The Destruction of Utopian Ideals (Animal Farm, by Orwell)
George Orwell's book, Animal Farm, is a scathing satire on the failure of the Russian communist revolution to free the Russian people and establish an egalitarian society. The characters in this revolution are represented by a variety of animals whose society is an animal farm. The animals have some serious grievances against their tyrannical human bosses and stage a rebellion to free themselves of oppression and to create a utopian society based on the philosophy of Old Major, a boar respected among the animals. Ironically, the leaders of the rebellion, the pigs, seize power and become even more tyrannical oppressors than the original human bosses. Old Major's doctrine of Animalism, a philosophy that stresses equality and fair treatment of all animals, is distorted and ultimately destroyed by propaganda, lies, and the corruption of power. The most ruthless and power-hungry of the pigs, Napoleon, establishes a dictatorship making new policies which are in direct opposition to the original ideals of Old Major. Old Major's doctrine of Animalism is written as seven commandments by which the animals should conduct their lives. The Seven Commandments are eliminated, and in their place is put one commandment which states that, "All
Old Major's ideals of equality among the animals is distorted and destroyed by Napoleon's use of intimidation and fear against the other animals. One afternoon, when Napoleon has ordered the animals to assemble in the yard, a group of animals is being forced, by means of Napoleon's dogs, to confess to ludicrous crimes, which chiefly consists of affiliation with Snowball, the farm's scapegoat. Napoleon then displays his potent and terrifying power to the animals by ordering his vicious dogs, who have been trained to a be a secret police, to tear the criminals to pieces. This merciless action violates the farm's original commandment that no animal should kill any other animal. Clover, a horse on the farm, later contemplates this scene in sorrow. "They had come to a time when no one dared to speak his mind, when fierce, growling dogs roamed everywhere, and when you had to watch your comrades torn to pieces after confessing to shocking crimes" (95). The ideals of Animalism, expressed by Old Major, are irreparably distorted. By no means are the animals all equal when most are afraid to speak their own minds and share their individual thoughts. Old Major's vision of Animal Farm as a society where animals would
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Approximate Word count = 819
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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