Is Animal Farm Produced for the Sake of Art - Essay Example

Is Animal Farm produced for the sake of art? A thought that is ‘seeded’ into an mind is only outputted in his or hers work. That ‘seeding’ of thought could be initiated or influenced by the ‘system’, in which the author lives or lived. The author observing the ‘environment’, happenings, culture, etc of his/her times, will ‘interpret’ it, in a written form as a replication of the events and not as a artistic form. One of the written forms, through which the author will reflect all his/ hers’ system influenced thought process is the novel. From early centuries, novels have been a great medium to imprint one’s life as well as to read about others’ lives. These ‘system’ or real events influenced novels could be categorized into two types; in the first type, the setting and scenes could be an exact replica of the real life happenings. In the second type, different sentences, characters, settings, etc come in to give a new interpretation, but at the same time based on the same real life happenings. In both the cases, there will be little scope for artistic leanings. This paper will look at one such novel, Animal Farm which was based on the real life happenings, and not produced for the sake of art. So, this paper will focus on the novel Animal Farm written by George Orwell, analyzing how the characters particularly Squealer was influenced, and had clear parallels with the Soviet rulers, diplomats and even media, and is not an artistic work. George Orwell, pseudonym for Eric Arthur Blair, was a famous English author, journalist and a political commentator. He became a well-known author mainly due to his two political anti-totalitarian works, Animal Farm and 1984. Both of which were written towards the end of his life. His shift in focus to political novels particularly anti totalitarian and pro-democratic socialist novels was an intentional one, influenced by the political climate of his period. So, Animal Farm published in 1945, is a cautionary tale against totalitarianism. “Russian régime must almost certainly be hostile to any revolution in the West” (Orwell). Cautionary tale in the sense, totalitarianism was not taken head on by Orwell instead he takes poke at totalitarianism through the main characters of the novel. The totalitarian regime in Soviet Union under Stalin was one of the main influences for George Orwell while writing Animal Farm. Even though, there have been no recorded evidence of Orwell visiting Soviet Union, he based all the details in the novel from the Soviet Union he knew, read, heard, etc. Maximum number of characters in the Animal Farm was inspired from the leaders, media, and people of Soviet Union from 1917- 1945. Animal Farm is a kind of allegory as the main characters are animals, who are portrayed as playing the roles of Soviet revolutionaries in an animal farm. In the novel, the animals under the leadership of a boar named Old Major gather for a meeting at the Manor Farm. The Boar tells and instills in all the other animals, the need to fight off and oust the human owners of the farm. Thus, all the animals can live together in peace with no control or oppression from humans. But, as the Boar dies, three younger pigs named Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer formulate Boar’s main ideas into a philosophy called Animalism. With combined strength and tactics, the animals oust the owner Mr. Jones and rename it as the Animal Farm, preparing to live a life according to Old Major’s principles. But, after living a free and equal life for some time, animals especially the pigs starts to manipulate and twist their powers. This leads to further breakdown of the set principles or commandments, as the rules are broken, media is used as a propaganda and the animals even siding with the humans, whom they very much abhorred in the first place. Each of the animals and even the human characters who carry out all the negative as well as positive machinations in the novel parallels some Soviet leaders. Among the younger boars, who take over the reins of the Animal Farm after the ouster of the humans, Napoleon takes over the leadership of the farm. He is the tyrant of the Animal Farm and his characteristics and actions parallels Joseph Stalin. Squealer also known as Propaganda is a small fat porker, who serves as the close confidante of Napoleon and carries out various actions to justify and amplify Napoleon’s image, even though Napoleon functions in a autocratic way. “I trust that every animal here appreciates the sacrifice that Comrade Napoleon has made in taking the extra labour upon himself. Do not image, comrades, that leadership is a pleasure! On the contrary, it is a deep and heavy responsibility.” (Orwell, 69). Squealer was clearly inspired by Vyacheslav Molotov and the Russian paper Pravda. There are a lot of parallels between what Molotov and Pravda did for Stalin and what Squealer did for Napoleon. Vyacheslav Molotov was a prominent Soviet politician and diplomat during the Stalin’s regime, even being regarded as a protégé of Joseph Stalin. His association with Stalin and Pravda started way back in 1911, when he joined Pravda as the editorial staff under Stalin. Pravda at that time was the underground Bolshevik newspaper with Stalin as the chief editor. With the ouster of the Czars and the actualization of the communist rule, Molotov rose along with Stalin. Then, when Stalin became the leader of the Soviet Union, Molotov started to take care of all the propaganda for Stalin through Pravda. During Stalin’s regime, Pravda was the official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Then, it became the leading newspaper of the Soviet Union carrying all the propaganda and the decrees of Stalin, mainly by distorting the truth and by providing a biased picture. This role of Molotov and Pravda was only replicated by George Orwell through the character of Squealer. Squealer being the persuasive pig was given the role of a propaganda chief by Napoleon. “He was a brilliant talker, and when he was arguing some difficult point he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail, which was somehow very persuasive. The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white” (Orwell, 36). The main function of Squealer is to make all the other animals in the farm ‘hero worship’ Napoleon, without raising any opposition to his actions or words. Squealer does that function by totally twisting the truth and bending the principles of animalism, put forward by Old Major. He does that so it suits or fulfills his and Napoleon’s wishes. He gives his own version of truth and makes the other animals believe in him, by using his charisma and persuasive skills. “Hes first described as a manipulator and persuader. Orwell narrates, "He could turn black into white." Many critics correlate Squealer with the Pravda, the Russian newspaper of the 1930s.” (novelguide.com). The other card, Squealer uses to control the animals is by using an assumed threat from Mr. Jones, the original owner of the farm. That is, he always warns the animals that Mr. Jones could come back any moment and will again oppress them, unless they support Napoleon, who can only protect them from Mr. Jones. His foundation for many of his arguments is that the animals do not want Mr. Jones back in power in the farm, and therefore must support Napoleon. These activities of Squealer clearly parallel Molotov and Pravda because all of them created lies or distorted truth mainly to keep their leader or someone in power. Also, Napoleon used Squealer like Stalin used Pravda to create a positive image for himself, even though he committed some of the worst crimes. So, the use of propaganda by Molotov and Squealer made Stalin and Napoleon more powerful in the negative sense, and provided them the freedom to rule their constituents in an unethical and undemocratic way. Even when Napoleon committed wrongs and there is a slightest opposition, Squealer was there to protect him and safeguard or elevate his image. Finally, even while oppressing the inmates, the animals or Napoleon joined hands with the humans, with the ulterior motives. Orwell ends the novel with a satiric portrait of the Teheran Conference of 1943, the meeting of Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin who are now allies (Raymond). So, from this analysis, it is clear that George Orwell was heavily inspired by the events of his times, particularly the events and personalities of Soviet Union. While replicating those events and personalities, Orwell created an animal farm ruled by animals particularly pigs. The animals were breathing the ‘independent air’ after ousting the human owner, like how the Russian communist leaders felt glad after ousting the Czars. But, the same animals like the Soviet leaders, become corrupted and indulged in various negative activities, which mirrored the oppression and authoritarianism of the Soviet governance under Stalin. So, this incorporation of political events and personalities throughout the story make the book a kind of “historical fiction” and not as a work of art. Reference: novelguide.com, Character Profiles, viewed April 9, 2008 http://www.novelguide.com/animalfarm/characterprofiles.html Orwell, G 1996, 1984. Reissue edition, Signet Classics. Orwell, G 2004. Why I Write. Qtd by Raymond A. Schroth, Feeling the Pain America, viewed April 8, 2008 https://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=3611 Orwell, G 1941, Lion and the Unicorn: England our England, viewed April 9, 2008 http://www.k-1.com/Orwell/site/work/essays/lionunicorn.html Williams, R 1974, George Orwell; A Collection of Critical Essays, New Jersey, Prentice- Hall. Read More