Communism in Animal Farm Essay

Text Connections: Animal Farm by George Orwell

Animal Farms basic story-line is about being oppressed by a ruthless dictator, in this case, Mr. Jones, having a short break of this ruthless tyranny, and then back to being oppressed by another dictator, in this case, the pig Napoleon. Relating my own life to this book is actually easier than it seems, even though George Orwell wrote the book with the intentions of teaching the communist-hating world about the capitalist-hating Russia in the 1950s. I can relate to this book because every teenager believes that he or she is being oppressed by someone--generally an overbearing power--may it be their parents, their teachers, the law or their overshadowing significant other. Although I do not believe that I am being weighed down by the Mans unbearable and intense grasp, I do think that, at times, there are people in life who do not believe that I am able to govern myself. Having a problem with authority, as Old Major mentions in the very first few ages of Animal Farm, is something that everyone has, but when this authority is cruel, rebellion is needed to begin a new world order; a new order in which you and your people are free to do whatever youd like. However, I have found through experience, just like in Animal Farm, rebelling and being free of your once hated shackles of everyday responsibility, is not always as refreshing as it may seem at first. For once you are free from your old responsibilities, new errands and tasks are born.

Also, once a group, or an individual, has freed themselves from their once horrendous repression, it is inventible that a new form of oppression begins, even if it starts out small. The removal of Mr. Jones, who may represent any despot, creates a vacuum for another oppressor to attain complete control. Animal Farm points out that this tendency toward achieving class stratification poses a threat to any democracy and freedom.

George Orwells style is one which uses short sentences, building-block diction, a sarcastic and mocking tone, and deep morals. Orwell employs the use of shorter sentences and cookie cutter diction to establish that Animal Farm is an easy read, and that, above all, has a very easy to grasp moral and story-line. It is quite obvious that Animal Farm is about Communist Russia and its failings as a country and a democracy. Therefore, Orwell decided that using simpler diction and sentence structure may attract more readers, which is what every author attempts to accomplish: an immense array of readers. Orwell writes Animal Farm in third-person, as to employ a voice whom is supposed to remain impartial to the story and just give the reader the facts. However, Orwells own personal feelings on Communist Russia seeps through, and therefore makes the overseeing eye of the story seem like a vile man or woman who only lives to chastise and poke fun at the stupid and uneducated animals, and be disgusted by the wicked doings of the pigs. This clever narrator gives the overall story a mocking and contemptuous tone, one which may turn off some readers, but intrigue others.

The moral of Animal Farm is to not be blind to corruption. At the very end of Animal Farm, Orwell tells the reader that all of the farm animals, excluding the pigs and dogs, are watching through the house windows to see the poker game being played by both human and pig, and are no longer able to tell the difference between the two. Orwell leaves the reader with a bad taste in his or her mouth by doing this because the reader has now experienced the tyranny right along with all of the other animals. Why doesnt Benjamin the donkey actually do something about the uprising of Napoleon? the reader may scream. Why do all of the animals believe that Boxer died in a hospital even when they saw the glue truck take him away? another reader may cry out in anguish. Very many why questions are raised with the ending of this book, and that is exactly what Orwell intended. He did not want people to finish the book and continue on with their lives; he wanted people to read the book and then fight the communist regime. Creating such emotion is a very difficult thing to achieve, but with Orwells precise sentence structure, sardonic tone, simplistic diction and heavy-hitting morals, he exceptionally accomplished creating these feelings of emotion.

This book can relate to George Orwells other book, entitled 1984, which describes life in a world where the government hides information from the citizens, and frightens the entire population to do as the dictator and his selected officials please. This book is also commonly related to Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, and Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, both of which are frightening views of the future where people no longer care about politics, the environment, other people, or life in general.

Communism no longer runs rampant throughout the world, so there are not very many countries which relate to that part of Animal Farm any longer. But, there are still countries in which the government creates and then re-creates laws to fit the politicians fancy, and surely there are parts of the world where people still work like slaves to achieve almost nothing in their entire life, except maybe a fake badge of honor, which may be taken away by the overpowering government at any time, for any reason.

In todays modern society, Communist Russia is no longer communist, and many of the ideas which they used have fizzled out. There are only a few Stalins left in the world, one dying almost every year. For example, Saddam Hussein has recently been terminated by his own people. Yet, there are still ruthless dictators in the world, even though they are not a major threat to America like Communist Russia was. There is not an Eritrea Scare, even though Eritrea has one of the worst dictators of today, who will not allow his country to have a constitution or national elections. There is not a very high Saudi Arabian fright fest, even though King Abdulla has been voted to be the most sexist person of 2008 because he does not allow the women in his country to participate in anything Saudi Arabia has to offer. I think that America does not publicize these men and their evil deeds because they are not a threat to America, and therefore, not a major political concern for us as Americans. However, as I have learned from Animal Farm, seeing injustice happen and not doing anything about it, such as Benjamin did throughout the entire novella, or turning a blind eye to the injustices, just like the sheep in Animal Farm did, makes you as bad as King Abdulla, a woman hater, or Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani ruler who suspended the countrys constitution because he wanted to break some of the rules. The real questions one has to ask themselves when they are turning a blind eye to these dehumanizing laws and methods are, Do I want to be like the sheep in Animal Farm? Do I want to follow blindly down a path to inevitable destruction and imprisonment?