Gomez 1 Dianna Gomez Ms. Solomon English 12 21 March 2015 Ultimate Good or Absolute Evil? There is a common saying, “power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Since 1963, author George Orwell, the pen name for Eric Blair, has been writing novellas in attempt to prove that when too much power is given, a dictatorship government can form, in which all decisions are made by one authority. Orwell’s underlying point regarding this topic is that the stated goals of totalitarianism don’t matter because all totalitarian regimes are fundamentally the same. Every type of totalitarianism, whether communist, fascist, or capitalist, is founded on oppression of the individual and the lower class. Those who hold power in totalitarian regimes care only about one thing: maintaining their power by any means necessary. Power is one of the central themes in one of Orwell’s most classic pieces of work, Animal Farm. Throughout the novel, it is evident that the reader is able to distinguish the influence that the power of dominance has on individuals, and how that same power can be used for either ultimate good or absolute evil. Power is defined as authority and strength, which is any form of motive force or energy, ability to act, or control. In Animal Farm, the allegorical characters of the novel each represent specific historical figures and different factions of Imperial Russian and Soviet society. These include Karl Marx as Old Major, Vladimir Lenin as Major, Leon Gomez 1 Trotsky as Snowball, Joseph Stalin as Napoleon, Adolf Hitler as Frederick, the Allie’s as Pilkington, the peasants as Boxer, the elite as Mollie, and the church as Moses. One thing that all of these people have in common is they were all once leaders who were seduced by the power of the totalitarianism lifestyle. Orwell uses this form of the fable for a number of aesthetic and political reasons. To better understand these, it is helpful to know at least the rudiments of Soviet history under Communist Party rule, beginning with the October Revolution of 1917. In February 1917, Tsar Nicholas II, the monarch of Russia, surrendered and the socialist Alexander Kerensky became inaugural. At the end of October, Kerensky was ousted, and Vladimir Lenin, the architect of the Russian Revolution, became the chief commissar. Almost immediately, as wars raged on virtually every Russian front, Lenin’s chief allies began jockeying for power in the newly formed state; the most influential included Joseph Stalin, Leon Trotsky, Gregory Zinoviev, and Lev Kamenev. Trotsky and Stalin emerged as the most likely heirs to Lenin’s vast power. Trotsky was a popular and charismatic leader, famous for his impassioned speeches, while the taciturn Stalin preferred to consolidate his power behind the scenes. After Lenin’s death in 1924, Stalin orchestrated an alliance against Trotsky that included himself, Zinoviev, and Kaminev. Unlike many other British socialists throughout the 1930’s and 1940’s, Orwell was not captivated by the Soviet Union and the policies they were creating, nor did he consider the Soviet Union to be a positive representation of what the potential of the socialist society could be. Because of this, Orwell became a sharp critic of both capitalism and communism, and is remembered chiefly as an advocate of freedom and a committed opponent of communist oppression. He began writing anti-totalitarian novels Gomez 1 as a non-violent way to voice his message out to the public and attempt to make a change in how others viewed the currently utilized system. Many times in a totalitarian society, the dictators will try to tell the public that what they’re doing or how they are handling a situation is the only possible way to get the job done- even when that is a false statement. For example, in the novel Animal Farm, the last great example of how those in power manipulate language as an instrument of control is when the bold statement of: “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others” is written on the barn. At the beginning of the novella, the idea of “more equal” would not only have seemed contrary to the egalitarian socialist spirit of Animal Farm, it would have seemed logically impossible. All of the animals are ruled by “human class” and then by Snowball, and lastly by Napoleon as the story progresses forward. But, after years of violence, hunger, dishonesty, and fear that the animals experienced throughout the book thus far, the spirit of the Animal Farm seems lost in a distant past. The concept of inherent equality has been given way to notions of material entitlement: Animal Farm as an institution no longer values dignity and social justice; power alone renders a creature worthy of rights. It seems as though class stratification is an almost vital element and there is never a moment that the class distinctions in Animal Farm disappear. Gomez 1 Gomez 1 Dianna Gomez Ms. Solomon English 12 21 March 2015 Ultimate Good or Absolute Evil? There is a common saying, “power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Since 1963, author George Orwell, the pen name for Eric Blair, has been writing novellas in attempt to prove that when too much power is given, a dictatorship government can form, in which all decisions are made by one authority. Orwell’s underlying point regarding this topic is that the stated goals of totalitarianism don’t matter because all totalitarian regimes are fundamentally the same. Every type of totalitarianism, whether communist, fascist, or capitalist, is founded on oppression of the individual and the lower class. Those who hold power in totalitarian regimes care only about one thing: maintaining their power by any means necessary. Power is one of the central themes in one of Orwell’s most classic pieces of work, Animal Farm. Throughout the novel, it is evident that the reader is able to distinguish the influence that the power of dominance has on individuals, and how that same power can be used for either ultimate good or absolute evil. Power is defined as authority and strength, which is any form of motive force or energy, ability to act, or control. In Animal Farm, the allegorical characters of the novel each represent specific historical figures and different factions of Imperial Russian and Soviet society. These include Karl Marx as Old Major, Vladimir Lenin as Major, Leon Gomez 1 Trotsky as Snowball, Joseph Stalin as Napoleon, Adolf Hitler as Frederick, the Allie’s as Pilkington, the peasants as Boxer, the elite as Mollie, and the church as Moses. One thing that all of these people have in common is they were all once leaders who were seduced by the power of the totalitarianism lifestyle. Orwell uses this form of the fable for a number of aesthetic and political reasons. To better understand these, it is helpful to know at least the rudiments of Soviet history under Communist Party rule, beginning with the October Revolution of 1917. In February 1917, Tsar Nicholas II, the monarch of Russia, surrendered and the socialist Alexander Kerensky became inaugural. At the end of October, Kerensky was ousted, and Vladimir Lenin, the architect of the Russian Revolution, became the chief commissar. Almost immediately, as wars raged on virtually every Russian front, Lenin’s chief allies began jockeying for power in the newly formed state; the most influential included Joseph Stalin, Leon Trotsky, Gregory Zinoviev, and Lev Kamenev. Trotsky and Stalin emerged as the most likely heirs to Lenin’s vast power. Trotsky was a popular and charismatic leader, famous for his impassioned speeches, while the taciturn Stalin preferred to consolidate his power behind the scenes. After Lenin’s death in 1924, Stalin orchestrated an alliance against Trotsky that included himself, Zinoviev, and Kaminev. Unlike many other British socialists throughout the 1930’s and 1940’s, Orwell was not captivated by the Soviet Union and the policies they were creating, nor did he consider the Soviet Union to be a positive representation of what the potential of the socialist society could be. Because of this, Orwell became a sharp critic of both capitalism and communism, and is remembered chiefly as an advocate of freedom and a committed opponent of communist oppression. He began writing anti-totalitarian novels Gomez 1 as a non-violent way to voice his message out to the public and attempt to make a change in how others viewed the currently utilized system. Many times in a totalitarian society, the dictators will try to tell the public that what they’re doing or how they are handling a situation is the only possible way to get the job done- even when that is a false statement. For example, in the novel Animal Farm, the last great example of how those in power manipulate language as an instrument of control is when the bold statement of: “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others” is written on the barn. At the beginning of the novella, the idea of “more equal” would not only have seemed contrary to the egalitarian socialist spirit of Animal Farm, it would have seemed logically impossible. All of the animals are ruled by “human class” and then by Snowball, and lastly by Napoleon as the story progresses forward. But, after years of violence, hunger, dishonesty, and fear that the animals experienced throughout the book thus far, the spirit of the Animal Farm seems lost in a distant past. The concept of inherent equality has been given way to notions of material entitlement: Animal Farm as an institution no longer values dignity and social justice; power alone renders a creature worthy of rights. It seems as though class stratification is an almost vital element and there is never a moment that the class distinctions in Animal Farm disappear. Gomez 1
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