Socialism
“Socialism is an economic system characterised by social ownership of the means of production and co-operative management of the economy.” (Wikipedia, 2013) In other words, socialism is considered to be a free capitalist economy where there are only little intervention for the government in the market. Nowadays, socialism is one of the most common and popular political ideology and belief across the world, a lot of famous political figures and superpowers believes in socialism, such as Barack Obama and Abraham Lincoln.
In the novel Animal Farm, the farm itself is a representation of the soviet union, which they were in similar situations socially. The Russia Soviet union back then was ruled under a socialist government system, which is what they consider a preferable system that could bring peace to the country, in this case, the idea of animalism is the representation of such political belief in the novel. This idea was proposed by the old major, a character that represets the creators of socialism that could be either Vladimir Lenin or Karl Marx. Originally, it was brought up in vision of a society with equality and peace, with no discriminations and everyone sharing their sources together. Nonetheless, later on in the novel the idea of animalism was then manipulated by Napoleon after he took over the farm and kicked out his enemy Snowball, which mirrors the situation in Soviet Russian when Stalin defeated Trotsky in the leadership battle. When the novel came to an end, instead of having seven rules/commandments written up on the windmill that was agreed by all animals, there were only one left, which was “all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others”. This sentence ultimately summarized the whole social situation at that time. The change in idea of animalism has depicted how Napoleon manipulated the vision of the old major (Marx/Lenin) and eventually turning the whole soviet russia into how Stalin wants it to be. (Britannica, 2013)
George Orwell choice of representation in socialism is very understandable and direct. Most readers only have brief understandings in terms of politics, by using the term “animalism” as the representation of socialism will make it more simplistic for the readers and easier to deliver the message. Through how Napoleon changed the idea of Animalism throughout the novel, we can interpret that how a dictator could manipulate an original idea of socialism due to his own goods and benefits.
Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2013). Socialism. Retrieved 6 April 2013, from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/551569/socialism.
Wikipedia. (2013) Socialism. Retrieved March 20, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism.
In the novel Animal Farm, the farm itself is a representation of the soviet union, which they were in similar situations socially. The Russia Soviet union back then was ruled under a socialist government system, which is what they consider a preferable system that could bring peace to the country, in this case, the idea of animalism is the representation of such political belief in the novel. This idea was proposed by the old major, a character that represets the creators of socialism that could be either Vladimir Lenin or Karl Marx. Originally, it was brought up in vision of a society with equality and peace, with no discriminations and everyone sharing their sources together. Nonetheless, later on in the novel the idea of animalism was then manipulated by Napoleon after he took over the farm and kicked out his enemy Snowball, which mirrors the situation in Soviet Russian when Stalin defeated Trotsky in the leadership battle. When the novel came to an end, instead of having seven rules/commandments written up on the windmill that was agreed by all animals, there were only one left, which was “all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others”. This sentence ultimately summarized the whole social situation at that time. The change in idea of animalism has depicted how Napoleon manipulated the vision of the old major (Marx/Lenin) and eventually turning the whole soviet russia into how Stalin wants it to be. (Britannica, 2013)
George Orwell choice of representation in socialism is very understandable and direct. Most readers only have brief understandings in terms of politics, by using the term “animalism” as the representation of socialism will make it more simplistic for the readers and easier to deliver the message. Through how Napoleon changed the idea of Animalism throughout the novel, we can interpret that how a dictator could manipulate an original idea of socialism due to his own goods and benefits.
Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2013). Socialism. Retrieved 6 April 2013, from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/551569/socialism.
Wikipedia. (2013) Socialism. Retrieved March 20, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism.