LINKING ORWELL'S LIFE TO ANIMAL FARM
George Orwell (His life)Orwell lived during the time of major wars, such as the Spanish Civil War, Russian Revolution Wars, World War I and II and so on. Many of these wars dealt with political issues, especially in Eurasia (BBC, n.d.). He escaped in fear from communism and totalitarianism in Russia, which turned him into a permanent anti-Stalinist, meaning that he was against Stalin's political party (BBC, n.d.). Orwell believed that society had lost the idea of individual rights and personal freedom (Online Schools, n.d.). Orwell, who lived in poverty, suffered and died from tuberculosis, which is a disease that was not curable at his time (The Complete Works of George Orwell, 2003). Orwell worked as a teacher at first, but due to tuberculosis, he was later forced to quit his job (The Complete Works of George Orwell, 2003). |
How Orwell's Life is Represented in Animal farm (Represented
The farm animals experienced many revolutionary wars that involved fighting over Animal Farm against Mr. Jones and his friends.
Jessie the dog feared that Napoleon was an ineffective leader for various reasons, such as the fact that Napoleon took all of Jesse's puppies to use as a police force. Therefore, Jessie somewhat hated Napoleon and wished that he was not the leader of the farm. The animals had no individual rights nor personal freedom throughout the novel because they had to listen to Mr. Jones and Napoleon and were forced to work. The animals were barely given any rest during the working periods and had limited options on how they wanted to live on the farm. Boxer, who lived in poverty like the other working-class animals, suffered from injury when he was buliding the windmill. He was later send to the knackers, where he was slaughtered and boiled into glue. The animals failed to successfully help Boxer escape from the knackers to avoid death. Boxer was a slave working for Mr. Jones and Napoleon for most of his life. However, after suffering from injury from building the windmill, he did not have the ability to work properly, so he was forced to rest and quit working. |
WHY DID ORWELL REPRESENT HIS LIFE THIS WAY?
By having Orwell share his life through a novel, the readers can look through the eyes of the author. Orwell wanted the readers to view life from his perspective so they can get a feel of what living in a political struggle and a totalitarianism society is like. He also wanted to put the readers into a life and time where politics and war were the most major conflicts, and had significantly affected the lives of many individuals. This makes readers become emotional and understand that it feels very inadequate to be part of a failed society with a corrupted government, which is similar to the way Orwell felt in his life when he experienced that kind of society. This helps Orwell get his message across to people that totalitarianism governments often fail to satisfy people and that a democratic socialism society would be the best and most stable system for a nation (Online Schools, n.d.). Therefore, Orwell can persuade readers to believe totalitarianism should be forever forgotten from our society so that it will be more stable for everyone.
WAS ORWELL SUCCESSFUL?
Orwell was not successful in representing his own life this way because readers may find it difficult to visualize Orwell’s life in the book if they do not know much about Orwell, therefore it is difficult to point out the connections between the author and the novel, and/or the readers may misinterpret his life. In addition, the novel is focused mainly on the Russian Revolution and life in Russia between 1855 and 1964 based on farm and animals, which does not have much link to Orwell’s life. Although he had some contribution to the Russian Revolution, Orwell never experienced living under Stalin’s rule, thus it is also difficult to connect the life on the farm to Orwell’s own life.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BBC (n.d.). George orwell (1903-1950). Retrieved March 30, 2013, from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/orwell_george.shtml
Online Schools (n.d.). A guide to george orwell. Retrieved March 30, 2013, from: http://www.onlineschools.org/library/orwell/
The Complete Works of George Orwell (2003). Biography of george orwell. Retrieved March 30, 2013, from: http://www.george-orwell.org/l_biography.html
Online Schools (n.d.). A guide to george orwell. Retrieved March 30, 2013, from: http://www.onlineschools.org/library/orwell/
The Complete Works of George Orwell (2003). Biography of george orwell. Retrieved March 30, 2013, from: http://www.george-orwell.org/l_biography.html