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Sandy Lerner Mr. Wotypka English C-Band 13 April 2009 Animal FarmStill Relevant?

George Orwells fable Animal Farm is a satirical novel that was a literary staple during the Cold War. For many years it was used as propaganda to support political philosophies by both supporters and enemies of the Soviet Union. However, when the Soviet Union collapsed, many people questioned the relevancy of the novel. Some critics regarded the novel as socialist propaganda, while others believed that George Orwells ideas about political corruption and totalitarianism are still relevant. If the old adage that all powers corrupts and that absolute power corrupts absolutely (John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, 1887), then the rise of dictatorships is a historical inevitability that is shown throughout Animal Farm. Looking at modern totalitarian regimes proves that Orwells cautionary tale is still as relevant as it was when it was first published in 1946. Events during George Orwells early years encouraged him to write Animal Farm. George Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair on June 25, 1903 in Motihari, India. George Orwell was his pseudonym, or pen name. The Blair family was not very wealthy and Orwell once described his family as lower-upper-middle class. His family did not own property and did not have investments. As other middle-class families of England, the Blairs depended on the British Empire for prosperity. When George Orwell was eight his family moved back to England where

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he attended a private preparatory school. By the age of thirteen Orwell won many scholarships which allowed him to go to Eton, a famous public school. His parents forced him to work hard in preparatory school, and after winning the scholarships he was not interested in further education because it did not help him to pursue his private ambition. From a very early age, perhaps the age of five or six, I knew that when I grow up I should be a writer (Orwell, Why I Write). Since English literature was not a major subject at Eton, Orwell taught himself the works of Swift, Sterne and Jack London.. In 1922, Orwell joined the Indian Imperial Police. After a few years in India, he returned home on leave in 1927. He never returned to his post as a police officer because he resigned due to two reasons. The first reason was that by being a policeman, he was distracted from becoming a writer, his true ambition. Also, by working as a policeman Orwell supported a political system he didnt believe in. This shows a later connection of Orwell writing novels about political ideas such as Animal Farm. In his essay Why I Write Orwell states the purposes of his writing. One of these purposes is historical impulse. George Orwell desired to see things as they were, and wanted to find out the truth and store it for use of prosperity. This is done in Animal Farm when George Orwell takes the true facts of Stalinism and the Soviet Union, and writes about them in an indirect way. George Orwell also wrote for political purpose. Orwell wanted to change peoples ideas about the kind of society they should want, though this purpose was one of his least important. George Orwells natural hatred for authority, made him aware of the working class, widely mentioned in Animal Farm. Aspects of George Orwells life and his purposes in writing all contribute to the fact that he wrote a politically correct satirical novel, to express his feelings about the truth of an

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authoritarian government. George Orwells life before Animal Farm deeply influenced him to write a novel that was very controversial when first released. Before Animal Farm was finished, letters from George Orwell to his publisher and agent show that he knew the book was not going to be accepted by everyone. It is a fairy story but also a political allegory and I think we may have some difficulties about finding a publisher.(Orwell to Leonard Moore, 9 January 1944). When writing to his agent before the book was completed, George Orwell informed his agent of the books controversial aspect, sounding concerned about finding a willing publisher to publish the novel. Orwells deep concern of finding a publisher at this time period was due to the anti-Stalin aspect of the novel. Since many European countries were allies with Russia during World War II, not many agreed to publish a novel against an ally. Many publishers refused to publish the book, because allegorical connections of the animals to government officials in the Soviet Union were recognizable. After submitting Animal Farm to many publishing companies, it was finally accepted by the Frederic Warburg publishing house. The novel did not appear until after Hitler had been defeated and Stalins importance as an ally to Britain had ended. The satirical novel sold more than 25,000 hardcover copies in the first five years in England and over 590,000 copies after the first four years in America (Literature and Its Times, 19). Even after the novel was published many realized the allegories and used them for their own benefit or critique. Many critics called the novel entertaining, while others dismissed it as on the whole dull (Soule in James, 628). A reviewer from the Nation said that the article should have been written many years earlier. In the Soviet Union Animal Farm, as well as other books, was on a list of forbidden readings. In 1947, a Ukrainian edition of the book was published. This edition was

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supposed to be smuggled into Ukraine and handed out to the millions of Soviet citizens. Unfortunately, American forces considered this edition of Animal Farm to be propaganda and confiscated about 1,500 copies of the novel, handing them over to Soviet authorities. If the novel had political relevance at the time of the Soviet Union, then why should it not have political relevance after the fall of it? The novel wouldnt have been so controversial if it wasnt relevant to begin with. The number of copies, sold, critiques and controversies over the novel show that the political allegory was recognized and considered relevant. The popularity of Animal Farm continued to rise from its publication and throughout the Cold War. Animal Farm caught the popular imagination just when the Cold War was beginning to make itself felt (Literature and Its Times, 20). The novel Animal Farm was used as a weapon of propaganda in the war but it misinterpreted the novels message. During the Cold War, Animal Farm was read by many for many purposes such as gathering information and releasing propaganda. This book became a source of support for any political idea because people would rewrite it adding small changes to suit their own needs. The governments of America and Great Britain used Animal Farm as anticommunist propaganda. Throughout the Cold War, peoples attitudes about Animal Farm kept changing. Mark Schorer critiqued Animal Farm in a review in The New York Times Book Review in June of 1949. He said that the novel included ideas that were totalitarian and of British socialism. It was also bare and somewhat cold and, without being really very funny, undid its potential gravity and the very gravity of its subject through its comic devices (Shorer, pp. 1, 16). As Johnson truly says in his criticism of Drydens Hind and the Panther, there is an initial absurdity in making animals discuss complicated and intellectual problemsthe nature of the Churchs authority in Drydens case, the communist ideology in

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Orwells. The absurdity can only be saved from ridicule if the author is able to couch his argument in very simple terms and to draw his illustrations from the facts of animal life. In this Orwell is as successful as he could bea great deal more successful incidentally then Dryden, who in the excitement of the argument often forgets that it is animals who are supposed to be putting it forward(Hollis, pp. 43-9). This critic admired the use of animals to explain a human concept, when it is done right, just as George Orwell had done Animal Farm. Throughout the Cold War, one would find mixed opinions of Animal Farm. Some used it as a source of support for political ideas that were used as propaganda against communism and the Soviet Union, while other enjoyed reading it for its creative use of animals to explain human concepts. Having relevancy during the Cold War, post-Soviet era people still read Animal Farm for information about totalitarian rule as well as personal leisure. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, people still read Animal Farm. In the article Not all Books are Created Equal: Orwell and His Animals at Fifty Katherine Byrne, believes that Animal Farm should still be read. According to Byrne, this book teaches the reader of the price paid when one doesnt stand up for his/her own freedoms. Many believe that after the fall of the Soviet Union Animal Farm did not lose its relevancy. Is Animal Farm out of date since the Soviet Socialist Republic, as constituted, have failed? Only if it is read for the wrong reasons. The tale about independence won but lost continues to remind us that freedom is fragile and precious. Power corrupts, and there are forces at work seeking to wield it (Byrne, Orwell and His Animals at Fifty). This said, Animal Farm did not lose its relevancy because it still tells a story about people (animals) who fought for their freedom but did not try hard to keep it. As a result, the government became corrupt and controlled everything. This totalitarian government was

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evident at the time of the Soviet Union so why should it be considered irrelevant now? According to Katherine Byrnes article, English professors in the United States believe that this book is still relevant and should be taught to future generations. Post-Cold War, many people suggest reading Animal Farm, because it tells a serious story about totalitarianism and communism in an easy and comedic way. It is still relevant because the true facts of what happened before and during the Soviet Union, are still the same and they are included in this satirical novel. Reading Animal Farm for the wrong reasons can completely change the novels relevancy. If read to inform about the cycle of dictatorship and the signs of the rise of an authoritarian ruler, it can be relevant to the extent where it can be used to prevent a future rise of totalitarian rule. Animal Farm has not lost its relevancy after the fall of the Soviet Empire. Though the Soviet Union is long gone, the animals of Animal Farm still represent figures of the Soviet government. Not only allegorical figures of animals can show the connection between this novel and the Soviet Union, but the allegorical strategies such as the windmill can be taken into consideration to prove the similarity of both novel and real-life government. Though the Soviet Union collapsed, the facts and warnings of a totalitarian leader are still there. Yes, Animal Farm can be said to show relevancy through its allegorical figures and can be a great way to teach the young of totalitarian and Soviet Rule. This novel has not lost its relevancy because it depicts an idea of totalitarian rule, still used and known today. Napoleon ordered for there to be a statue of himself made, as well as poems, pictures and stories depicting himself as a great ruler. Modern-day totalitarian rulers such as Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong II and Omar al-Bashir, have all implicated the same propaganda as Orwell had described Napoleon do. These modern-day

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dictators all had statues built of themselves representing glory, respect, and authority. Songs, poems and paintings are also ordered by totalitarian leaders to depict themselves as glorious, an idea that has travelled through history. Another common aspect of all authoritarian leaders no matter what time in history they come from is the fact of getting rid of the old ways of people to benefit themselves. Napoleon, for instance banned the Beasts of England a song of revolution. Since things were supposedly great under Napoleons ruler, there is no more need for revolution, so the animals should be reminded less of it. Dictators such as Stalin, Saddam Hussein and Fidel Castro have all given their people the false hope of a great life, never giving it to them. The political ideas and historical events of the Russian Revolution and Soviet Union are parallel to events and ideas in Animal Farm. This concept shows how this book did not lose its relevancy because it is still taught in schools, teaching students about freedom, and revolution by simplifying the ideas of Stalin into a more comedic fashion. Animal Farms concepts of a cycle of totalitarian rule prove to be historically accurate due to many similar fiascos in other countries throughout history. All these factors can be taken into play to prove that Animal Farm is still historically and politically relevant as a novel that informs about the dangers of revolution and the authoritarian rule that may rise out of it. The satirical novel of Animal Farm did not lose its relevancy as political allegory after the fall of the Soviet Empire. George Orwells ideology of a dictator cycle proves to be relevant to this day. Events and ideas of Animal Farm are parallel to those real life events of the Soviet Union, confirming the authenticity of the novel being factual in a fable-like sense. The novels popularity during the Cold War and controversy at the time of its publication are all effects of the novel being a relevant allegory to the Soviet Union. George Orwell wrote this fable to

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inform people of the dangers of totalitarian rule, and how easy it is to lose ones freedom after it is gained. This novel informs people of the many dangers George Orwell stated, but also gives a concrete example allegorically linking an animal rebellion to the Soviet Union.