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GEORGE ORWELL'S LIFE
George Orwell is a writer and is most famous for his political allegory Animal Farm written in 1945. He was born named Eric Arthur Blair in India. He moved from India to England at a young age where he received his education at St. Cyprian's preparatory school and Eton. Although his family was poor, yet he was able to receive a decent education as he was a scholarship student at both schools. In 1922, he joined the Indian Imperial Police in Burma. Throughout the years of his education and work, he acknowledged that your economic status was one of the biggest factors of how much respect you received. As his family suffered from poverty, he was often ill treated without respect. In 1927, his hatred towards this class distinction grew, hence, he left the army and decided to become a writer. [28] He published his first book ‘Down and out in Paris and London’ in 1933 and from then, he published several other novels and essays. His work often revolved around his opinions in reality as well as pointing out the illegitimacy of imperialism. [29] During the 1930’s, Orwell began to consider himself as a socialist and wrote a socialist book called ‘The Road to Wigan Pier’. Afterwards, he moved to Spain with the intentions of investigating the Civil War. He decided to stay in Spain to join the Republican militia which led to a serious throat injury. In May 1937, he fought in Barcelona against communists which caused him to exile from Spain. Hence, his fear and hatred for communism intensified. He expressed such hatred with one of his most successful novels ‘Animal Farm’ which lead him to international fame and small wealth. Orwell died in London in January 1950. [30]
WHAT INSPIRED ORWELL TO WRITE ANIMAL FARM?
One of the main reasons that influenced Orwell to write Animal Farm was the political environment of the time. Orwell was one of the victims that was caught within the battles of communism, therefore, he feels that communism is a threat to the society. With this political allegory, he criticize the main leader of communism, Stalin, and the Soviet Union. [31] Another main concept that influenced Orwell to write Animal Farm was totalitarianism. As Orwell saw the risks of totalitarianism through the politics of expedience and the use of propaganda to indoctrinate people, he wanted to expose the dangers of this system to his readers through allegorizing totalitarianism in the novel. [32]
WAS HE SUCCESSFUL in allegorizing animal farm?
Orwell successfully allegorized the Russian Revolution within Animal Farm as the events and characters in the novel resemble the revolution in reality. The author clearly portrays the different political ideologies and the events that happen within. Critical stages of the revolution is also symbolized with different characters in the novel such as : Tsar Nicholas II and Mr Jones who represent the socialist authority figure, the pigs and other animals on the farm resembles the Bolshevik party and lastly, Karl Marx is represented by Old Major as they were both the inventors of the theories that forms the foundation of both revolutions. [33] At the end of the novel, Orwell also criticizes that Napoleon was as tyrannical as the previous authority figures which reflected Stalin’s behavior in reality. [34] This novel is a successful allegory as it reveals the oppressed and suffering of the socialist society before it was overthrown by the communist Bolsheviks and the heavy and undesired consequences that followed. [35]