英美文学 之动物农场

Firstly, let me see the general introduction of the author.George Orwell is the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair: essayist, novelist, literary critic, advocate and fighter for political change, and man of contradictions. Blair was born on June 25, 1903, in the Bengal region of Eastern India, which was a British territory. He was the son of Richard Walmesley Blair, a civil servant.Another famous book of him is 1984Summary: The story happened in Mr. Jones’s Manor farm. The animals worked for the farm day and night. One night, a pig Old Major told the animals what he had dreamed. Then the animals realize that they were leading a miserable life and they were exploited by human being. Old Major encouraged them to get rid of man and the produce of their labor would be their own. Later, the battle really happened and Mr. Jones run away. They established “Animal Farm” and put forward “Seven Commandments”.At the beginning of “Animal Farm”, all animals were equal. It was a new life.Every animal bore hardship and work hard for a better life. However, the leaders--pigs tookadvantage of new system to benefit themselves. They slept on the bed and drunk milk. The two leaders-Snowball and Napoleon wanted to be the only leader. Snowball was driven out because Napoleon let some fierce dog to chase him. And then Napoleon declared Snowball was spy and the enemy of Animal Farm. In the past, Snowball put forward to build windmill and Napoleon push others to build it since Snowball’s departure. Though it was wrecked twice but it finally was accomplished through years of hard work. As time went by, pigs became the privileged stratum. They even revised “Seven Commandments” to satisfy their own desire. If animals complained about the ruling of Napoleon, they would be killed cruelly. Animals had no freedom and kept working much laborious work. They had less food but pigs always had feast. Animal’s miserable life was just like that in Manor Farm. At last, pigs even walked by two legs and had negotiation with people. Animal’s life did not change at all or maybe more miserable than before.The Corruption of Socialist Ideals in the Soviet UnionAnimal Farm is most famous in the West as a stinging critique of the history and rhetoric of the Russian Revolution. Retelling the story of the emergence and development of Soviet communism in the form of an animal fable, Animal Farm allegorizes the rise to power of the dictator Joseph Stalin. In the novella, the overthrow of the human oppressor Mr. Jones by a democratic coalition of animals quickly gives way to the consolidation of power among the pigs. Much like the Soviet intelligentsia, the pigs establish themselves as the ruling class in the new society.The Societal Tendency toward Class StratificationAnimal Farm offers commentary on the development of class tyranny and the humantendency to maintain and reestablish class structures even in societies that allegedly stand for total equality. The novella illustrates how classes that are initially unified in the face of a common enemy, as the animals are against the humans, may become internally divided when that enemy is eliminated. The expulsion of Mr. Jones creates a power vacuum, and it is only so long before the next oppressor assumes totalitarian control. The Abuse of Language as Instrumental to the Abuse of PowerOne of Orwell’s central concerns, both in Animal Farm and in 1984, is the way in which language can be manipulated as an instrument of control. In Animal Farm, the pigs gradually twist and distort a rhetoric of socialist revolution to justify their behavior and to keep the other animals in the dark.This book is sarcasm to the socialism of Soviet Union, especially those words "every animal is equal but some animals are more equal." The author criticized autocracy in the Soviet Union. I agree that there are still many shortcomings of current socialistic society in China. There is some corruption but no autocracy. However, I am sure it will make progress because our government attaches great importance to people's education and people have their independent thoughts to analyze and have human rights to comment on politics. I am sure tomorrow will be better.Just as the comments say, I think if there is one more person to read Orwell’s book,there will be one more guarantee of freedom.。