THE SOCIAL INJUSTICE OF TOTALITARIANISM

TOTALITARIANISM AS A THEME

• Corruption of power
• Suppression of Opinion
• Elitism, power and privilege
• Violence, confusion and terror
• Brainwashing and propaganda

Orwell saw Stalinism as one instance of the broader social phenomenon of totalitarianism, which he saw throughout the world.

INSTANCES OF TOTALITARIANISM

• Fascist Germany (Hitler)
• Spain (Francisco Franco)
• Capitalist America
• England
• Soviet Union

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CORRUPTION OF POWER - PLOT

• Structure mirrors the events of the Russian Revolution.
• Mirrors Stalin's rise to power between 1917 & 1944.
• Events symbolically parallel specific developments in Russia.
• Universal themes make the novella accessible.
• The use of fable and satire give the story universality.

Use of foreshadowing to make subtle hints about the pig's motives.

Dramatic irony is used throughout. The reader knows more than the animals.

Shift to the animal's point of view in the final chapter.

Animals on the outside looking in reflects their betrayal and total loss of power.

CORRUPTION OF POWER - SETTING

The universal nature of the story manifests itself the plot's setting.

Old Major's vision of a Utopia is juxtaposed against tyranny.
Satire against all forms of totalitarianism: communist, fascist and capitalist.

Human problems set in an animal kingdom.

• Provides the distance necessary to see the absurdity of human behaviour.
• Enables Orwell to abstract a human situation into an interpretable tale.
• The farm represents any human society.
• Reduces the scale of totalitarianism.
• The moral lessons can be presented with maximum clarity, objectivity, concision and force

CORRUPTION OF POWER

Characters based on either real people or amalgamations.

Napoleon

• Comes to mirror the farmers just as Stalin came to mirror the aristocracy.
• Initially the champion of Animalism.
• Becomes an oppressor just like the humans.
• Develops a private police force similar to Stalin.
• Builds his power through secrecy and deception

Napoleon's use of the dogs signals the deterioration of Animal Farm from a society based on equal rights to a society in which those who are powerful determine what happens to the rest.

The significance of Napoleon's name. Napoleon originally appeared a great liberator but crowned himself emperor. Rather than destroying aristocracy he remade it around himself.

CORRUPTION OF POWER

Symbols of the farm, barn and windmill

Farm = any human society
Barn = collective memory of a nation
Windmill = pigs manipulation of the other animals as well as the modernization projects of Soviet Russia.

Simple and straightforward language

Songs and motifs = songs, poems, slogans, odes, and state ritual which all serve as propaganda to reinforce loyalty