Introduction
George Orwell's seminal novel Animal Farm offers a biting satire of totalitarianism through an allegorical tale set on a countryside farm. At its core, the novella explores how the working-class animals of Manor Farm overthrow their human overlords only to slowly have the pig rulers manipulate the socialist vision of “Animal Farm” into a totalitarian state not much better than life under the humans. Orwell sharply critiques how the pigs Napoleon and Snowball consolidate power for themselves under the veil of improving equality for all animals. Through the use of allegory and pointed irony, Orwell highlights the dangers of any ideology taken to an oppressive extreme as well as the tendency of authoritarian rulers to suppress dissent and propagate propaganda for their own gain. This essay will analyze the totalitarian aspects of Napoleon's rule over Animal Farm and how Orwell constructs a warning about totalitarianism's threat to democracy and freedom. By examining the tactics and motives of the ruling pigs, this essay will demonstrate how Animal Farm serves as a wider cautionary tale about the corruption of power and suppression of dissenting voices that enables totalitarianism to rise.
Propaganda and Manipulation of Language: Controlling the Masses
Published in 1945 just after World War II, Animal Farm was George Orwell's satirical and dystopian take on the excesses of Russian communism specifically under Joseph Stalin's regime. Orwell had been a supporter of socialist ideals, but became disillusioned by Stalin's brutal policies and totalitarian control. Through the microcosm of a farm, Orwell aimed to critique Stalin's distortion of Karl Marx's communist vision which was intended to promote equality for all. Orwell saw how Stalin used widespread propaganda, secret police, public purges, and murder to eliminate opposition and consolidate absolute power over the Soviet Union. Orwell chose to write from the perspective of the animals to creative a more accessible allegory highlighting how the working class often suffer the most under authoritarian regimes purporting to act for "the greater good." The novella traces how the hopes of equality after the animal revolution slowly died as the pigs monopolized power for their own benefit, suppressing opposition and dominating with fear just as Stalin had done.
Intimidation and Fear: Suppressing Opposition
A key feature of totalitarianism that emerges in Animal Farm is the employment of propaganda and the manipulation of language to control the populace. After Napoleon drives out his rival Snowball, he begins consolidating his unquestioned rule over Animal Farm. One way he does this is by establishing Squealer as his mouthpiece to spread propaganda extolling Napoleon's virtues and justifying his often contradictory actions. For instance, when the pigs move into the farmhouse against one of the original tenets of Animalism, Squealer convinces the other animals that “the pigs were sacrificing themselves for the well-being of the other animals” (Orwell 59). Here, Orwell satirizes how propaganda in totalitarian regimes inverts the truth to depict leaders as martyrs acting in the people's best interest when in reality they serve themselves. Napoleon also twists language itself to control the animals, exemplified by teaching the sheep to bleat “Four legs good, two legs better!” which overrides one of Old Major's original revolutionary maxims (Orwell 89). The revision erodes a founding principle of the animal revolution, showing Napoleon's desire to brainwash the animals into accepting the pigs' superior status. Through these examples, Orwell cautions about how authoritarian leaders like Stalin can abuse propaganda and language itself to mold a servile populace and distort the original goals of revolution.
In conjunction with his propaganda tactics, Napoleon also employs intimidation and fear to squash opposition and dominate the animals entirely. At first, Napoleon uses smear tactics to marginalize Snowball, calling him a traitor secretly allied with the humans to undermine the animal cause. However, Napoleon eventually turns to more overt violence and purges to terrify the animals into submission. For example, Napoleon publicly slaughters several animals he slanders as traitors, forcing the other animals to watch the executions. The animals are told “surely none of you wishes to see Jones return” as a threat that this could be their fate too (Orwell 71). The public spectacle frightens the animals into obedience and puts down future hints of resistance. Orwell was likely inspired by the show trials and Great Purge Stalin conducted to consolidate power by eliminating rivals through coerced false confessions and mass executions. Through these fear tactics, Orwell emphasizes how totalitarian rulers contort the original goals of revolution to amass power for themselves over the populace. The threat of violence and death becomes the chief tool for compliance rather than any sincere belief in the cause.
Counterargument: The Justification for Totalitarian Control
Some may argue that Napoleon's rule, while ruthless, is necessary and justified to protect Animal Farm from infiltration and collapse. Just as Stalin's supporters felt his authoritarian control kept foreign threats like capitalism at bay, one could argue Napoleon's tactics are necessary for Animal Farm's survival. However, Orwell makes clear that the supposed threats to Animal Farm's security are largely propaganda used as an excuse by Napoleon to justify his actions. More broadly, the novel contends that totalitarian control ultimately undermines the freedom and equality that revolutions are meant to achieve. Rather than protecting those ideals, totalitarianism destroys them from within through the corrupting nature of unbridled power. Therefore, Orwell cautions that the ends do not justify the means when those means erode the values they purport to defend.
Conclusion
Through the microcosm of a farm, George Orwell offers a scathing critique of the totalitarian tactics and corrupting nature of power. The authoritarian control by the pigs slowly perverts the values of the animal revolution. By the end, Orwell suggests such centralized power cannot result in a sustainable, equitable society. Yet the enduring message of Animal Farm transcends the particulars of the Russian Revolution, serving as a broader warning about how any revolution may fail. Without sufficient democratic participation and dissenting voices, those in power can far too easily manipulate ideals for their own agenda and suppress opposition through propaganda and fear. However, Orwell leaves a glimmer of hope that totalitarianism is not inevitable. The future remains unwritten and if enough unite behind democratic ideals, the animals may yet change their fate.
