Satire in George Orwell's Animal Farm Essay Example

The main intention of any satire is always to expose how people in authority abuse power to their agendas. This is seen to a great extent, in George Orwell’s universal story “Animal Farm”, set before and during the reign of Joseph Stalin, which tells the story of how an idealistic society transformed into a realistic tyranny, all from the power abused by a single party. Orwell explores this abuse of power and manipulation to a great extent throughout the story, exposing it through the representation of human flaws, but the story also displays its other intention of the story, to warn us of our future. While warning us does play a part in serving the book’s intentions, the exploration of Human Flaws is by far the most significant element because through these flaws he reinforces the main intention of the satire, to expose the abuse of power by figures of authority.

Human greed is one of our fatal flaws as it often leads to an insatiable hunger for more. Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ displays the flaw as a steppingstone for the abuse of power by leading figures. Orwell develops this factor of human greed in the abuse of power by expressing it through the development of the characters. Early in the story, already Orwell exposes readers to a clear line of power, represented in the milk scene. After the revolution, the cows are milked producing 5 buckets of milk. These buckets were stolen by the pigs. Furthermore, As the story progresses, the readers are exposed to changes in the pig’s behaviour and their treatment of the other animals. These changes include the pigs reducing the rations for the other animals and increasing their workload, both to their benefit. These actions display greed as more of a poison, as the story progresses, the pigs get greedier and greedier. Orwell portrays the flaw of greed through character allusions as well, most notably Napoleon. Napoleon a powerful authoritarian figure in the story who focuses on nothing but to remain in power, in whatever way necessary. Orwell displays his destructive greed through the many lengths he goes through to protect his position. He removes the puppies from their mothers raising them to kill, with no sense of love or affection for their mothers. This alludes to the Stolen Generation, but it also represents how his greed has forced him to forgo all his morals and innate goodness. Given the above, the flaw of greed is a pivotal element in Orwell’s “Animal Farm” because it reveals the abuse of power by figures in power through symbols and allusions, supporting our perspective on the dangers of being consumed by our selfishness.

Unlike greed, a steppingstone, exploitation is a soldier in the army. This flaw, deep-seated into Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ reveals itself in the later parts of the book when the pigs have complete control of the farm and begin to blatantly abuse their power, which is portrayed through historical allusions and metaphor. Various incredibly confronting events display the abuse of power through exploiting other individuals. The hens in the story are allusions to a mother’s love, displayed through their care for their own and the other animals, such as the young pups. This makes their exploitation more impactful, as even the most communal animals of the farm were abused by the authority for profit. The hens were forced to lay more eggs, which were to be sold for profit, a historical allusion to the exploitation of the workforce during WW2. Orwell further reinforces the idea of exploitation through metaphors which are displayed in the selling of Boxer. This is by far the most crucial point as even after all the work Boxer put into the farm, like any other animal he sold for money once he was of no use. Overall, exploitation exposes the abuse of power in action through allusions and metaphors, reinforcing our idea of being blinded in our endless reach for more.

Animal Farm not only exposes readers to the abuse of power by significant figures but also serves as a warning to us of our future. Orwell reveals this through archetypal characters and symbols, to show the book’s other purpose. Archetypal characters are used in the text, allowing the plot to be extrapolated into our present day. For example, Old Major, the archetype of the Sage, people who bring wisdom and enlightenment to the people. In context, Old Major represents Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, however, applying to our present time, he could represent Donald Trump, infamous for his different approach to government. The reinforcement of this message is through the symbolism of the Ten Commandments. They alert the reader to how the Justice System can be easily manipulated to suit the needs of the governing party, whilst also cleverly alluding to the Catholic Ten Commandments. Orwell could also be leading the reader to wonder can this plot also align with religion. Can our unwavering belief in a higher power also be abused for gain? We can see that Animal Farm serves multiple intentions, one of which is to warn us of our impending path through the mirroring of this story to real life.

Throughout the text, ‘Animal Farm’, Orwell uses a range of literary devices, from metaphors to the character archetypes that progress the story, to expose the misuse of power by authoritarian figures that result in the suffering of the people. The human flaws of greed and exploitation support our claim that ‘Animal Farm’s’ intention is to expose the abuse of power by influential figures, even though it displays a minor purpose: a warning to us of our future. Therefore, it is evident that to a great extent, Orwell’s main intention is to ‘expose the way people in authority use power to their advantage.'