Example research essay topic: Animal Farm Tele Screens - 2,051 words

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... rs existence back to 1930, before Winston was even born. By deliberately weakening peoples memories and flooding their minds with propaganda, the Party is able to replace individuals memories with its own version of the truth. It becomes nearly impossible for people to question the Partys power in the present when they accept what the Party tells them about the past that the Party arose to protect them from bloated, oppressive capitalists, and that the world was far uglier and harsher before the Party came to power. Winston vaguely understands this principle. He struggles to recover his own memories and formulate a larger picture of what has happened to the world.

Winston buys a paperweight in an antique store in the prole district that comes to symbolize his attempt to reconnect with the past. Symbolically, when the Thought Police arrest Winston at last, the paperweight shatters on the floor. The old picture of St. Clements Church in the room that Winston rents above Mr. C harringtons shop is another representation of the lost past. Winston associates a song with the picture that ends with the words Here comes the chopper to chop off your head! (1984 5) This is an important act of foreshadowing, the tele screen hidden behind the picture that ultimately leads the Thought Police to Winston, this certainly symbolizes the Partys corrupt control of all history.

Throughout the novel Winston imagines meeting OBrien, an inner party member, in the place where there is no darkness. (1984 55) The words first come to him in a dream, and he ponders them for the rest of the novel. Eventually, Winston does meet OBrien in the place where there is no darkness, instead of being the paradise Winston imagined, it is merely a prison cell in which the light is never turned off. The idea of the place where there is no darkness (1984 36) symbolizes Winston's approach to the future, possibly because of his intense fatalism (he believes that his fate is inevitable), he foolishly allows himself to trust OBrien, even though inwardly he senses that OBrien might be a Party operative. The ubiquitous tele screens are the books most visible symbol of the Partys constant monitoring of its people. In their dual capability to blast constant propaganda in the face citizens and observe them as well, the tele screens also symbolize how totalitarian government abuses technology for its own benefit instead of utilizing its knowledge to improve civilization. The red-armed prole woman that Winston hears singing through the window represents Winston's one legitimate hope for the long-term future; he hope in the possibility that the proles will eventually come to recognize their troubles and rebel against the Party.

Winston sees the prole woman as a prime example of reproductive fertility. He often imagines her giving birth to the future generations that will finally challenge the Partys authority. Symbolism is also very prevalent throughout George Orwell's other novel, Animal Farm. The Animal Farm, also referred to as Manor Farm, symbolizes Russia and the Soviet Union under Communist Party rule. In a general sense, Animal Farm stands for any human society, whether it is capitalist, socialist, fascist, or communist.

It possesses the internal structure of a nation, with a government (the pigs), a police force or army (the dogs), a working class (the other animals), and rituals and holidays. Its location, among a several of hostile neighboring farms, supports its symbolism as a political body with diplomatic concerns. The barn at Animal Farm, on whose outside walls the pigs paint the Seven Commandments and, later, their revisions, represents the collective memory of a modern nation. The many scenes in which the ruling-class pigs alter the principles of Animalism and in which the working-class animals puzzle over but accept these changes represent the way an institution in power can revise a community's concept of history to bolster its control. If the working class believes history to lie on the side of their oppressors, they are less likely to question oppressive practices. Also, the oppressors, by revising their nations conception of its origins and development, gain control of the nations very identity, and the oppressed soon come to depend upon the authorities for their communal sense of self.

The great windmill symbolizes the pigs manipulation of the other animals for their own gain. Despite the priority in the necessity for food and warmth, the pigs exploit Boxer and the other common animals by making them take on backbreaking labor to build the windmill, which will ultimately earn the pigs more money and therefore increase their power. The pigs declaration that Snowball is responsible for the windmills first collapse represents psychological manipulation, because it prevents the common animals from doubting the pigs abilities and unites them against a theoretical enemy. The ultimate conversion of the windmill to commercial use is one more sign of the pigs betrayal of their fellow animals. From a symbolic point of view, the windmill represents the enormous modernization projects undertaken in Soviet Russia after the Russian Revolution.

The main purpose of satire is to attack, assault, harass, intensely criticize, and otherwise demean the specific subject. This plays a huge role in the technique that George Orwell uses in his novels. Satire becomes intertwined with irony in his attempt to portray his disapproval of the fascist and communist nations. This is brilliantly carried out in the classic piece of satire, Animal Farm. The main targets at the focus of this political satire are the society that was created in Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, and the leaders involved in it. George Orwell successfully denounces these targets through satirical techniques such as irony, fable, and allegory.

The immediate object of attack in Orwell's political satire is the society that was created in Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. The events portrayed in Animal Farm obviously and continuously refer to events in another story, the history of the Russian Revolution. In other words, Animal Farm is not only a charming fable and a bitter political satire; it is also an allegory. The main subject of this allegory is Stalin, represented by Napoleon the pig. He represents the human weakness of any revolution. Orwell believed that although socialism is a ideal, it could never be successfully adopted due to uncontrollable sins of human nature.

For example, although Napoleon seems at first to be a good leader, he is eventually overcome by greed and soon becomes power-hungry. Of course Stalin also did this in Russia by leaving the original equality of socialism behind, this gave him all the power and luxurious living while the common pheasant suffered. Orwell explains: Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer - except of course for the pigs and the dogs. (Animal Farm 68) The constant topic of satire is to point out the frailties of the human condition, and this is one of Orwell's central themes in Animal Farm. This shows that it is not necessarily the system that is corrupt or faulty, but the individuals in power. Old Major, with all his good intentions, took no note of the crucial fact that even though his ideas were legitimate and moral, corrupt individuals found ways and opportunities to take advantage those ideas to suit their own selfish desires. So, Orwell successfully points out the weakness of his satirical targets by using the technique of allegory.

Another main satirical technique used to condemn these targets is the use of fable, or storytelling. A fable is a story, usually having a moral in which beasts talk and act like men and women. Orwell's characters are both animal and human. The pigs, for example eat mash, real pig food, but with milk in it that they have grabbed and persuaded the other animals to let them keep (a human action).

The dogs growl and bite the way real dogs do, but to support Napoleon's drive for political power. Orwell never forgets the delicate balances between how real animals actually behave and what human qualities his animals are supposed to represent. Hypothetically speaking, if Orwell hadnt used the technique of storytelling, and had deliberately painted an objective picture of the evils he describes, the real picture would probably be very depressing and extremely boring. As an alternative, he offers us a parody of the situation. The primary reason for this abstraction was to move readers from the concrete reality.

So even as he entertains one through a cute setting, he provides readers with a serious image of his intended targets. It is written for entertainment, but contains harsh and important comments on the Russian revolution and its leaders, offering a false setting with real people. Part of the storys humor lies in the straightforwardness with which the characters are drawn. Each animal character is a type, with one human trait, or two at most. He usually associates the traits with a particular kind of animal.

Using animals as types is also Orwell's way of keeping his hatred and anger against exploiters under control. He keeps his sense of humor by reporting calmly In future, all questions relating to the working of the farm would be settled by a special committee of pigs. (Animal Farm 45) The story of Animal Farm is told in a plain, basic style. The sentences are often very concise and sparse Old Major cleared his throat and began to sing. It was a bitter winter. (Animal Farm 78) The story follows a single line of action, calmly told, with no digressions. Orwell's style, said one critic, has relentless simplicity and pathetic tenacity of the animals themselves.

There is a kind of tension in Animal Farm between the sad story the author has to tell and the lucid, almost light way he tells it. This is very ironic, because the content of the story is very different from the style. One expects the story to be like every other fable youve read, complete with cute characters, predictable plotting, and happy ending. But because of the nature of the content in Animal farm, the content is completely incongruent to the style. Another irony that occurs in Animal Farm is when pig becomes man. In that Old Major at the beginning assumes that man is the only enemy of the animals.

He emphasizes that animals must never imitate man, especially his vices. Gradually in their life-style and their indifference to the animals, the pigs exploit the animals much more than Jones ever did. This irony particularly depicts how low the pigs had actually become, and how Stalin had made things much worse than it had originally been under the Czars rule. This further enhances the satirical aim of condemning the target. Through satirical techniques such as irony, fable, and metaphor, George Orwell paints a brilliant picture of the evils in Communist Russia in his book Animal Farm. He is very effective in doing so and condemns his targets through every thread of his book including the characters, the themes, and even the style.

He does so simply, yet expressively, and is very successful in achieving the satirical aim of condemning his targets. George Orwell's themes and styles are evident by his use of political purpose, concise syntax, symbolism and general appeal. He skillfully incorporates many literary devices, symbols and themes in a unique blend that is all his own, or his style. Understanding Orwell's ideology behind such symbolic works are the first steps to grasping the style of George Orwell's work and thus symbolism becomes his greatest asset in his quest to inform the world. Each of the above characteristics can be seen profoundly in the famous dystopian novels Animal Farm and 1984. George Orwell presents a warning for all who read his works by presenting his opinion.

He strongly believes that the direction the world is heading is by no means beneficial to anyone, save the individuals in power. Every piece of literature has a purpose and George Orwell's purpose is strictly political. The overruling statement his attempt to arouse the people who sit around accepting the injustice played upon them. His goal is to prevent the world from making a horrible mistake by sacrificing our God-given human rights in return for authority, control and power.

Research essay sample on Animal Farm Tele Screens