Animal Farm Essay “Everyone is equal, though some are just more equal then others. ” This quote accurately represents what George Orwell conveys throughout his text ‘Animal Farm’. Orwell uses many techniques to further demonstrate his views of the Russian Revolution through the manipulation of themes, motifs and characterisation. A recurring theme within the text is inequality and the corruption of society. This is shown through many events such as the demise of the seven commandments and the pig’s obvious fascist imposition over the other farm nimals. Equality means being equal in status, rights and opportunities, as we see in ‘Animal Farm’ the reason for overthrowing the humans was because of their mistreatment, but as the story progresses we see the same problem arise in their own society. This closely relates to the corruption amongst their leaders. It is evident throughout the text that the pigs have superior knowledge then the other farm animal and because of this they assume absolute power, and as we see with absolute power, comes absolute corruption.
These themes; equality and the corruption of society reflect on Georgeys analysis of the Russian revolution by conveying the idea of communism a false ideology in relation to the quality of equalness. Throughout the novel many motifs are used to promote the main themes. Some major motifs’ that are reinforced during the text is the chant “Two legs bad, four legs good. ” and the song ‘The Beasts of England’. These songs and chants are used as a form of propaganda. To the animals this serves as an emphasis on animalism nd identifies humans as the enemy. By using propaganda the pigs have manipulated those that are intellectually inferior further demonstrating inequality because of the lack of education the other farm animals have received as Francis Bacon once said, “Knowledge is power”. Characterisation is a strong technique used by Orwell to demonstration the typical stereotypes we see in humans, Orwell’s use of characters communicates his ideas and concepts. Napoleon is a historically significant figure in conveying the main theme of orruption. Napoleons character is key in relating the text to the Russian revolution in the sense that he symbolises a brutal dictator such as Joseph Stalin. Napoleons violent rule over the animal farm can be said to have started after the training of his attack dogs. Napoleon enforces his ‘laws’ upon the other animals by constant threat of violence imposed by his pups, he also orders the death of any animal that stands against him. This is a major example of the inequality and corruption that ‘Animal Farm’ implores.
Squealer is an interesting character used by Orwell to express manipulation and corruption shown in the human society. As we see in the text, Squealer spreads the lies and rumours about Snowball and is constantly changing the seven commandments. Through Squealers actions we see how he manipulates the other animals with lies and threats to get what he wants. Squealer is a great ploy used by Orwell to how us the way such inequality is thrust upon the naive farm animals with the persistent reminder from Squealer that Mr Jones will eturn. Ultimately, George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ is a reflection on society in the sense that it holds the fundamental keys of a political entity as well as exposing the flaws we see amongst us, for instance corruption and inequality. Orwell intelligently communicates this in his novel ‘Animal farm’ by exercising these three main techniques; themes, motifs and characterisation. These techniques are crucial throughout the text in conveying the message to the reader that “Everyone is equal, though some are just more equal then others”.
Author: Cody Owens