'Animal_Farm'_as_Dystopian_Literature_.pptx

‘Animal Farm’ as
Dystopian Literature

Prepared by Gayatri Nimavat
Roll no. : 6
M.A semester 2 Batch : 2022-24
Paper 110: History of English Literature-From
1900 to 2000
Email id: gayatrinimavat128@gmail.com
Enrollment no. : 4069206420220019
Submitted to Department of English,MKBU

TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Introduction
Dystopia
02
01
Dystopia in Literature
03
‘AnimalFarm asDystopianLiterature
04
About Author
Characteristics of Dystopian Literature
1. ‘Brave New World’
2. “Nineteen Eighty-Four’
Allegory and Intention in ‘Animal Farm’
05 Conclusion
Work Cited

Introduction
The archetypal tale, Animal Farm is a unique blend of political, history, as
well as, the social scenario. The descriptions of the situations offered a
significant impact over the literary globe. The fictional tale of Animal Farm
also unmasks the brunt of corrupted power, as well as, obnoxious
leadership over the unfortunate individuals of that era. Thus, the power
may be symbolised as the ability to bring or implement changes. Such
type of changes or alterations may prove optimistic or bring about evil
results for the less fortunate individuals.
Apart from this, George Orwell also highlighted that control, as well as
total domination are recognised as the signs of greed and brutality. After
attainment of power or control, an individual gets influenced by the
thought of greed This is mainly due to the unfair treatment by the owner of
the Manor farm.

About Author
George Orwell, pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair. He was born in
June 25, 1903 at Motihari, Bengal, India and died in January
21, 1950 at London, England. He was an English novelist,
essayist, and critic famous for his novels 'Animal Farm' (1945)
and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), the latter a profound anti-
utopian novel that examines the dangers of totalitarian rule.
“Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has
been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and
for democratic socialism, as I understand it.” (Orwell: ‘Why I
Write)
Notable Works:
‘A Clergyman's Daughter’, ‘A Hanging’, ‘Animal Farm’, ‘1984’
‘Burmese days’, ‘Coming Up for Air’

Dystopia
The Noun ‘Dystopia’ is often used synonymously with dystopian literature. Dystopia
is identified with the ‘failed utopia’ of Twentieth-century totalitarianism. Dystopia
means extreme coercion, inequality, imprisonment and slavery. Often this is
described as some concept of collectivism run wild, though some include conformist
tendencies in liberal societies which encourage egalitarian repression and
intolerance.
This indicates three main interrelated form of the concept:
1. The Political Dystopia
2. The Environmental Dystopia
3. The Technological Dystopia
Amongst these types, it is the totalitarian political dystopia which is chiefly associated
with the failure of utopian aspirations, and which has received the greatest historical
attention.
Besides the more malevolent types of early society, five models pertinent to the
modern collectivist political dystopia merit mention are: 1)Militarized Societies,
2)slavery, 3)Despotism, 4)Prisons and 5)Diseased Spaces. (Claeys)

An oppressive or authoritarian government
A loss of individual freedom
A dehumanized population
A restricted or distorted language
Characteristics
of Dystopian
Literature
A bleak and oppressiveatmosphere
A critique of contemporary society

“War is peace, Freedom is Slavery,
Ignorance is Strength”
—George Orwell
Dystopia in
Literature

‘Brave New World’
Huxley’s society is placed about six hundred years into the future
(about the distance that separates us from Chaucer): a society
where babies are produced in bottles, where every appetite is
gratified immediately, where total promiscuity is the sexual norm,
where mental and physical conditioning approaches the ultimate.
Yet for all this society's divergence from our own, its creatures
speak like the properest twentieth century Englishmen. The
massive social and technological changes projected by Huxley
seem to have had no effect on their language. (Beauchamp)
Huxley's novel presents a society which is the very antithesis of
societies proposed throughout the history of ideas. It is
diametrically opposed to such various models as Plato's Republic
in ancient Greece, Augustine's City of God in the medieval
period, and Roger Williams" Providence Plantation in the New
World. Brave New World is a society based on presuppositions
which deny fundamental assumptions about man and reality
which were foundational for societal views from the past.
(Hoffecker)

‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’
Nineteen Eighty-Four, published shortly before Orwell's death in 1949, is
set in a dystopian future in which three superpowers - Oceania, Eurasia,
Eastasia - control the globe. Focusing on Oceania, specifically Airstrip
One (formerly England), the novel explores a form of totalitarian
government in which even the inner thoughts and beliefs of citizens are
policed. (Senn)
The novel managed to embed key abstract notions about 'totalitarianism'
- a political term that emerged in the late 1930s - in striking concrete
images, visceral and easy to grasp the Thought Police, thought crimes
and 'doublethink, permanent telescreen' surveillance and the notion that
'Big Brother is Watching You', and ending with the terrors of Room 101
as a vision of the dissolution of the self.(Luckhurst)
“In our world there will be no emotion except fear, rage, triumph and self-
abasement. Everything else we shall destroy-everything. ... We have cut
the links between child and parent, and between man and man, and
between man and woman. In the future there will be no wives and no
friends. The sex instinct will be eradicated.... We shall abolish the
orgasm.... There will be no loyalty, except loyalty to the Party. There will
be no love, except the love of Big Brother.” (Orwell: “1984”)

‘Animal Farm’ as Dystopian literature
This novel was written largely in 1944, the so-called "fairy tale" openly criticized the Soviet
Union, particularly Stalin, at a time when Great Britain was firmly committed to its ally
against Nazi Germany. Finally published in 1945, the novel engendered some
controversy, but was overall well-received in both Great Britain and the United States.
Intended by Orwell to be a warning against the Stalinist perversion of socialism, Animal
Farm was immediately interpreted by some to be a whole cloth attack against socialism
and communism. (Senn)
"And even the miserable lives we lead are not allowed to reach their natural span.... no
animal escapes the cruel knife in the end. You young porkers who are sitting in front of
me, every one of you will scream your lives out at the block within a year. To that horror
we all must come-cows, pigs, hens, sheep, everyone. Even the horses and the dogs have
no better fate. You, Boxer, the very day that those great muscles of yours lose their
power, Jones will sell you to the knacker, who will cut your throat and boil you down for
the foxhounds. As for the dogs, when they grow old and toothless, Jones ties a brick
round their necks and drowns them in the nearest pond.” (Orwell: ‘Animal Farm’)

George Orwell stated in ‘Why I Write’:
“I will only say that of late years I have tried to write less picturesquely and
more exactly. In any case I find that by the time you have perfected any style
of writing, you have always outgrown it. Animal Farm was the first book in
which I tried, with full consciousness of what I was doing, to fuse political
purpose and artistic purpose into one whole. I have not written a novel for
seven years, but I hope to write another fairly soon. It is bound to be a
failure, every book is a failure, but do know with some clarity what kind of
book I want to write.” (Orwell: ‘Why I Write)
‘Animal Farm’ include the use of propaganda, indoctrination, and fear to
control the animals' thoughts and behavior, the suppression of dissenting
voices, and the manipulation of history to serve the interests of ruling class.
This novel warns against the dangers of totalitarianism, propaganda, and the
abuse of power. It portrays the transformation of a once-egalitarian society
into a totalitarian regime, where the ruling class oppresses and exploits the
other animals for their own benefit.

‘Animal Farm’ represents the idea that in a dystopian society, the ruling class often
uses propaganda and misinformation to control the thoughts and behaviors of the
population, creating a distorted reality in which the leader is always right, and any
dissenting voices are silenced or punished.
“Napoleon is always right” (Orwell: ‘Animal Farm’)
"It had become usual to give Napoleon the Credit for every Successful achievement
and every stroke of good fortune. You would often hear one hen remark to another,
"Under the guidance of our leader, Comrade Napoleon, I have laid five eggs in six
days" or two cows, enjoying a drink at the pool, would exclaim, "thanks to the
leadership of Comrade Napoleon, how excellent this water tastes!" (Orwell: ‘Animal
Farm’)
“If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right” (Orwell: ‘Animal Farm’)
The changes to the commandments in "Animal Farm" reflect the dystopian concept of
the manipulation of language and information by those in power, where words and
phrases are redefined or distorted to serve the interests of the ruling class.
"All animals are equal." -> "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal
than others." (Orwell: ‘Animal Farm’)

Throughout Animal Farm, Orwell’s main weapon of
choice is Orwell’s stinging satire. In fact, the entire
book can be viewed as a one hundred page satiric
look at politics and human life. Not only do we see
humans being overthrown by pigs and chickens but
all the animals can talk and some can even read and
write. Naming one of the pigs Napoleon is also
significant because as Meyers puts it, “The carefully
chosen names are both realistic and highly
suggestive of their owners’ personalities and roles in
the fable” (Orwell: ‘Animal Farm’). Later in the story
after Napoleon takes over, we see him declaring days
of celebration on his birthday and not allowing the
other animals to call him Napoleon but rather “our
Leader, comrade Napoleon” (Orwell: ‘Animal Farm’).
(Pelpuo)

Allegory and Intention in ‘Animal Farm’
Animal Farm tells the story of a group of farm animals (Russians) that overthrow their bumbling,
alcoholic farmer, Mr. Jones (Tsar Nicholas II), in order to achieve an idealistic vision of the future
set down for them by the aging Old Major (Marx). Once Mr. Jones is driven off the farm, the
animals begin setting up their new government, naturally led by the pigs, who are seen as the
cleverest of animals. The lead pigs, Napoleon (Joseph Stalin) and Snowball (Leon Trotsky), take
charge of the nascent self- governed farm, which, at first, seems to prosper. Due to ideological
differences, Napoleon and Snowball begin to quarrel, and Napoleon eventually orders a pack of
dogs under his command to chase his rival, Snowball, off the farm.
What follows is a series of betrayals of the animals by the ruling class of pigs. The seven basic
tenants of Animalism (Communism), painted on the wall of the barn, are slowly corrupted to fit the
needs of Napoleon. The farm animals are, by and large, too dumb to notice until the pigs are
sleeping in beds, wearing clothes, walking on two legs, and meeting Mr. Pilkington (Great Britain
and the United States) and other farmers for trade negotiations. The nov ends with the animals
outside the farmhouse looking "from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again;
but already it was impossible to say which was which.
Orwell intended the allegory to be against capitalists and communists alike, with his major goal to
be a warning against totalitarianism, but it was not taken that way by intelligence agencies on
either side.(Senn)

‘Animal
Farm’
as
Dystopian
Literature
-
ChatGPT
"Animal Farm" by George Orwell is often classified as a dystopian novel. A dystopia is
a fictional society that is characterized by oppressive social control, often brought
about by a totalitarian government, a dehumanizing environment, and a lack of
individual freedom and expression.
In "Animal Farm," the animals overthrow their human owner and establish a society
where all animals are equal and share in the work and benefits of the farm. However,
as the story progresses, the pigs, who become the new ruling class, begin to exploit
the other animals for their own benefit. They use propaganda, fear, and violence to
maintain their power, and gradually become indistinguishable from the human
farmers they overthrew.
The novel presents a stark warning about the dangers of political power, and how
even the most noble and well-intentioned ideals can be corrupted by those in charge.
It also highlights the importance of individual freedom, critical thinking, and the need
for an informed and engaged citizenry to prevent abuses of power.
Overall, "Animal Farm" is a powerful work of dystopian literature that continues to
resonate with readers today. Its themes of oppression, propaganda, and the abuse of
power are still relevant in our contemporary world.

Conclusion
In short, "Animal Farm" is a classic example of dystopian literature
that warns against the dangers of totalitarianism and the need for
vigilance in protecting against oppression. Orwell's allegorical tale
demonstrates the insidious nature of power and the potential for
corrupt leaders to manipulate and exploit their followers, making it
a timeless cautionary tale.
Orwellian concepts such as "Big Brother" and "some are more
equal than others" entered into the public lexicon, however, these
organizations also unwittingly provided the world with a vocabulary
that is potentially well-suited to criticizing the United States in the
twenty-first century.

Works Cited
“Beauchamp, Gorman L. “FUTURE WORDS: LANGUAGE AND THE DYSTOPIAN NOVEL.” Style, vol. 8, no. 3, 1974,
pp. 462–76. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42945221. Accessed 14 Mar. 2023.”
Claeys, Gregory. Dystopia: A Natural History : a Study of Modern Despotism, Its Antecedents, and Its Literary
Diffractions. Edited by Gregory Claeys, Oxford University Press, 2017.
Hoffecker, W. Andrew. “A READING OF ‘BRAVE NEW WORLD’: DYSTOPIANISM IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE.”
Christianity and Literature, vol. 29, no. 2, 1980, pp. 46–62. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44323982.
Accessed 14 Mar. 2023.
Luckhurst, Roger, and George Orwell. “Nineteen Eighty-Four and the politics of dystopia.” The British Library, 25 May
2016, https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/nineteen-eighty-four-and-the-politics-of-dystopia. Accessed
15 March 2023.
Orwell, George. Animal Farm (Collins Classics). HarperCollins Publishers Limited, 2021.
Orwell, George. 1984. Edited by Vitor Manfio, translated by Bruna Alessio, Vitrola Editora, 2022.

Orwell, George. “Why I Write.” The Orwell Foundation, 1946, https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-
foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/why-i-write/. Accessed 15 March 2023.
Pelpuo, Dr. Rashid Hassan, Bakuuro, Justine, Tuurosong, Damasus. “LITERATURE AND POLITICS-A REVIEW OF
GEORGE ORWELL'S ANIMAL FARM AND CHINUA ACHEBE'S A MAN OF THE PEOPLE”
European/American Journals, April 2018, https://www.eajournals.org/wp-content/uploads/Literature-and-
Politics-A-Review-of-George-Orwell%E2%80%99s-Animal.pdf. Accessed 15 March 2023.
“Senn, Samantha. “All Propaganda Is Dangerous, but Some Are More Dangerous than Others: George Orwell and
the Use of Literature as Propaganda.” Journal of Strategic Security, vol. 8, no. 3, 2015, pp. 149–61. JSTOR,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/26465253. Acce.”
“Woodcock, George. "George Orwell". Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 Jan. 2023,
https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Orwell. Accessed 15 March 2023.”

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