LINKING DICTATORSHIP TO ANIMAL FARM
Dictatorship
Usually, a dictator rises to power by first becoming elected as the head of state through democratic votes. Then, he or she completely changes the political system in a way that allows the head of state to maintain power for the rest of their life and stops anyone from taking away their power (Political Systems, n.d.). Wealth is not fairly divided amongst the citizens; instead, the highest class in society is paid with most of the state's wealth (Discovery News, 2011). In order to maintain absolute control, dictators often strike fear into the citizens and act as if they are the citizen's only salvation (Discovery News, 2011). In a dictatorship government, emergencies are handled more efficiently because the dictator is the only one who decides on how the emergency should be taken care of. Therefore, no one else is able to argue against the dictator's ideas nor prevent the dictator's plan from coming into effect (Buzzle, 2011). Dictators have more rights and freedoms than the citizens because they can do anything they wish to do. If a dictator breaks the law, then the government would not mind and he or she would not be punished. If a citizen breaks the law, then he or she would be legally punished (Political Systems, n.d.). |
How Dictatorship is Represented in Animal Farm (Represented by Animal Farm Government)On the day of the elections for the new Animal Farm leader, Napoleon was the only candidate after using the dogs to scare his rival Snowball away from the farm, therefore he automatically continued on as a leader without having to go through the election process. As a leader, Napoleon eventually changed the political system on the farm from communism to totalitarianism and he turned himself into a dictator. Napoleon managed to maintain that dictatorship power for several years without anyone overtaking it.
All the animals do not have a fair share of the food rations, even if they were not punished. Napoleon and the dogs (secret police) selfishly took most of the food on the farm and the alcohol from Mr. Frederick while other animals were on a food ration reduction, thus they had to live in hunger. In order to prove that the animals needed Napoleon, the pigs told the other animals "Surely you do not want Jones to come back" to make them afraid of Mr. Jones coming back to the farm. Napoleon and Squealer also told the other animals that Napoleon is an ideal leader because he is their only salvation to prevent Mr. Jones from reconquering the farm. Since Napoleon and Snowball were sharing power when the farm was under critical danger from attacks, emergencies were decided by only two animals, making it efficient to handle. As a result, the animals were able to quickly respond and be prepared for surprise attacks on the farm by Mr. Jones and his friends. None of the animals objected against Snowball's attack plans; everyone just followed his orders and went to their assigned post. Napoleon had the rights to break the seven commandments anytime he wished to to make his life more comfortable and relaxing. Whenever it happened, Squealer changed the seven commandment that Napoleon broke so that the commandent was not allowed to be broken on a certain condition, thus it became an excuse for Napoleon to break that commandment. This prevented the animals from getting suspicious of Napoleon and thinking that communism was becoming forgotten from the farm. When Napoleon broke the commandment before it was changed, he was not punished in any way. However, whenever another animal (apart from the other pigs and Napoleon's dogs) broke a commandment, he or she was rightfully punished |
WHY DID ORWELL REPRESENT DICTATORSHIP THIS WAY?
- Orwell represented dictatorship this way because he wanted to show that dictatorship does not work and is one of the most pointless political ideology. A dictator may have many excellent plans to create a successful country, but these plans may not work out as well as expected and many citizens may not agree with the plan. In addition, Orwell wanted to tell the readers that even though a dictator may act as if he or she is vital to keep the country successful, there is a chance that the dictator will make the country less successful in certain aspects instead. This shows that we should be aware of the consequences if we choose to have a dictator to rule our country, and if we do, we may later regret our decision. As a result, Orwell believed that rather than dictatorship, society should be ruled by a political system that is actually beneficial for all of the citizens and does not cause too much issues between the people and the government, such as democratic socialism.
- Orwell knew that many of his readers may have an inadequate knowledge and understanding of dictatorship, so it would be difficult for them to understand what message Orwell is trying to get across. To solve this issue, Orwell avoided bias opinions and judgements on dictatorship by showing also its advantages in order to explain to the readers why people would be want to be dictators and why others would want to support the dictator. However, to make sure Orwell was still able to prove that dictatorship is an unsuccessful political system, Orwell expressed the disadvantages of dictatorship out weighs its advantage by showing that the animals encountered many issues with dictatorship on the farm and did not have as much benefits as they were promised to have from a dictatorship government.
- Orwell knew that many of his readers may have an inadequate knowledge and understanding of dictatorship, so it would be difficult for them to understand what message Orwell is trying to get across. To solve this issue, Orwell avoided bias opinions and judgements on dictatorship by showing also its advantages in order to explain to the readers why people would be want to be dictators and why others would want to support the dictator. However, to make sure Orwell was still able to prove that dictatorship is an unsuccessful political system, Orwell expressed the disadvantages of dictatorship out weighs its advantage by showing that the animals encountered many issues with dictatorship on the farm and did not have as much benefits as they were promised to have from a dictatorship government.
WAS ORWELL SUCCESSFUL?
Orwell was successful because the characteristics of each animal on the farm helps make it easy to differ between the different classes in society, such as the rich class and the working class. For example, horses are very strong animals to use as laborers, so it made sense for Orwell to put the horses in the lower class. On the other hand, dogs are often fierce and violent, so they are capable enough to work as Napoleon's police force/bodyguards, thus the dogs are placed in the upper class. This helps readers understand how a dictatorship hierarchy and system is set up in a country, and the differences between each class. Therefore, the way that society is set up on the farm shows very clear and effective similarities to dictatorship systems in real life.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Discovery News (2011). How dictators keep control. Retrieved April 1, 2013, from: http://news.discovery.com/human/dictators-control-psychology-111221.htm
Buzzle (2011). Advantages of Dictatorship. Retrieved April 2, 2013, from: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/advantages-of-dictatorship.html
Political Systems (n.d.). What is a dictatorship government?. Retrieved April 1, 2013, from: http://www.politicalsystems.com/dictatorship.html
Buzzle (2011). Advantages of Dictatorship. Retrieved April 2, 2013, from: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/advantages-of-dictatorship.html
Political Systems (n.d.). What is a dictatorship government?. Retrieved April 1, 2013, from: http://www.politicalsystems.com/dictatorship.html