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Orwell's Paradox: Equality in Animal Farm
Abstract
Animal Farm presents itself as a simple fable, but it raises profound questions about one of our most cherished political concepts, namely, equality. Initially viewed as a solution to the problem of injustice on Animal Farm, equality soon presents itself as part of the problem. It is a radically open-ended ideal that lends itself to different and contradictory interpretations. This article shows how George Orwell's "fairy story" puts equality on trial and forces readers to reexamine some of their most fundamental moral and political commitments.
... In another study on the theme of equality in Animal Farm, Dwan (2012) discussed the concept of equality as being the focal point of Orwell"s satirical novella. He believed that Orwell cast aspersions on "the coherence and viability of equality as a theoretical principle" (Dwan, 2012) which unfortunately remained an ideal, with no practical existence with regard to human experience. ...
... In another study on the theme of equality in Animal Farm, Dwan (2012) discussed the concept of equality as being the focal point of Orwell"s satirical novella. He believed that Orwell cast aspersions on "the coherence and viability of equality as a theoretical principle" (Dwan, 2012) which unfortunately remained an ideal, with no practical existence with regard to human experience. Dwan also drew on Orwell"s biography to jump into hasty and erroneous conclusions, such as the conclusion that Animal Farm could be seen as an attack on "all political ideologies since equality is fundamental for all forms of government" (Dwan, 2012). ...
... He believed that Orwell cast aspersions on "the coherence and viability of equality as a theoretical principle" (Dwan, 2012) which unfortunately remained an ideal, with no practical existence with regard to human experience. Dwan also drew on Orwell"s biography to jump into hasty and erroneous conclusions, such as the conclusion that Animal Farm could be seen as an attack on "all political ideologies since equality is fundamental for all forms of government" (Dwan, 2012). Equality will also be discussed in the present study but in a different way from that of Dwan"s above-mentioned study. ...
The present research study attempted to provide an interpretation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm as an outcry against false revolutionary leaders who go back on their promises and turn into dehumanized dictators even worse than the dictators against whom they and their fellow revolutionaries rebelled. To achieve that objective, the researcher read the novella critically within its socio-political context and traced the transformation of the leading character, Napoleon, who stands for such revolutionary leaders. The data of the current research were all extracted from Orwell’s Animal Farm. The researcher used content analysis to analyze the selected data and developed an analytical comparison through which he closely examined Napoleon’s character before and after the revolution. The findings of the study revealed that Napoleon was an opportunistic revolutionary who used the revolution to an evil end. Napoleon’s dramatic transformation from a noble revolutionary into a ruthless, corrupt ruler proved that Orwell’s novella can be read as an attack on false revolutionary leaders who become dehumanized despots, far worse than the dictators whom they aspired to replace with democratic leaders.
... Le régime qui se donne l'objective de libérer le peuple finit par devenir un régime meurtrier, « dictatorial », « émasculateur » et répressif. Selon Dwan (2012), La fermes des animaux démontre comment les nouveaux ordres se hissent pour dégringoler pour devenir pire que leurs antécédents. Après le soulèvement dans La Ferme des animaux, le nom de la ferme « Ferme du Manoir » est changé en « Ferme des animaux ». ...
Le but du présent article consiste à établir une comparaison entre deux romans de deux auteurs emblématiques de cultures et d'époques opposées. Adoptant l'approche comparative, l'étude a essayé d'établir le fait que La ferme des animaux de George Orwell et En attendant le vote des bêtes sauvages d'Amadou Kourouma ont des similitudes frappantes en termes de leurs structures narratives, caractérisation et thématiques. Dans ces deux ouvrages satiriques, les auteurs jettent leurs regards critiques sur des régimes politiques révolutionnaires des pays étrangers, des régimes qui subissent des transformations similaires et en fin de compte deviennent indubitablement plus oppressifs que ceux qu'ils renversent. Abstract: The purpose of this article is to draw a comparison between two novels by two emblematic authors of opposite cultures and eras. By adopting the comparative approach, the study tried to establish the fact that George Orwell's Animal Farm (translated as La ferme des animaux) and Amadou Kourouma's En attendant le vote des bêtes sauvages (to wit, Waiting for the votes of the wild beasts) have striking similarities in terms of their narrative structures, characterisation and themes. In the two satirical works, the authors focus their critical eyes on political revolutionary regimes of foreign countries, regimes that underwent the same kind of transformation and in the end become undoubtedly more oppressive than those they overthrew.
This article studies the struggle between classes in George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm (1945). The most suitable school of literary criticism to tackle such a subject is that of Marxism. Two basic Marxist principles are at the center of the study: class conflict and the notion of base and superstructure. The article addresses the ongoing class conflict occurring at the base between humans and pigs on the one hand and lower-class animals on the other. Three main questions have been addressed: In what ways does the upper class oppress the lower? How does the lower class respond? What is the outcome of the struggle? The study uncovers the major factors that allow the upper class to overcome the lower in Animal Farm. The lower-class response consists of both constructive and destructive attitudes. The balance is ultimately tipped towards authoritarianism, leading the animals to live in conditions worse than those of the pre-revolutionary period.
"Britain experienced the harshness of 20th-century dictatorship and censorship only obliquely, as a reflection of what was happening in several “elsewheres”. Yet, events such as the Spanish Civil War deeply affected a whole generation of young British writers who, after the period of elitist Modernism, were trying to reassert the political import of literature through a redefinition of the role of the artist as politically and socially engagé. George Orwell figures as one of the most disenchanted and lucid witnesses of this particular historical moment. In both his essays and journalistic articles, as well as in his narrative work, he continuously ponders over the relationship between political power and society on the one hand, and language and literature on the other, providing a most interesting analysis of the mechanisms that preside over this interaction."