An Introduction to 1984

The book 1984 was written by George Orwell in 1948 and was published in 1949 by Secker and Warburg. The book takes place in an absolute and totalitarian government that is suffocating its people by its many rules and guidelines. “The Party”, as it is known, is in completely control of everything. They have the final say in all aspects of politics, economy and daily life. This control over the people has only pined for more power and control up to the point where the government prohibits all forms of rebellion. Thinking of rebellion is the worst of all crimes, the constant vigilance and spying has the protagonist, Winston Smith at the edge of madness where he doesn't care whether he rebels or not, just to feel as if he had some freedom is what he wants and so do the people who live under “The Party's” rule.

The Oppressed become the Oppressors

Out of all the Communist regimes that have risen, the leaders have of the Communist movement are usually driven to bring equality and to stop the abuses of the last government. Sadly though, when these leaders concentrate their power they do the same as the old leaders and oppress the people. This is the terrible irony to all Communist regimes, the Commies always preach for the freedom of the people and the equality of all of its citizens but in the end all the people get is brutal suppression and subjugation. As in all regimes, Animal Farm has undergone the transitions of a oppressive government. Like all other Communist leaders, they take up the lifestyle of the old leaders and forsake their misguided but noble values. The pigs who once were repulsed by the idea of an animal behaving like a man are now learning how to read, write and have taken on human vices such as smoking, drinking and gambling. In page 139 the animals were looking in a card game between the pigs and neighboring human farmers and both parties caught each other cheating “Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from to pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which”. This shows just how the cycle of the angered and vengeful oppressed come back to oppress the people.

The Gullible Class

One of the most dangerous aspects of how Communism begins to set its foundations is how it fools and deceives to get into a position of power. No matter which group was oppressed by the foothold of a Communist regime, the people always seemed to have turned the other cheek and seem to be completely ignorant of the injustices that were happening. Although Napoleon has blatantly defied the Seven Commandments, no one has stepped up to name the injustices the system has committed . The other animals do not know of the abuses Napoleon's rule has done but their naivete has prevented them from pointing out how the whole system has gone awry. The other animals done question but support and through this blind ambition of making their farm great, they fuel Napoleon's thirst for more power and furthering his grip on the farm. In page 126 the loyal but naïve Boxer says “Comrade Napoleon is always right” and Boxer says this constantly. No matter what Napoleon does, Boxer says he is always right, and the same could be said about the animals in general. Napoleon has irrefutably abused his power and he has taken measures to protect his own power at the price of the other animals' welfare. Yet, no animal has said anything, Napoleon's public relations aid, Squealer comes to soothe over any qualms and feeds the other animals a load of lies on how if Napoleon and his inner circle were to come to any discomfort then the whole farm will collapse. These kinds of lies are constantly thrown at the animals and it always works.

Bent rules

Communism's principles and ideals are actually noble and fair to all. It disregards class and holds everyone at the same level but Communism as a whole is easily corruptible. The leaders of these states twist words and alter promises to justify their actions that in many occasions directly contradict the beliefs of Communism. This disturbing pattern is apparent in Animal Farm, where the pigs hold all the power and rule with an iron fist. Just as their fellow pig, Old Major, laid the foundation of their new society, the pigs had changed it to to better suit their selfish needs. In page 92, the dictator, Napoleon again saw that recent troubles in the farm was because of his rule so he places the blame not on Snowball, but animals under his rule. “The four pigs waited, trembling, with guilt written on every line of their countenances. Napoleon now called upon them to confess their crimes...When they had finished their confession, the dogs promptly tore their throats out.” The significance of this event is not whether the executed pigs were actually guilty or not but its that this directly counters the sixth commandment of the Seven Commandments of Animal Farm, “No animal shall kill any other animal”. Along with this insolence towards the Commandments, the pigs, especially Napoleon has been altering and interpreting the Seven Commandments to benefit him and his inner circle. Just as he abuses his powers, his public relations pig, Squealer, justifies it to the rest of the naïve animals by saying that the well being of the pigs will trickle down to the rest of the animals, and as always, they believe him.

Communism's Ace in the Hole

The ideals of Communism make sense and seem to benefit all but only in theory does Communism succeed but when put into practice, it always fails. The leaders of any Communist state know of the fatal flaws of Communism but to keep their power they come up with methods to make up for Communism's shortcomings. One way is scapegoating, in every Communist state there is some level of placing the blame on an innocent person or persons to alleviate the pressure from the government. This method is all too apparent in Animal Farm, in pages 81 to 82, the animals had been working on a windmill to increase the production of food and goods. The animals worked and toiled for nearly a year on the project but the windmill was destroyed by a storm. Napoleon, who had taken control of the farm, knew all too well that the windmill's destruction was going to be placed on him but like many of his Communist counterparts he had made a scapegoat out of Snowball. One of the founders of Animal Farm, Snowball was exiled a while for challenging Napoleon's rule but Napoleon told all the animals that he had come back to sabotage all their work and labors. The dumbfounded animals were skeptical at first but then they were swept by the anti-Snowball sentiments and came to believe that Snowball had actually come back to ruin all their work. By doing so, Napoleon had secured his dominance and found a scapegoat thus increasing his power.

Communism's Sprawl

As in Animal Farm, Communist believed that Communism can only be truly successful if it becomes a global endeavor. Wherever Communism was a success, that state sent people to it's neighboring countries and spread the message of Communism as does Animal Farms' main characters Napoleon and Snowball. In pages 54 "Every day Snowball and Napoleon sent out flights of pigeons whose intructions were to mingle with the animals on neighboring farms, tell them the story of the Rebellion, and teach them the tune of The Beasts of England". As Trotsky sent out agents to spread the news of a Soviet Russia, Snowball and Napoleon sent out their own messengers of their success. This method of spreading Communism not through violence or subjugation but through word of mouth turned out to be very frutiful. In the end, this method made Communism a bigger pain than it realyy meant to be .

George Orwell's "Animal Farm" was published in 1945 during Stalin's reign, and Orwell being a British man was barred from releasing "Animal Farm', it was censored to avoid conflict with the Russians who were Britain's ally at the time."Animal Farm" was censored because "Animal Farm" is a satire of Stalin's reign over Soviet Russia. Although "Animal Farm" was and still is a contreversial novel, it is still considered as one of the best English-language novels by Time Magazine. It pokes fun at Communism's fundementals and harshly criticizes its impact on the world. The book points out Communism's flaws and shows how it can never really be an efficient form of government. "Animal Farm" also points out its susceptibility to corruption, its need to oppress and its tendency to collapse on itself and Orwell took all that Communism held sacred and exposed it for what it really is, a misguided ideal and an incompetent form of government.

The Causes of Communism

At the heart of Communism is a yearn for equality and freedom from the oppressive Capitalist agenda. The very fundamentals of Communism are very understandable but this social experiment always ends in disasters. “Let us face it: our lives are miserable, laborious and short. We are born, we are given just so much food as will keep the breath in our bodies, and those who are capable of it are forced to work to the last atom of our strength”(p28, Orwell), this passage is part of a speech between Old Major and the rest of the animals in the farm. This passage effectively represents the dilemma that both the overworked laborers and the animals are facing, the exploitation of the masses for the gains of a few. To go about their new governments, both the animals and workers rebelled and overthrew their Capitalist governments and set up a Communist regime to take its place. Although their intentions were good, early Communist did not realize what had to be sacrificed to create a worker's utopia, they had to give up all their civil liberties and basically sacrificed Democracy to set up a Communist state. Both Communism and Democracy are very different but both have the same goal and thats to the universal goal to of equality. Sadly, even with the best intentions, Communism is a very dangerous threat to Democracy because even though both ideals want equality, Communism always gets rid of all civil liberties that Democracy champions to achieve this goal.