"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – for ever." These famous words were stated by George Orwell himself and acutely reflect his view of human nature. He represented this view throughout Animal Farm because, by the time that Orwell had written the novel at the end of 1944, he had seen firsthand the atrocities that mankind inflicted upon his brothers. Because of this, it is possible that Orwell could have written Animal Farm as a warning for future generations who might be tempted by the ideals of Communism – ideals that Orwell had seen go horribly astray during the Spanish civil war, and before that, in the Russian revolution. Therefore, when Orwell wrote Animal farm, he decided to write it with multiple layers of meaning, by enlisting powerful literary agents to position his audience to accept his views. These agents included fable, cultural assumptions, allegory and satire. The first of these: fable was used to convey a moral subtly across to the audience.
Although Animal Farm appears to be written in a simple way, the message or moral behind this fable still holds relevance today, fifty years later. Orwell has told his story as a fable by using animals that speak and act like humans. The moral behind Animal Farm is then discovered by the reader through the animal’s actions and the consequences of these actions. Orwell demonstrates his skill with writing in the literary style of fable in Animal Farm when he writes this comment made by a human farmer upon inspecting Animal Farm, of which the pigs were now in charge: …He believed he was right in saying that the lower animals on Animal Farm did more work and received less food than any other animals in the country... (Pp92) The moral that Orwell was trying to get through was that although revolutions were meant to serve the interests of the people, instead they often ended up suffering even more than before, because their leaders fought to make themselves just as powerful and wealthy as the very people that they had despised before the revolution. In Animal Farm, the pigs are given the role of leaders because of the common cultural assumptions of pigs in Western society.
By effectively utilizing cultural assumptions, Orwell was able to position the reader so that he or she could interpret the character’s personalities and emotions. By exploiting these common cultural assumptions, Orwell was able to limit the amount of explaining he had to do and as a result the storyline was able to progress much more quickly, thus increasing the interest of Animal Farm to its readers. An example of how Orwell uses this literary device to position his audience to accept his point of view is when he presents the cultural assumption that pigs are more intelligent and thus hold higher status than any other animal. This is demonstrated when Orwell writes: …The… next day the pigs who were supervising the work of the farm all carried whips in their trotters… [and] Napoleon was seen strolling in the farmhouse garden… [wearing] a black coat and ratcatcher breaches and leather leggings… (Pp90) This cultural assumption is further reinforced when the pigs change the most fundamental law of Animalism: All animals are equal, (Pp15) to: All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others. (Pp90) Orwell’s writing approach is consistent with the Western cultural assumption of pigs because although they are regarded as intelligent, they are also perceived as lazy and greedy. By adapting his novel to encompass sections that reflected the stereotypes and attitudes of people in Western culture towards animals and people, Orwell ensured that people would more readily accept sections of the novel that are little more than his opinion; as fact. Orwell has also applied this approach to other sections of his novel that are allegory to real events that have occurred, such as the Russian revolution.
Allegory was used by Orwell to form the backbone of his novel, and therefore position the reader to accept the sequence of allusions that Orwell compiles as a factual description of Communism. In the case of Animal Farm, these allusions are designed to tell the story of the Russian revolution; from the betrayal of its ideals by Stalin and his acolytes, to the eventual exploitation of the common people which made life much worse than before for all but a select few. This is demonstrated in the novel when Napoleon uses the dogs he has trained, as henchmen to inspire fear and ensure the obedience of the animals: …Napoleon now called upon them to confess their crimes… Without any further prompting they confessed… and… when they had finished their confession the dogs promptly tore their throats out… (Pp56) The dog’s real life counterparts during the Russia revolution were the KGB or secret police that forced support for the Russian leader Stalin. Like the dogs of Animal Farm, the KGB were given licence to use lethal force upon anyone they viewed to be against their ideals. As a result of the fear inspired by the KGB, few Russians dared to object to the countless promises that were broken once Stalin was in power, just like in animal farm, where Orwell has used satire to express the broken promises of the pigs.
Orwell’s use of satirical indignation in Animal Farm; at the expense of communism, is just another example of the skilful manipulation of the literary codes that Orwell employed to construct his novel to influence his audience’s viewpoints. Although satire is often employed as a literary device to offer almost comic relief to a story; whilst retaining a moral, Orwell’s use of satire in this novel is almost entirely made up of black humour and hypocrisy, and this reflects his overall stance on Communism. An example from Animal Farm that reflects Orwell’s skill at utilizing the literary device of satire occurs when Boxer; the faithful and hardworking, yet not overly intelligent horse becomes ill after a work accident: …Comrade Napoleon… was already making arrangements to send boxer to be treated in hospital… [After] two days… a large closed van, drawn by two horses, with lettering on its side… [appeared] in the yard… The animals crowded around the van. “Goodbye Boxer” they chorused… “Fools! Fools!” shouted Benjamin… “do you not see what is written on the side of the van?… They are taking Boxer to the knacker’s!…” (Pp80-82) This section of animal farm can be attributed as satire because of the blatant hypocrisy of the pigs; because when Boxer ceases to being an asset to them, and starts to look as though he may even become a burden, the pigs have him sold to the humans to be killed and made into glue and dog food - not exactly the peaceful retirement that the pigs had been promising the animals when they became too old or weak to work. With the money gained from the sale of Boxer’s life, the pigs were able to buy a case of whiskey, thus increasing the irony of the situation by breaking one of the seven fundamental laws of Animalism that states: No animal shall drink alcohol. (Pp15) By using satire, Orwell has ensured that his audience understands the irony of Communism; where everyone is equal, yet some people are more equal and therefore more powerful than others; in order to be able to enforce this maxim.
Throughout Animal Farm, Orwell expressed his cynical view towards Communism with the use of literary devices that included fable, cultural assumptions, allegory and satire. These positioning agents were used and manipulated to position Orwell’s readers to accept his views and opinions as fact. It is because of his great skill at doing this, that Animal Farm – a plain, though powerful and passionate fable; has been often credited as what made Orwell the most powerful and influential British novelist of his day.
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