Political Satir in Geogre Orwell Animal Farm

1. Political Satire in George Orwell’s Animal Farm
The Case of First Year Students of English at Belhadj Bouchaib
University Centre of Ain Temouchent
AN EXTENDED ESSAY SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR A
MASTER’S DEGREE IN BRITISH LITERATURE
PRESENTED BY : SUPERVISED BY :
MR. Walid ALLECHE MS. Selma BELHAMIDI
PRESIDENT : DR. Azzeddine BOUHASSOUN MC.A UNIVERSITY CENTRE OF AIN TEMOUCHENT
SUPERVISOR: MS. Selma BELHAMIDI MA.B UNIVERSITY CENTRE OF AIN TEMOUCHENT
EXAMINER : MS. Nassima FEDDAL MA.A UNIVERSITY CENTRE OF AIN TEMOUCHENT
ACADEMIC YEAR: 2018/2019

2. Presentation Framework:
 Introduction
 Problem Statement
 Research Questions
 Hypotheses
 Satire
 Satire in Literature
 Animal Farm as a satire ( plot summary)
 Satirical techniques used in animal Farm (irony)
 Comparison Of Animal Farm Characters And Real Life Persons
 Comparison of some events in Animal Farm and The Russian Revolution
 Limitations of study
 Conclusion
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3. Introduction
 Throughout my study in the field of literature and
civilization, I have mostly been interested and fascinated by
British literature and its authors. For this reason, I have
decided to devote my graduation research paper to analyze the
political satire in one of the most brilliant and meaningful
British fables which is Animal Farm, written by George
Orwell.
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4. The Problem Statement
What motivates me most to do research in this field of study is my own view against
dictatorship and totalitarian systems of government in the whole world. Social
views like Karl Mark’s ideas have always inspired me and brought me to think
deeply about the functioning of a society and the impact of the existing system of
government and economy on the people.
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5. Research Questions
 To what extent is animal farm considered as a
satirical work on the Russian revolution?
 As a contemporary novel, could Animal farm be a
satire of almost any corrupt government?
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6. Hypotheses
 George Orwell satire was shown by his characterization of Russian
society and government into animals, and the use of pigs as symbolize
of power and corruption of joseph Stalin regime demonstrate the satire
of George Orwell
 Animal farm has too many similarities to the Russian Revolution 1917
from the rebellion of animals to the characters like napoleon
symbolizing totalitarian leaders like Stalin.
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7. Satire
 There are many different ways to uncover one's perception of life and its reflection by
a person, one of these ways is Satire. Satire is one way that the reaction or perception
of life is expressed. Since people look at life from different standpoints, for instance,
they naturally perceive it in numerous ways. As a result of the variety in perception, the
way of revealing the effects or reflections of these perceptions also shows variety.
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8. Characteristics of Satire
 Irony
 Parody
 Burlesque
 Wit
 Sarcasm
 Invective
 Exaggeration
 Farce
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9.  Techniques of Satire
 Reduction
 Invective
 Irony
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10.  Satire in itself is a technique used by authors to
expose corruption and criticize the absurdness of
some events or some individuals and their negative
effects on society; it uses humor, irony, and
exaggeration to ridicule those matters. Moreover,
as mentioned earlier, its main goal is to improve
and change the matters by criticizing its follies and
foibles. A writer in satire employs most of the time
fictional characters, which represent real people to
expose their corruption. Usually, a satire is a piece
of writing that makes fun of an individual or
society to expose its stupidity, the writer can point
a satire at a person, a country and even the entire
world there is no limit to a satirical piece of
writing. The satirist always expects whoever he
criticizes to improve and change.
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Figure 1. Caricature or cartoon made by the artist known
HIC in the Algerian newspaper El-Watan.
Satire in Literature

11. Animal Farm as a satire ( plot summary) 11

12. Satirical techniques used in animal Farm
 Irony
As we have mentioned in the first chapter, irony is one of the
most used techniques of satire by satirists. Orwell is no
different as he uses irony in Animal farm, his first take to
irony is old major’s speech. Since the Old major says "do not
grumble, for he is "one of the lucky" animal who did not
suffer. But ironically he is the one who is more likely to worry
about work and survival than the ones who suffered. The
reader who is knowledgeable about Karl Marx and his
promotion of socialism, although Marx was never of the
working class, will smile when s/he is reading the speech.
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13. Comparison Of Animal Farm Characters And Real Life Persons
Old Major : Karl Marx/ Lenin
Napoleon : Stalin (the name was inspired by the French conquerer)
Snowball : Leon Trotsky
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14. Comparison of some events in Animal Farm and The Russian
Revolution
The Rebellion
Windmill
Meeting between the Pigs and Humans
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15. Limitations of the Study
 Time required
 The lack of sources
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16. Conclusion
To sum up, George Orwell's Animal Farm is one of the greatest modem
political Satire, telling the story of an innocent revolution turning into
dictatorship and betrayal. Though the novel seems like an irony of the Russian
Revolution of 1917, in fact it deals with any kind of revolution; its
consequences, and criticizes totalitarianism of any kind. Orwell also pointed out
that the failure of such revolutions often lay within the revolutionary process
since its leaders ignore those whom the revolutions were meant to serve. In the
end, those for whom the revolution was intended are often the victims rather
than the beneficiaries.
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17. To conclude, I would like to quote the last paragraph of the novel, when human beings and
pigs are together:
“Twelve voices were shouting in anger, they were all alike. No question, now, what had
happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from
man to pig, and from pig to man again: but already it was impossible to say which was
which.”
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18. Thank You!