Презентация - Dystopia by George Orwell

Dystopia by George Orwell

Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950),who used the pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist and journalist. He took part in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) During the Second World War he was a presenter of the anti-fascist program on BBC. He is best known for the dystopian novel  ’Nineteen Eighty-Four’ (1949) and the allegorical novella ’Animal Farm’ (1945). .

George Orwell was named Don Kikhot and sometimes compared with Anton Chekhov. His works are marked by awareness of social injustice and opposition to totalitarianism. Orwell had returned from Catalonia a staunch anti-Stalinist and anti-Communist, but he remained to the end a man of the left and, in his own words, a 'democratic socialist‘
Orwell at the BBC in 1941

There are two the most famous creations of G. Orwell
«1984»
Animal farm

Animal Farm
Animal Farm is an allegorical and dystopian novella by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. According to Orwell, the book reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then on into the Stalin era in the Soviet Union.

The plot
The animals of the Manor Farm lived in bad conditions and have exploited by their mean and drunk farmer - Mr. Jones.

One day Old Major, an old pig, called a meeting of all the animals and told them about a dream that he had had at the previous night. He had dreamed about an old song 'Beasts of England' that started a resistance against the human beings. Everyone was very excited.

But Old Major died a few days later and two young pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, started leading the preparations for the Rebellion. Soon they revolted against Mr. Jones and they took over the farm. The purpose of the revolution was to create a fair society made only by animals and based on seven commandments.

They also changed the name of the farm to "Animal Farm". Snowball, an inventive and vivacious pig and Napoleon, a big and cruel-looking pig, started to fight for leadership.

In the meantime Mr. Jones wanted to get the farm back but the animals succeeded in the battle and Mr. Jones was forced to run away.

One day, when Snowball announced his plans to build a windmill, Napoleon arrived in the farm with nine big and cruel dogs that made Snowball run away bleeding. From that day Napoleon was the real dictator of the farm; if an animal didn't agree with him, he was eaten up by his dogs.

If something went wrong , Napoleon blamed it on Snowball, who, according to him, was sneaking around Animal Farm ruining everything. When Boxer, the strongest horse in the farm, lost his strength because of old age Napoleon sent him to be slaughtered. Now Napoleon had pity on nobody.

He and the pigs were like Mr. Jones - they exploited the other animals, they took advantage of the foolishness of some animals and they came into contact with human beings for business. At the end they became like human beings, they started to walk on their hind legs and they changed the old maxim with a new one: “Four legs good, two legs better”. Nothing was changed and their resistance seemed to be useless.

The story was written in the aphoristic and simple language. The pigs Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer adapt Old Major's ideas into "a complete system of thought", which they formally name Animalism, an allegoric reference to Communism. Soon after, Napoleon and Squealer partake in activities associated with the humans (drinking alcohol, sleeping in beds), which were explicitly prohibited by the Seven Commandments. Squealer is employed to alter the Seven Commandments to account for this humanisation, an allusion to the Soviet government's revising of history in order to control of the people's beliefs about themselves and their society.

Later, Napoleon and his pigs secretly revise some commandments to clear themselves of accusations of law-breaking. The changed commandments are as follows, with the changes bolded:

Originally  commandments
’
1. Four legs good. Two legs bad. 2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend. 3. No animal shall wear clothes. 4. No animal shall sleep in a bed. 5. No animal shall drink alcohol. 6. No animal shall kill any other animal. 7. All animals are equal.

Later
1.No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets. 2. No animal shall drink alcohol to excess. 3. No animal shall kill any other animal without cause. 4. Four legs good, two legs better.

At last
"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others"

Animals became like human beings
Squealer sprawls at the foot of the end wall of the big barn where the Seven Commandments were written.

This is an ironic twist to the original purpose of the Seven Commandments, which were supposed to keep order within Animal Farm by uniting the animals together against the humans. Through the revision of the commandments, Orwell demonstrates how simply political dogma can be turned into malleable propaganda.

The novel Animal Farm is a satire of the Russian revolution, and therefore full of symbolism.

Mr. Jones symbolizes Tsar Nicholas II, the leader before Stalin (Napoleon). Jones represents the old government, the last of the Tsars.

Old Major is a philosopher of change - an obvious metaphor for Karl Marx and Lenin.

Napoleon, the pig, is really the central character on the farm. Obviously a metaphor for Stalin, Comrade Napoleon represents the human frailties of any revolution.

Snowball represents Leo Dawidowitsch Trotsky, the arch-rival of Stalin in Russia.

Many critics correlate Squealer with the Pravda, the Russian newspaper of the 1930s.

Old Benjamin symbolises the older generation, the critics of any new rebellion.. Benjamin is the only animal who does not seem to have expected anything positive from the revolution.

Survey
The students of our group saw the film ‘Animal Farm’. Then we have surveyed them and found that they came to the same conclusion. They were asked if it would be possible to create an equal society. The most of them answered that it would be impossible because all people are different.

Thank you for attention!