Animal Farm Animal Satire Essay Example For Students

Animal Farm: Animal Satire Essay A Research PaperTable Of ContentSABSTRACT iACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii1.CHAPTERTHE AUTHOR: GEORGE ORWELL 11.1.PRESENTATION 11.2.HIS LIFE 11.3.HIS TIME: POLITICAL BACKGROUND 41.3.1. THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION 51.3.2. THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR 71.4.ORWELL AND THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR 81.5.ANIMAL FARM 92.CHAPTERSATIRE 132.1.PRESENTATION 132.2.WHAT IS SATIRE? 132.2.1. DEFINITION 132.2.2. CHARACTERISTICS OF SATIRE 142.2.3. TECHNIQUES OF SATIRE 173.CHAPTERMETHOD OF RESEARCH 193.1.PRESENTATION 193.2.PROCEDURE 194.CHAPTERANIMAL FARM AS SATIRE 214.1.PRESENTATION 214.2.ELEMENTS OF SATIRE IN ANIMAL FARM 214.2.1. SUMMARY OF THE PLOT 224.2.2. SATIRICAL TECHNIQUES IN ANIMAL FARM 244.2.2.1.APPROACH TO THE SUBJECT 244.2.2.2.VIEW POINT 264.2.2.3.CHARACTERISATION 274.2.2.4.IRONY 344.2.2.5.COMPARISON OF ANIMAL FARM ANDTHE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION 435.CHAPTERCONCLUSION 495.1.SUMMARY OF THE STUDY 495.2.CONCLUSION OF THE STUDY 49REFERENCES 51ABSTRACTAnimal Farm as Political SatireKORKUT, RydvanSupervisor: Assoc.Prof. Dr. Joshua M . BearThis study aims to determine that George Orwells Animal Farm is apolitical satire which was written to criticise totalitarianregimes and particularly Stalins practices in Russia. In order toprovide background information that would reveal causes led Orwellto write Animal Farm, Chapter one is devoted to a brief summary ofthe progress of authors life and significant events that hadimpact on his political convictions. Chapter one also presentsbackground information about Animal Farm. Chapter two is devotedto satire. In this chapter, definition of satire is presented andsome important characteristics of satire are discussed. In chapterthree, the method of this research is described. Under the lightof information presented in the previous chapters, Chapter fourdiscusses Animal Farm and focuses on the book as a politicalsatire. The last chapter presents the conclusion of this study. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSI would first like to express my sincere thanks to my thesissupervisor, Assoc.Prof. Dr. Jashua M. Bear for his help andfreedom he gave me in this study. Without his understanding thisthesis would never have been completed. I also wish to thank my sister Fidan Korkut for her suggestions inthe planning stage of this study and her endurance during my longstudy days at home. My special thanks go to ?zg?r Ceylan, who constantly granted meher moral support. She was always there when I needed her. CHAPTERTHE AUTHOR: GEORGE ORWELLPresentationThis chapter introduces general information about George Orwellslife. It includes chronological progress of his life and hispolitical convictions. Furthermore, important events, such as TheRussian Revolution and The Spanish Civil War which had significantinfluence on his commitment to write Animal Farm will bediscussed. Lastly, general information about Animal Farm will begiven. His LifeThe British author George Orwell, pen name of Eric Arthur Blair,was born in Motihari, India, June 25, 1903. His father was animportant British civil servant in India, which was then part ofthe British Empire. A few years after Eric was born, he retired ona low pension and moved back to England. Though their income wasnot much enough, the Blair family sent their son away to boardingschool which was an exclusive preparatory school, to prepare himfor Eton Collage. Eric then won a scholarship to Eton Collage. During his education from the age of eight to eighteen, as hewrote in his essay about his school experiences titled Such, SuchWere the Joys, he experienced many things about the world wherethe prime necessities were money, titled relatives, athleticism,tailor-made clothes, inequality, oppression and classdistinctions in the schools of England (In Ball,1984). After the education at Eton College in England, Eric joined theIndian Imperial Police in British-Ruled Burma in 1922. There hewitnessed oppression again, but this time he was looking at thingsfrom the top. Having served five years in Burma, he resigned in1927 and turned back to Europe and lived in Paris for more than ayear. Though he wrote novels and short stories he found nobody toget them published. He worked as a tutor and even as a dishwasherin Paris. During his poor days in Paris, he once more experiencedthe problems of the oppressed, the helpless and lower classpeople. In 1933, After having many experiences about the life at thebottom of society, he wrote Down and Out in Paris and London andpublished it under his pen name George Orwell. After a year in1934 he published his novel Burmese Days, which he reflected hisexperiences there. Then, he published A Clergymans Daughter in1935, and Keep the Aspidistra Flying in 1936. In 1936, his publisher wanted Orwell to go to the English coal-mining country and write about it which was another importantexperience in his life. He wrote The Road to Wigan Pier to reflectwhat he saw there, the real poverty of people of the LancashireTown of Wigan, and published it in 1937 (Ball, 1984). 1937 was the year that Orwell who for some time had beendescribing himself as pro-socialist (BALL, 1984) joined theRepublican forces in the Spanish Civil War. When the Communistsattempted to eliminate their allies on the far left, he foughtagainst them and was wounded in the fighting, later was forced toflee for his life. His experience in this war was to have the mostsignificant impact on his political thoughts and his later works. In 1938, Orwell wrote Homage to Catalonia, which recounts hisexperiences fighting for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. One of his best-known books reflecting his lifelong distrust ofdictatorial government, whether of the left or right, Animal Farm,a modern beast-fable attacking Russian Revolution, Stalinism andtotalitarianism, was published in 1945, and Nineteen Eighty-Four,a dystopian novel setting forth his fears of an intrusivelybureaucratised state of the future was published in 1949. Hisfirst fame was brought by these two novels and they were the onlyones which made a profit for him as a writer (Ball,1984). Orwell died at the early age of forty-seven of a neglected lungailment in London, Jan. 21, 1950. His Time: Political BackgroundIn his essay Why I Write, Orwell (1947) says:I do not think one can assess a writers motives without knowingsomething of his early development. His subject matter will bedetermined by the age he lives in_at least this is true intumultuous, revolutionary ages like our own_Taking Orwells his own words into consideration, in order to geta better understanding of his works and particularly of hispolitical satire Animal Farm, we should look at his politicalconvictions, and the historical context which influenced Orwelland inspired him to write. Very few authors develop essaysexplaining the motivation behind their writing. Orwell was of onethem. Therefore in order to understand his motivations, his essayWhy I Write would be the most appropriate source to be lookedat. Orwell was a political writer and according to him he was `forcedto be a writer by the circumstances under which he has becomeaware of his `political loyalties. His Burma and Paris daysincreased his `natural hatred of authority and `made him aware ofthe existence of the working classes.(Orwell, 1947)As mentioned above, he described himself as pro-Socialist. Whathe was longing for was a society in which there would be no classdistinctions, and he named his ideal ideology democraticsocialism. He says every line of serious work that I havewritten since 1936 has been directly or indirectly, againsttotalitarianism and for democratic socialism (Orwell, 1947)There are two significant events that have great influence onOrwells political thoughts: The Russian revolution that tookplace in the second decade of 20th century and The Spanish CivilWar between 1936 and 1939. The Russian RevolutionBolshevik Revolution of October 1917 was the first greatrevolution which aimed at to overthrow the owners of the means ofproduction, that is Capitalist Bourgeoisie, and to establish astate to be ruled by the working class, the Proletariat. Ideological basis of the revolution was taken from the philosophyof Karl Marx and Frederick Angels who believed that the history ofthe world was the history of a struggle between classes- betweenruling classes and ruled classes (Han?erliodlu, 1976). Marx wasvery critical of industrial capitalist society in which there aremany cruel injustices and men are exploited by men. Out of hisanalysis of Capitalist system, he attained a vision of endingthese injustices and establishing a society in which there wouldbe no social classes and everybody would be equal. To him, inorder to achieve this end the only way was a revolution made bythe working class or the Proletariat against the Bourgeoisie. After revolution working classes would own the means ofproduction. Marx called the new order that would be set afterrevolution dictatorship of the Proletariat which eventuallyreplaced with a classless society (Han?erliodlu, 1976). In October 1917, V.I. Lenin, led the socialist (Bolshevik)revolution in Russia. After the revolution was a four-year bloodycivil war. During this war Red Army of the revolution organisedand headed by Leon Trotsky had to fight against both Russians whowere loyal to Czar and foreign troops (The Academic AmericanEncyclopaedia, 1995). After Lenin died in 1924, a struggle between Joseph Stalin andLeon Trotsky started for the leadership of the Communist Party. Stalin gained priority over Trotsky and; in 1925 Trotsky withseveral other members ousted from Politburo (the chief executiveand political committee of the Communist Party); in 1927 Trotskyand his followers expelled from Party; Stalin took the control. Later Trotsky was exiled and in 1929 he was deported. In 1940 hewas assassinated. During this period, Stalin always denouncedTrotsky as a traitor (Ball, 1929). Dickens calls his novel Hard Times EssayBozkurt (1977), offers two fundamental types of satire: Horatianand Juvenalian satire. These types are named for two Roman poetsHorace and Jevenal, the most differentiated practitioner of them. As Bozkurt reports, both of them were critical of the Romansociety but while the former was more gentle, urbane, smiling andtolerant, the latter was severe and angry. Horatian satire ispurpose is to sort out society through a gentle and broadlysympathetic laughter. On the other hand, Juvelian satire isbitter, angry, misanthropic or cynical. It approaches to itssubject with a degrading and disrespecting manner (Bozkurt, 1977,p. 68). Characteristics of SatirePeople, in their everyday life, always use satire in order torespond several events going on in their environs. The mainpurpose of using satire is to attack and intensely criticise thetarget subject. It also includes aggressiveness toward the subjectbeing criticised. As a matter of fact, satire should include morethan these in order to be accepted as a satirical work. It must,for instance, include aesthetic features like different sound andmeaning patterns that can give pleasure to the readers. Furthermore, the satirist should deal with problematic subjectsthat are known by many people. In doing so, the satirist shouldabstract the setting of satire from the world. Mostly, thisimaginary world is of non-human beings, as in beast fables likeAnimal Farm or, as in Gullivers Travels and Alice in Wonderland,a world that possibly would not exist or in which the real worldis turned upside down. Primary reason for abstraction is to movereaders from the concrete reality, and so, while entertaining themthrough a fantastic setting to provide them with a criticalvision. Richard (1976) calls this element of satire fantasy. Hesays. The satirist does not paint an objective picture of the evils hedescribes, since pure realism would be too oppressive. Instead heusually offers us a travesty of the situation, which at oncedirects our attention to actuality and permits an escape from it. It is written for entertainment, but contains sharp andtelling comments on the problems of the world in which we live,offering `imaginary gardens with real toads in them. As mentioned above, people approach problems, subjects etc. indifferent ways so do authors. The satirist differs from authors ofother types of literature with regard to its way of dealing withhis subject. In novel or drama, for example, the target subject isdealt with directly. In the Cherry Orchard, Chekhov deals withsocial change in Russia and how people react to it. His charactersare real persons that can be found in the society as they aredescribed in the play. On the hand, it is impossible to find areal Napoleon or Lilliputian in a society. Since, they are justsymbols of particular types of people. In this sense, the satirist use high level of symbolism. Onereason for using symbols might be that it provides the author withan absolute freedom to attack his targets through their images hecreated which seemingly have no relation with the reality. AsRichard (1976) notices, the satirist often aims at to deflatefalse heroes, imposters or charlatans, who claim a respect whichis not their due, the vehicle he chooses for this is usually themock-heroic. Therefore, in order to operate his attack andmockery towards these so-called heroes who might be leaders of acountry or people of prestigiousness, without any restriction thesatirist uses symbols. Since the main topic of satire is politics which is throughout thehistory considered a dirty business, writing political satire isvery risky, but on the other hand it would be very rewardful. Asremarked before, after he published his two satires, Animal Farmand Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell was to be one of the greatestauthors of literature, as mentioned above he hardly find apublisher for Animal Farm, and published it after a year hefinished it. In order to achieve his end says Richard (1976), the satiristmust use some of the basic strategies of satire. He also shouldcommit himself boldly to his `impure subject, yet retain apurity of attitude, in his aesthetic disengagement from thevulgarities and stupidities of the struggle. Richard (1976)continues his argument by adding that what distinguishes satirefrom other kinds of literature is its approach to the subject. Therefore its subject-matter forms the most important aspect ofsatire. Despite he introduces the cruellest facts of life, thesatirist mean to make people laugh and In order to make peoplelaugh, he employs some techniques. Techniques of SatireThe satirist may use different forms of literature in prose orverse. But for the satirist some particular techniques arenecessary to achieve his aim. Richard (1976) suggests two maintechniques that the satirist use: the first one is reduction andthe other one is invective and irony. Reduction is the act of decreasing or reducing something. It isthe main means of the satirist to attack his subject. People canmore easily criticise those who they can laugh at. Since, laughterloosen muscles and is anatomically relaxing. if you laugh atsomeone, then your critical mechanism are set free, your criticismis revealed easily. Through reduction the satirist aims at to makethe reader laugh at his subject. Degrading, says Richard (1976)may be employed on the level of plot and will almost he continuedto the level of style and language. He puts Gullivers Travels asthe most outstanding example of reduction. Animal world iscontinually used by the satirist for this aim. Invective is the expression of bitter deep-seated ill will. As itcan be expected the satirist, writing satire, expose himself tocounter-attacks by those who attacked. Richard (1976 )says:this danger becomes the greater, the more the writer is committedto invective and abuse. Invective is of course one of his mostuseful weapons, and it is an art its own: it requires elegance ofform to set off grossness of content, and learned allusiveness toset off open insult. But although invective has the sanction ofholy writ, the best satirist use it only occasionally, for shockeffect (p.130). Irony is one of the figure of speeches. It includes the reversemeaning of what is said. It is one of the main devices of whichthe satirist make use. As Richard (1976) wrote,Irony assumes double meaning and double audience one of which isdeceived by the surface meaning of the words, and another thatcatches the hidden sense and laughs with the deceiver at theexpense of the deceived. In order to operate irony, the satiristuses imaginary or fictional characters or events by which s/heallow the double flow of meaning to be maintained (p.130). ChapterMETHOD OF RESEARCHPresentationThis chapter is concerned with the procedure of the research whichwas carried out to collect necessary sources for the study andmethod of the study. ProcedureSince the subject of this study mainly concerns with GeorgeOrwells Animal Farm, first the book was read. After reading thebook, sources about George Orwells life and Animal Farm werecited. When investigating Orwells intention in writing the bookand his political convictions, mainly his essays were used asprimary sources. During this period it was found that the SpanishRevolution was of great influence. Information on the Spanish Warwas mainly drawn from secondary sources. Since the book is strongly related to the Russian Revolution,Socialism, Communism and Marxism, several sources and Internetsites were searched for to find out important dates and events inthe Revolution, and to gather basic information about theprinciples of above maintained ideologies. In the parts related tothese subjects of the study, again, mostly secondary sources wereused. Information about Satire is mainly drawn from secondary sources. Finally, comparison of Animal Farm and the Russian Revolution interms of characters, events and some specific elements, mainlybased on the information gathered from primary and secondarysources. ChapterANIMAL FARM AS SATIREPresentationIn this chapter, under the light of information given in thechapter-1 and chapter-2, Animal Farm will be examined. It aims atto show the elements of satire in Animal Farm, and to comparecharacters, events and some elements of Animal Farm and TheRussian RevolutionElements of Satire In Animal FarmOrwell, as quoted before, clearly explains that his main purposefor writing Animal Farm was to write a satire on the RussianRevolution (In Shelden, 1991, p.399). Through animal satire,Orwell attacks on the Stalins practices in Russia and in widerscope, on totalitarian regimes. Taking Bozkurts (1977)classification into consideration, Animal Farm would be said to bea Juvenial satire. Since, it is clearly seen that Orwell bitterlycriticise Russian Communism and Stalin. Summary of The PlotOne night after Farmer Jones has gone to bed drunk, all theanimals of Manor Farm meet in the barn for a meeting. Old Major,the prize Middle White boar, wants to tell them about a strangedream he had. First, he narrate the nature of life as he hascome to understand it. Animals, though work very hard