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Dina Sarayrah
dina_sarayreh98@yahoo.com

The Political Allegory in George Orwell’s Animal Farm

Abstract

George Orwell's novel: Animal Farm was written in 1944. It is satirical. Its characters represent

various animals. This study aims at having a look at the political allegory in George Orwell’s

Animal Farm. Animal Farm uses absurdity to illustrate the terrible aspect of totalitarianism and

dictatorship. More than nonsense, though, it uses symbols to mirror reality. Every character

represents a famous personality in real life. Animal Farm represents the Russian Revolution of

1917. It is a political parable about revolution and power. Every character represents a protagonist.

The farm is used as an allegory to convey Orwell's point. The revolution starts with strong ideas of

equality and fairness. I argue in this research the political allegory in George Orwell’s Animal

Farm through explaining the symbolism in different aspects: characters, plots, and themes.

Moreover, the study will try to answer the two questions: What are the characters' roles in George's

Orwell's Animal Farm? And What are the political aspects these characters embody in the novel?
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Table of contents

Items Page

Abstract .................................................................................................1

Table of contents ................................................................................... 2

Chapter: I............................................................................................... 3

I. 1. Introduction.................................................................................... 3

I. 2. Research problem .......................................................................... 4

I. 3. The importance of the study .......................................................... 5

I. 4. The aims of the study ...................................................................... 5

I. 5. Research questions .......................................................................... 6

I. 6. Definition of the special terminology .............................................. 6

1.6. Theoretical frame work .................................................................... 7

Chapter: II. Literature review ................................................................. 7

Chapter: III. Methodology ................................................................... 13

Bibliography.............................................................................................. 14
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Chapter I

I.1. Introduction

The novel: Animal Farm was written by George Orwell in 1944. It is a satirical novel. It reflects

the pinnacle of the Soviet-Western anti-fascist cooperation. It was a warning against negotiating

with Stalin, and it was particularly opportune under the circumstances. In both America and

England, Animal Farm was an instant hit. It was a pick from the Book of the Month Club. It was

immediately translated into a number of other languages. It was more successful in 1988. When

Orwell wrote it, he was dying of pulmonary TB, and he died in January of 1950. He was 46 years

old at the time (Menand 2003: 84-91). Animal Farm represents the Russian Revolution of 1917. It

is a political parable about revolution and power. It examines issues of dictatorship, the corrosion

of idealism, and the power of language via the story of a group of farm animals that revolt the

farm's owner. Every character represents a protagonist from the Revolutionary War, and George

Orwell (2020: 2-11) frames his novel as a political allegory. Any revolution, headed by a tiny or

a secretive group, can only lead to tyranny and oppression. The farm is used as an allegory to

convey Orwell's point. The revolution starts with strong ideas of equality and fairness, and the

effects are initially beneficial as the animals get to work for their own gain. Communist dictators,

on the other hand, could become as corrupt and incompetent as the administration they deposed.

Hypocrisy and totalitarianism are fundamental to the human nature, according to Animal Farm.

Orwell thinks that society would inevitably revert to dictatorship without knowledge and actual

independence of the poor classes Orwell (2020: 2-11).

Animal Farm is a political allegory. Mr. Jones, who represents the farm's former human owner,

depicts Czar Nicholas II who is inefficient and worthless. Napoleon represents Joseph

Stalin. Snowball represents Leon Trotsky, and Squealer represents Vyacheslav Molotov. While the

pigs represent prominent members of the Bolshevik leadership. Other animals reflect Russia's
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working classes: originally zealous for revolution. They were gradually duped into embracing a

dictatorship. They were ruthless.

Marxism is the theory of Karl Marx which says that society's classes are the cause of struggle, and

that society should have no classes (Kitching 1988: 4). The radical egalitarianism of Karl Marx's

supporters; a radical, political, and social theory aimed at seizing state power. This socialist

ideology establishes a proletarian dictatorship and eventually progressing to communism.

Marx and Friedrich Engels' economic and political ideology are crucial to comprehend the society's

ostensibly. They also play a central role in the inevitable evolution from bourgeois tyranny under

socialism to a socialist and eventually classless society. The political program and socialist

philosophy were developed by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. Communism as a political

movement attained global importance after the Bolsheviks toppled the Russian Czar in 1917. After

that time, the works of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels enjoyed an international audience. The

world was to learn a new political vocabulary peppered with socialism, capitalism, the working

class, and the bourgeoisie. Other political vocabularies are like abort theory of value, alienation,

economic determinism, dialectical materialism, and historical materialism (Marx and Engels 2009:

22-26).

I. 2. Research statement

The main theme of this research is political. I argue in this research the political allegory in George

Orwell’s Animal Farm through explaining the symbolism in different aspects: characters, plots, and

themes.

I. 3. The importance of the study

The importance of this study lies in the fact that it motivates the readers to think deeply

of the political aspect of the target novel. The novel: Animal Farm is written in 1944. Although

it is an old novel, it affects the readers who is interested in politics. This novel has its own
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aspects. It has its own fame as a political allegory.

I. 4. The aims of the study

This study aims at having a look at the character’s role and the political allegory in

GeorgeOrwell’s Animal Farm. Animal Farm uses absurdity to illustrate the terrible aspect of

totalitarianism and dictatorship. More than it is use of nonsense, though, it uses symbols to

mirror reality.This study aims at explaining the symbolism in Animal Farm's ridiculousness

through three different aspects: plots, characters, and themes. The goal of this research is to

find out how the political issues are reflected in the intrinsic elements. It also aims to find out

the political aspects that take their role in this novel.

I. 5. Research questions

The study will try to answer the following questions:

. What are the characters' roles in George's Orwell's Animal Farm?

. What are the political aspects these characters embody in the novel?

I. 6. Definition of the special terminology

. Political Allegory: A literary method in which a character, location, or action is utilized to

convey a significant statement about the universe or community is known as an allegory.

Allegories are usually confusing and oblique in nature. Some allegories are passive-aggressive in

that they do not immediately explain the hidden message that they are vehemently communicating

(Merriam-Webster Dictionary).

. Character: In writing or printing, it is a sign, mark, or symbol (such as a figure or letter). It is a

collection of characteristics that distinguishes a group, a person, or an object from others. The
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town, for example, has a distinct personality. It is also a defining feature: the bushy appearance of

the plant (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).

1.7. Theoretical framework

Marxism is the theory of Karl Marx which says that society's classes are the cause of struggle, and

that society should have no classes (Kitching 1988: 4). The radical egalitarianism of Karl Marx's

supporters; a radical, political, and social theory aimed at seizing state power. This socialist

ideology establishes a proletarian dictatorship and eventually progressing to communism.

Marx and Friedrich Engels' economic and political ideology are crucial to comprehend the society's

ostensibly. They also play a central role in the inevitable evolution from bourgeois tyranny under

socialism to a socialist and eventually classless society. The political program and socialist

philosophy were developed by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. Communism as a political

movement attained global importance after the Bolsheviks toppled the Russian Czar in 1917. After

that time, the works of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels enjoyed an international audience. The

world was to learn a new political vocabulary peppered with socialism, capitalism, the working

class, and the bourgeoisie. Other political vocabularies are like abort theory of value, alienation,

economic determinism, dialectical materialism, and historical materialism (Marx and Engels 2009:

22-26).

Chapter II: Literature reviews

George Orwell wrote Animal Farm as a political phenomenon to demonstrate his own beliefs and

political viewpoints as a communist. Animal Farm is considered one of the most thought-provoking

books of the twentieth century. Orwell uses absurdity to reveal the evil side of totalitarianism and

tyranny. Animal Farm represents reality with symbols, rather than being ludicrous. Orwell attempts

to explain the symbolism that is found in Animal Farm through three different aspects: characters,

plots, and themes. Animal Farm is actually a political satire in English literature. The novel, which

tells the story of Farm animals is organized to encourage people to start their revolution against
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tyranny and dictatorial systems. Actually, it is a symbol for the Russian Revolution and the regime

of Joseph Stalin. Orwell creates this political symbolism and conveys themes of totalitarianism,

corruption, and propaganda (Guocheng 2020: 35-37).

There are some critics who criticize George Orwell's writings such as Gillian Workman. He

writes that "in spite of the existence of a number of comprehensive critiques of Orwell, it has

seemed until recently that the most convincing and best organized critical material on Orwell was

in fact to be found in early reviews of the individual books, written by such authors as Julian

Symons, Cyril Connolly, Henry Judd, M. C. Hollis, and Jerome Thale"(Workman 1972). Although,

the comprehensive critiques contain much useful material and comment, they tend to lack the

credibility and coherence of the shorter essays; This is largely because the writers have considered

it necessary to write biographical criticism, thus burdening themselves with the problems of

Orwell's biography; while those who discuss one work, or present a single argument, can ignore

these with impunity. The first five comprehensive studies of Orwell were all written by people who

were friends or acquaintances of his: and it is in this role, rather than in that of the literary critic,

that they appear in them (McCarthy: 1969: 2-3).

Menand (2003: 84-91) denoted that, in 1944, Orwell's satire Animal Farm that became the Cold

War's "Candide," was completed. However, Orwell had difficulty in finding a publisher for his

novel. By the time the book was published in August of 1945, the month of the Nagasaki and

Hiroshima bombings when the Cold War already had begun. In both countries: United States and

England, Animal Farm was an immediate hit.

It was soon translated into many languages and disseminated by the United States government in

other nations. It made Orwell famous and wealthy. Despite the fact that he had spent much of his

life trying to scrape by. Four years later, he was even more successful. When he composed it,

Orwell was dying of pulmonary TB, and he died in January of 1950. He was 46 years old at the

time.

This paper presents a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of manipulative strategies of positive
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and negative presentation in George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1944). The major goal of this article is

to look into the manipulative intentions of the selected book beyond positive self-presentation and

negative self-presentation. The following two questions are addressed in this paper: First, in

Orwell's Animal Farm, what are the distinct tactics of positive self-presentation and negative other-

presentation encoded? The second question is: To what extent are these methods used linguistically

to manipulate discourse receivers in the novel's discourse? The study looks at certain CDA

methods, such as justification, fabrication of data, historical falsification, and competency for

positive self-presentation. Some CDA techniques, like as accusation and criticism, are also

examined. For the sake of a bad other presentation, it uses unclear language and recurring rumors.

The paper does so by combining two approaches: One of them is called a critical conversation

analysis (Fairclough 2001: 25-38). The article concludes that the positive self-presentation and

the negative other-presentation methods are effective. The speakers and writers have the ability to

encode ideologies in order to affect the views of their audience (Al-Asbahi and Ahmed 2020:133-

142).

George Orwell is a well-known author who used his literary works to criticize and lampoon

political situations. One of his novels, Animal Farm (1945), contains his condemnation of the

Russian Revolution. Setting, character, story, and topic are the four types of intrinsic aspects that

the author selected to examine. The purpose of this study is to see how political issues are mirrored

in the fundamental aspects. The author requires a detailed explanation. Consequently, the writer

employed qualitative and descriptive methods in order to analyze the data. The researcher uses the

close reading approach. In this novel, the characters, setting, storyline, and topic work well

together. Each of them has its own set of rules for making the story more intriguing. The findings

of this research revealed that the political concerns may be grasped by reading and evaluating the

novel's fundamental aspects. In terms of characters and story plots, this work contains a high level

of suspense. As a result, the plot is unexpected. In addition, the characters are explained in detail.

The most powerful character might actually make it easier for the writer to learn about political

concerns. Aside from that, the character, setting, storyline, and topic all had a part. They also
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demonstrated that the reader of Animal Farm thinks George Orwell is an excellent author and that

the work includes subliminal messages (Rachmawati et al. 2016: 12-22).

Orwell (1944) stated that "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others". It was a

famous quote from British author George Orwell's famous novel: Animal Farm. This assertion

appears to hold true for the choice of proper animal studies to represent human biology in

laboratory development, extending further than the remit of political metaphor. There are still

significant gaps in our understanding of animal physiology, particularly in terms of intra- and inter-

species changes in intestinal (GI) performance, which can alter oral drug administration and

absorption. Availability and cost have influenced the choices of animal species without a clear

reason for their human-like characteristics. These problems are due to a lack of uniformity in the

methodologies used in previous animal experiments. They could have played a role in the

production of contradicting results. This research aims to find a single animal species that

are representative of human physiology. We collated and critically examined data from a number

of research on the anatomy and physiology of various animal species often used in drug delivery

modeling. These species make recommendations on their suitability (Haton (2015: 2747-2776).

Baharuddin and Arafah: 2021: 21-29) conducted a study about "The Political Strategy in

Alleviating Poverty through Orwell’s Animal Farm". This study will examine the various types of

poverty that are presented in Animal Farm, as well as the political approach of the seven

commandments for alleviating poverty. The researcher uses a sociology of literature theory as the

primary strategy and a Marxist poverty theory. He also employs qualitative methods in both data

collection and analysis. He divides the data into three categories. These are primary data which

are extracted directly from the text. The supporting data are the secondary data that were quoted by

the prior researcher. They truly back up the conclusions drawn from books, journals, the Internet,

and other sources.

Baharuddin and Arafah (2021: 21-29) stated that according to the findings of this study, the

character Jones has shaped poverty in Animal Farm by doing several undemocratic acts such as
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monopolizing the basic structure and lowering animal consciousness. On the other side, when

Snowball uses techniques like propaganda, rebellion, controlling the base structure, and education,

he is relieving poverty and flourishing the animal society. Literature is now widely regarded as an

instructional medium, according to many literary scholars. It is because of its ability to convey

moral worth or a cultural message. It has the potential to be conveyed to literary readers. According

to Shah (2006: 363-385), education and literature have a tight relationship when it comes to

imparting knowledge and humanity via text. These elucidations are corresponded to Alsup's (2006:

33-41) thoughts while describing literature. According to his definition, excellent literature must

include three discourses: amusing, teaching, and useful in social life. In the field of education,

the readers have the opportunity to develop their skills in a variety of areas. As a result, by

removing these discourses from literary works such as poetry, prose, and theatre, the reader will be

informed, entertained, and may learn a variety of messages.

People, on the other hand, see literature as only a medium for entertaining readers through

literary effort. Because the writers' styles are allegorical, grandiloquent, and impractical. These are

the reasons why reading a literary book is sometimes regarded as foolish.

The discussion focuses only on love themes, horror, and humor. As a result, this study examines

one of the greatest literary masterpieces that have the potential to broaden the literary debate to

include geopolitics, humanity, and poverty. These conversations are beneficial to social life. The

researcher believes that expanding the literary theme to include the aforementioned difficulties will

make the literary topic more meaningful and valuable to the readers (Baharuddin and Arafah 2021:

21-29).

.III: Methodology

The study is qualitative and descriptive. The main theme of this research is political. Thus, the

researcher will try to demonstrate and clarify this theme according to the characters' interactions

during the events of the novel: Animal Farm. The political allegory in this novel will be discussed
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in chapter four carefully. The role of the main characters will also be clarified accurately. The two

questions of this study will be answered in chapter four. After that, the research responses will be

analyzed in chapter five. The conclusion and some recommendations will be stated in chapter five.

George Orwell criticism towards the Russian Revolution will be discussed and analyzed carefully

in chapter five. Symbolism in Animal Farm's is ridiculousness through three different aspects:

plots, characters, and themes. This study will try to find out how the political issues are reflected in

the intrinsic elements. It will also try to find out the political aspects that take their roles in this

novel.

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