Essay Four

INTRODUCTION

Dystopian texts draw upon contextual concerns to provide profound authorial perspectives towards harrowing political landscapes.¹ This is particularly evident within George Orwell’s 1945 novella Animal Farm, which didactically portrays Orwell’s subversive attitude to the despotic regimes of his context. In his literary portrayal of the Soviet Union, Orwell reveals the inevitable struggle for freedom and individualism caused by the insurmountable influence of authoritarian control. Yet, Orwell concurrently critiques the ignorance of his context, underscoring the role of the Russian society in remaining passive against the repressive policies of Stalin. In this way, the social and political context of Orwell plays a significant role in his construction of Animal Farm, as he allegorically conveys his contextual concerns towards the oppressive nature of the Soviet Union.²

1. Because this is an essay topic that explicitly calls on us to consider the context or genre of the text, mentioning points like this in our introduction helps to set the foundation for our discussion of specific textual examples.

2. You need to make sure you have a decent grasp of the historical context that Orwell alludes to just in case you get an essay prompt like this one! But in any discussion, knowledge like this can really elevate your analysis, so try to do lots of research regardless.

PARAGRAPH 1

Adhering to the conventions of the dystopian genre,³ Orwell’s Animal Farm highlights the impossibility of freedom within a political system that is propagated by the manipulation of the masses. This absolute control is reflected through Squealer’s character, whose paradoxical capacity to “turn black into white” reveals a natural propensity to manipulate through the use of language. Likewise, Squealer’s question, “have you any record of such a resolution?” undermines the reliability of human memory in recollecting the past by portraying written records as being synonymous with history. Thus, Orwell underscores the pervasive influence of oligarchical control upon the individual and the way in which it totally eclipses the possibility of individual thought, much like Stalin’s cult of personality.⁴ In stark contrast to the euphemistic “re-adjustment of rations” for the animals, the extravagance of Napoleon’s “Crown Derby soup tureen” parallels the unjust prioritisation of state power over the wellbeing of the people, a vision that was shaped largely by the widespread famine incurred by Stalin’s Five Year Plans.⁵ The eventual restoration of Animal Farm to “Manor Farm... its correct and original name” symbolically highlights the regression of the animals’ hopes and dreams caused by the pigs’ manipulative tendencies. Drawing upon Orwell’s contextual fears, this scene emerges as a compelling rejection of the authoritarian ideals which sought to impose complete societal control, revealing the deeply counterproductive nature of such values. Orwell extends upon this idea through the tragic denouement of the novella, as the chiasmus⁶ “from pig to man, and from man to pig” foregrounds the pigs’ seamless transition into oppressors of the farm. As such, Orwell’s allegory of the Soviet Union provides complex socio-political discourse into the deeply manipulative and invasive nature of totalitarian regimes in their untempered quest for power.

3. Again, quick sentences like this help to establish context without needing to go into heaps of detail explaining a bunch of information that the assessor doesn’t need to read. In general, it is safe to use words like ‘dystopia’ and assume that your marker will know what you’re talking about. However, you have to make sure that you use the term appropriately and effectively.

4. This is a very strong explanatory sentence that links the evidence with the overall message of the novella, and then links this with the socio-cultural and historical context.

5. You should try to seamlessly include contextual links within your analysis of techniques and the text as a whole.

6. This is a literary device in which a phrase is repeated twice, but certain words of the phrase are swapped over in the second repetition. It is primarily used to draw more emphasis to a particular idea (e.g. ‘all for one, and one for all’).

PARAGRAPH 2

By extension,⁷ Orwell utilises ignorance as a central point of characterisation within the animals in Animal Farm to reflect upon the folly of his context in allowing the manipulative practices of Stalin to occur. As an archetype of the apathetic Russian citizen, Benjamin’s tendency to “understand, but... say nothing” highlights a willingness to exist in a state of passivity rather than engage with the corrupt activities of the farm. In addition, Boxer’s repetition of his simplistic maxims, “I will work harder” reflect a crude mindset of perseverance and resilience, yet concurrently reveals an incapacity to think beyond the domain of labour. It resonates strongly with the psychology of Russia’s working class,⁸ who shared the fallacious belief that work would be the solution to their struggles. His high modality claim that Napoleon “must be right” further illustrates his lack of insight towards the scheming tactics of Napoleon in his endeavours for absolute power. To a large extent, the animals’ collective belief in Orwell’s parody of heaven in “Sugarcandy Mountain” emerges as a naïve desire to seek hope and comfort within a realm beyond reality. In this way, Orwell satirises⁹ the religious discourse of the Russian Orthodox Church, validating the Marxist perception of religion as being “the opium of the people.” Despite the growing tensions between the animals’ hopes and their reality, the persistent belief in “green fields of England... untrodden by human feet” expounds their sense of removal from the reality of the oppression that they are faced with. In this sense, this memory of Major’s vision serves as a parable for the animals’ desperate attempt to reclaim the freedom and individuality that has been totally eclipsed by social repression. Hence, Orwell’s Animal Farm allegorically illustrates¹⁰ and criticises the social attitudes prevalent in 20th century Russia which were responsible for perpetuating Stalin’s quest for supremacy.

7. Linking phrases like this are very useful in serving as a bridge between one discussion and the next, and ensuring that your body paragraphs don’t seem like 2–3 completely separate and disjointed discussions.

8. For contextual analysis, it is important to show how the characters relate to the personalities of Orwell’s context.

9. A good essay should focus on ‘authorial intent’ (i.e. why does the author write this, how do they show this, and to what end). I prefer to set this up as ‘this is what the book is saying, and this is how the author achieves this.’

10. It’s also vitally important to draw attention to the point you’re making, rather than stopping at giving evidence. You need to show exactly what you mean – your essays should be mainly analysis, rather than a recap of the book.

CONCLUSION

Overall, Orwell’s Animal Farm explores the perverse enforcement of societal orthodoxy within a totalitarian society. Correlating with his views as a democratic socialist, Orwell satirises the ideological foundations of totalitarianism through the complete subversion of Major’s ideals. However, by extension, he provides a distinct contextual perspective towards the ignorance of Russian populace in failing to act against Stalin. In this sense, it becomes a universally perennial truth that context plays a large role in shaping the ideas presented by a composer.