Animal Farm Essay Analysis
George Orwell was a English novelist who wrote “Animal Farm,” which was an interesting story that portrayed the world around him in the 1940s. In the book characters like Napoleon represented the sign of a dictator while characters like his dog henchmen represented the armies that oppressed the people of conquered lands. The book was made and released during the early 1940s and it won the Prometheus Hall of Fame award in 2011 and the Retro Hugo Award of Best Novella in1996. Animal Farm relates to the Marxist viewpoint of how a society should function by showing how society is built like a pyramid, media/propaganda influences peoples actions, and how an individuals money/power is highly influential. One of the first ways that a Marxist view point is shown in Animal farm is how society is built like a pyramid. The article states that “This pyramid of social existence determined the rights and duties of its citizens, and the rights were nearly all at the top of the social scale” {Spirkin 4}.
This basically means that the people who have more money and those which a higher social status usually get more rights then those lower on the social scale with less money and it is important because this is supported in Animal Farm. This is supported in Animal Farm when you see how the pigs raise them selves above others like they where leaders of a great society and that every one else was just a lowly peasant only there for them to kick around and kill when ever need be.
The evidence for this is seen when the pigs start living in the house then they have the dogs kill the chickens and hens and a few other animals. Another way that a Marxist view point is shown in animal farm is when our see how media/propaganda can really affect what a person does and says. The article states “He is influenced not only by modern mass media, but also by the writings of all times and every nation” {Spirkin 2}. This basically means that media and what powerful people say can influence many with only a few words and it’s important because it is seen in Animal Farm. This is shown in the story when we see that even after Squealer rewrote the animals commandments without them knowing they still went along with is because they though that no matter what the commandments where always right. This supports the main idea because even though they didn’t think it was right they went along with it because they where told to.The final way that a Marxist viewpoint is represented in animal farm is when we see how a individuals money and power can influence a lot.
You see this in the article when it states “The wealth and complexity of the individual’s social content are conditioned by the diversity of his links with the social whole” {Spirkin 1}. This means that a person with money and more connections can seem to get many extra helping hands then those who don’t and its important because you see this happening when you compare the pigs and the rest of the animals.
You can see this in animal farm when napoleon uses trade with other farms to get money and the frighting power of his dogs to keep the other animals in line. The evidence for this is seen every where from when he kills the first animals after he takes power to when he has the commandments written over to better himself.Now after reading this are my three viewpoints really useful in the world today. Really if you get deep enough into it you’ll see it they really are still relevant. Though some might say that society is no longer built like a pyramid and that not only the people with money and a high social standard have power, but if when really look at the world is it, has the world really changed that extremely. It really hasn’t, take this for example, look at North Korea, there still basically a dictatorship and if you look at how much propaganda and oppression goes on in that country do you still think that the world is such an advanced place Though the world has changed there are still many ways that society is built like a pyramid, media/propaganda influence a lot of people, and ways that a lot of people with money and high social standing have a lot of power.
