Wednesday, April 6, 2011

When Pigs acted like Human: review of Animal Farm by George Orwell











ALL ANIMAL ARE EQUAL (but some animals are more equal than others...)

When a leader corrupted and use the power for personal satisfaction, it will not only affect the people under his or her authority, but also change the world history. George Orwell was able to portray how spoiled could a leader be creatively in his works. In one of his essays entitled Why I Write, Orwell studied the human misery in an exploitative social order. He wanted to capture the truth of human nature, as exemplified in the story ‘Animal Farm’. He said “I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing.” As he experienced of being the oppressors and living in the world war times, he could see how corrupted the leaders could become.

In the ‘Animal Farm’, the elements of corrupted leadership are raised based on the history of the communism. It was published in 1945 and is considered as one of the most popular and significant satirical of Soviet totalitarianism. Orwell uses a simple fairy tale where animals rebel from their irresponsible owner to illustrate the complexities of the Russian revolution in order to make the evils of communism painfully apparent.

The emergence of the two main leaders after the death of the Old Major was the starting point of the corruption in the animal farm. Both Napoleon and Snowball have opposing leadership styles. Napoleon is a strict, no-nonsense kind of pig, a true proponent of "might make right." Snowball, on the other hand, is more innovative in his thinking, willing to embrace new methods and philosophies. Brain power is embodied most completely in the figure of Snowball, whose clever military tactics result in the animals’ victory in the Battle of the Cowshed. Another feature of Snowball’s intelligence is reflected in his visionary conception of an outline for a windmill. But in the world of revolutionary politics, brain power is no match for brute force. It might be said that on Animal Farm emerge two classes of creatures: pigs and animals. The appearance of this “class” marks another stage in the movement from revolution to totalitarian state, the imposition of state terror to ensure the continued acquisition of power. Pigs have the control over the farm. Along with terror is the invention of a significant scapegoat. When Snowball devises a plan to power the farm with a windmill, Napoleon is quick to criticize. Snowball and Napoleon had a conflict, which divided the farm animals into two groups of supporters. Napoleon as his defense in a heated conflict demanded the nine dogs that he trained to attack Snowball to drive him off the farm. Now, the brain of the farm had gone and this opportunity was misuse by Napoleon. He started to break the commandments and applied double standard to his kinds. He became the tyrant to the animal farm. All the animals must work hard for the better of the swine. The resulting schism alters the course of Animal Farm, transforming it from utopian paradise to nightmarish hell.

George Orwell was able to show how corrupted politicians could be in the ‘Animal Farm’. The way the story is presented is very creative as he makes the story to be like a ‘Walt Disney’ cartoon. However the message that Orwell wanted to convey still delivered well although he uses a fairy tale as the medium of giving the justification.





4 comments:

  1. I think that the movie "Animal Farm" was creative and interesting. On the whole, however, it was enjoyable, and thought provoking.

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  2. for me its a sharp movie you know....i've seen it once when i was a child...all that matter that time the pig...i was so shocked seeing the pig is so big n powerful and keep laughing about them...but now i realize that how wicked it be...

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  3. the movie convey a lot of message and moral values that can we see and reflect our self either we are the same as the pig in the story.

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  4. its all about politic. enough said. but again, it is classic on how george orwell manage to come out with such satire that may change the world
    (if only every single human being read the story).

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