Corruption of Socialist Ideals Examples Essay Example

are laborers. While the rest of the animals do the work the pigs do not have to do as much physical work. Once Napoleon takes over as leader, the division of class only gets wider. The pigs are able to manipulate the rest of the animals on the farm.

Boxer, the horse on the farm, develops the saying “I will work harder” and by working hard he feels this is the answer to his problems. Even though Boxer believes this, the pigs exploit his efforts and in the end backstab him. Animal farm suggests that those mindworkers will almost always prevail and the upper class will control society. Orwell wanted this to be seen because class stratification can pose a threat to democracy and freedom.

Power of Propaganda

Propaganda is something that was used heavily in the Soviet Union during the reign of Joseph Stalin. By usingpropaganda, Stalin was able to manipulate the people of the Soviet Union. This same kind of propaganda was used by Napoleon to influence and control the other animals on the farm. When Snowball is expelled from Animal Farm, Napoleon uses propaganda to make it seem like Snowball was the enemy. Squealer’s importance in the book is to solely show the use of propaganda. Then when the storm destroys the windmill, Napoleon tells the animals that it was Snowball who really ruined the windmill.

The power of propaganda makes Snowball the scapegoat and everything that goes wrong on the farm becomes his fault. Another way that shows the power of propaganda is when Napoleon breaks the commandments. Even though he disobeys these laws, Squealer is able

to convince the other animals that Napoleon is a great leader and would never do anything to hurt the animal farm. Finally, through the power of propaganda the pigs are able to change the Seven Commandments to just one. This is all due to the power of propaganda.

Totalitarian Socialism (Leon Trotsky)

The theme of totalitarian socialism is seen during the entire book because that is what animal farm is based off of. Animal Farm represents the Soviet Union/Russia and the type of government of the Soviet Union was Communistic, which is a form of totalitarian. The entire book criticizes the Soviet Union because of its type of government. Orwell once wrote, “Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been against totalitarianism.” This just shows how Orwell felt about this type of government. Almost every act in Animal Farm is related to some sort of real life event that took place in the Soviet Union. The rebellion of Mr. Jones represents the Russian Revolution. The exile of Snowball represents the banishment of Leon Trotsky. The starvation of some of the animals represents all of the people that Stalin let starve in the Soviet Union. As well as that many are the characters represent real people.