Literature is said to be the mirror of a society and one of the major functions of it has been to make people aware of their surroundings as well as themselves. While many writers of today might digress from the true purpose of writing, the classics have always held a special place in what may be called as the awakening of the individuals. In this context, George Orwell’s Animal Farm- A Fairy Story, which is a dig at the then contemporary political scenario is one of the finest reads of 20th century that grips the readers from the very start and provides a terror-inducing outlook to the world we live in. Written in a third-person narrative, the book talks about a dystopian society where pigs become the ruler and create slavery like conditions
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As evident by the influence of education in forming class structure, the pigs (here Bourgeoisie), take advantage of the fact that the other animals are not as learned as themselves and they make sure that they remain like that. As Antonio Gramsci also puts in his essay, “There is no unity between school and life, and so there is no automatic unity between instruction and education” (qtd. Gramsci, 52) The pigs who understand that practical education can cause other animals to cause a rebellion, do provisions to make them literate but not educated. The scenario can be compared to present day too where education has become a monopoly of those in power. As Gramsci has also put in his collection of essays from the Prison Notebooks, “the study and learning of creative methods . . . [should] no longer be a monopoly of the university or be left to chance in practical life” (qtd. Gramsci, 50) Here, the university may refer to any institute that exerts the power of deciding what the pupils study. This can be particularly catastrophic in the places where education is used against others by discrimination based on caste, gender or creed. The idea of supremacy of one race against other is also forged by the manipulation of education. The irony is that in a country like India, the govt. also exercises tyrannical ruling, where the ministers who themselves are not educated or even have …show more content…
The novella enhances the sensibilities of the readers by making them question their society and realize the importance of free speech in literature. In a world where Humanities is considered an impractical field, it is for the books like Animal farm to persuade people to revere literature. If it were not for literature, humanity would have headed to a robotic living, a world where machines will take up the place of emotions because who wants emotions when we can aim for practicality? As long as we are free to write what we feel, we are free. As long as literature is free of the choking clutches of the powerful, we are democratic. The true freedom lies in thinking and not in electing leaders. If we do not wake up now, the time is not far when Orwell’s Dystopia would start taking shape and we will end up in the clutches of pigs (this time, quite
As evident by the influence of education in forming class structure, the pigs (here Bourgeoisie), take advantage of the fact that the other animals are not as learned as themselves and they make sure that they remain like that. As Antonio Gramsci also puts in his essay, “There is no unity between school and life, and so there is no automatic unity between instruction and education” (qtd. Gramsci, 52) The pigs who understand that practical education can cause other animals to cause a rebellion, do provisions to make them literate but not educated. The scenario can be compared to present day too where education has become a monopoly of those in power. As Gramsci has also put in his collection of essays from the Prison Notebooks, “the study and learning of creative methods . . . [should] no longer be a monopoly of the university or be left to chance in practical life” (qtd. Gramsci, 50) Here, the university may refer to any institute that exerts the power of deciding what the pupils study. This can be particularly catastrophic in the places where education is used against others by discrimination based on caste, gender or creed. The idea of supremacy of one race against other is also forged by the manipulation of education. The irony is that in a country like India, the govt. also exercises tyrannical ruling, where the ministers who themselves are not educated or even have …show more content…
The novella enhances the sensibilities of the readers by making them question their society and realize the importance of free speech in literature. In a world where Humanities is considered an impractical field, it is for the books like Animal farm to persuade people to revere literature. If it were not for literature, humanity would have headed to a robotic living, a world where machines will take up the place of emotions because who wants emotions when we can aim for practicality? As long as we are free to write what we feel, we are free. As long as literature is free of the choking clutches of the powerful, we are democratic. The true freedom lies in thinking and not in electing leaders. If we do not wake up now, the time is not far when Orwell’s Dystopia would start taking shape and we will end up in the clutches of pigs (this time, quite