Criticism of George Orwell's Works
George Orwell
George Orwell, who was born Eric Arthur Blair in 1903, was a British novelist who died in 1950 from tuberculosis at the age of 46. His novels have been published all over the world and have sold millions of copies to date; however, despite being considered one of the most influential political writers in history and having won numerous literary awards and plaudits, he remains best known for his dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.
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| Criticism of George Orwell's Works |
Animal Farm as a Satire
George Orwell’s most renowned novel, Animal Farm, is a satirical novel about animals on a farm rising up against their human masters. With animal characters that represent real life politicians and political parties from that time period, Orwell uses allegory to tell his story in an easily understandable way. Due to its simplicity as well as its subtle humor that even children can understand, Animal Farm is considered by many critics to be a highly effective satire. It has also been applauded for its political commentary with references to power struggles in Soviet Russia and England in the early 1900s. Although it is not thought by some critics to be Orwell’s best work, it remains one of his most critically acclaimed novels nonetheless.
1984 and Newspeak
Some critics have been critical of George Orwell’s vision as too negative. In 1984, an Oceania bureaucrat explains Newspeak to Winston Smith: Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. When Oldspeak (or Standard English) is completely eclipsed, then meanings can be controlled by ruling out all other meanings. This criticism suggests that George Orwell was focusing too much on what he perceived as weaknesses within society and his novel does not offer much room for hope about how things could change for society for better.
Comparison with Aldous Huxley's Brave New World
Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. The real terror of 1984 is not that it's such a masterpiece, but that it speaks so clearly to our present situation. For all its talk about a boot stamping on a human face forever, '1984' is really an optimistic book.
How to Write an Essay on Animal Farm
To begin your essay, you should write an introduction that summarizes some of the main points and arguments that you will be addressing in your paper. If you are writing a paper on Animal Farm by George Orwell, then you may want to include that it is a political allegory about Stalinism, for example. The body paragraphs will be where you go into detail about your argument and support it with specific examples from Animal Farm. Start each paragraph with a topic sentence; these sentences act as mini-outlines for your paragraphs. In addition to outlining each paragraph, topic sentences also guide readers through an essay by signifying what is important information. Topic sentences do not need to be lengthy—in fact, three or four words will suffice.
Compare and Contrast Animal Farm and 1984 by George Orwell
George Orwell was a literary master. His works are timeless classics, and just as they were relevant when he published them, they continue to be relevant today. Animal Farm and 1984 are both fantastic books that shed light on important issues in society, but there are a few ways in which they differ from one another. In Animal Farm, Orwell uses an animal farm as a metaphor for communism and uses it to criticize Stalinist communism (his writings about Russia's communist revolution). The issues he picks up on include totalitarianism and class warfare; his writing proves that humans can behave like animals when power is given to them. In comparison, 1984 takes place entirely in Oceania under fictional totalitarian regime run by Big Brother.
To Sum Up
George Orwell's works continue to be popular today for a number of reasons. From Animal Farm to 1984, his writing remains relevant because it tackles powerful issues that are still prevalent in society: war, rebellion, totalitarianism and governmental control. When you look at books like Animal Farm and 1984, you might think he was criticizing governments. But he wasn't—instead, he was criticizing power in general. He saw governments as being naturally corrupt and thus inherently dangerous to society.
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