Analysis Of 1984 & Animal Farm Essay, Research Paper

1984 and Animal Farm Analytical Essay

All novels have hidden messages that the author wants his

audience to find. 1984 and Animal Farm, written by George Orwell, both

contain some of the same messages that Orwell wanted his audience to

find. Even though they are satirical pieces about a totalitarian

government, both novels have hidden messages. Some of the messages

in the novels are power corrupts, propaganda, and education. All these

messages also have some relevancy to today s world.

Power corrupts is one of the major themes of the two books. That

theme is also one of the main hidden messages in both novels. In the

novel Animal Farm, the pigs took advantage of their power. They did

this by making up all the rules and thinking that they had the privilege,

just because they were pigs to act like humans. In 1984, the government

took advantage of their power by thinking they had the right to invade

people s privacy and install telescreens and hidden microphones to spy on

the people. Power corrupts still exists in the world today. A well-known

example of how power corrupts in today s world would be President Bill

Clinton. He took advantage of his power by thinking that just because he

was the president that it was all right for him to have sexual relations

with Monica Lewinsky. That was not the only time that this has

happened though, there is evidence that this has happened before, with

different women.

Another message in both books is propaganda. The animals in

Animal Farm and the people in 1984 are brainwashed into thinking that

everything is all right with their government. In Animal Farm, there is a

lot of propaganda from Squealer. He makes the animals believe that

everything is all right on the farm. There are also many types of

propaganda used, ranging from glittering generalities to scare tactics.

An example in Animal Farm where scare tactics are used is when

Squealer asks the animals if they want Jones back. In 1984, the

telescreens are a way of using propaganda. Some of the types of

propaganda in used in 1984 are scare tactics, glittering generalities

(Type B and Type C Vocabulary), and the bandwagon effect. The

relevance of propaganda in today s world is that it is everywhere,

especially in commercials. In particular, the commercials for toothpaste

which uses the appeal to science type propaganda.

Another message in Animal Farm and 1984 is education. The

animals in Animal Farm were not educated enough to overthrow the

government, that is why the animals killed all of the smart animals. In

1984, Winston and the people were educated until the point where they

wouldn t be able to do any harm to the government. All the people in

both novels were educated only to a point because if they had as much

intelligence as the leader, than they would have the power to overthrow

the totalitarian government. This message is also in our world today

through the government of the United States. The government does not

educate us on information that they don t want us to know or else we

may be able to overpower them.

In conclusion, these are the messages in the novels Animal Farm

and 1984. They are power corrupts, propaganda, and education. So, the

next time someone reads a book, they should be able to pick out the

message that the author is trying to say.