders rebel against the human owner of a farm.…

    • 1529 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Animal Farm and 1984 Boar, Horse, Donkey, Winston Smith, Julia and O’ Brien, are you hooked? Want to read the rest of the essay? Animal Farm and 1984 are two of the best novels of George Orwell. In both Animal Farm and 1984, the authority is not to be questioned; those who dare to are punished and considered as traitors. In this comparison essay both Animal Farm and 1984 have corruption of power and political as its background.…

    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    GLOBAL JAYA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL English Language & Literature HL Extended Essay How Does George Orwell Use Symbolism To Show Us His Ideas On Authoritarianism in his novel “Animal Farm”? Lucas Gramm Candidate Number: 002189-0025 Word Count: 3454…

    • 3453 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Biographical Lens George Orwell is the author of Animal Farm and he wrote it based off of what was going on in his life at that time. George Orwell was only his pen name because the publisher wanted to conceal his true identity. His real name was Eric Arthur Blair. He wrote Animal Farm in 1944 but it was only published in 1945 because nobody would publish it for its insult to Stalin. In the 1930's Orwell fought for the communists in the Spanish Civil War against their fascist leader.…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays