Socialist who lost faith in socialism: Who is George Orwell?

The author, whose real name is Erich Arthur Blair, known as George Orwell, was born in Bihar, India. Despite being from a middle-class family, he grew up in a noble environment.

Born in 1903, Orwell's father is an Englishman stationed in India, and his mother is of French descent. He grew up in an aristocratic environment. After returning to England, he graduated from Eton College in 1922.

Returning to England with his family, Orwell studied at Eton College and took lessons from the author of Brave New World, Aldous Huxley.

After graduating from Eton College, instead of going to college, he continued the family tradition, going to Burma to join the Imperial Police Service. In fact, he wanted to be interested in literature. He resigned from the police force in 1928 when he saw the British oppression of the Burmese and collected his memories in his book "Burmese Days" published in 1933. In his book "Down and Out in Paris and London", which he wrote the same year, he talked about his days spent in Paris and London.

In the 1930s he identified himself as a socialist. But he joined the Republican militia in the Spanish Civil War, which he began watching as a newspaper reporter. He rose to the rank of lieutenant and was badly wounded in a shootout. He left this country, thinking that he was risking his life. He conveyed his impressions of this period in his book "Greetings to Catalonia" published in 1938. After the Spanish experience, he adopted a conservative view.

Spanish Civil War and Orwell

Orwell describes his purpose of going to Spain in these words:

“I joined the POUM militia at the end of 1936. The main reasons I joined this militia and not another were these: I had intended to go to Spain to gather material for my newspaper articles. Besides, I had the vague idea that if it seemed worth fighting, maybe I'd fight. However, given my diseased constitution and relatively little military experience, I was very skeptical about fighting.”

Orwell is surprised by what he sees because the order he saw when he arrived and the current order is very different. This war causes him to move away from socialism in the Soviet Union. Because he sees Stalin as responsible for all that happened. While fighting at the front, he is shot in the throat, and Orwell, who was saved from death at the last moment, is treated behind the line. POUM is outlawed, and Orwell and his other friends are forced to leave the country.

He was appointed head of the BBC's India broadcasts division. In 1943, he began managing the literature page for the Tribune newspaper.

In 1944, he wrote his most important work, "Animal Farm," a "political fable" about the Russian revolution and Stalin's betrayal of the revolution. In the work, a group of animals living on a farm overthrows the people who exploited them and establish an egalitarian society. But over time, the clever and power-hungry pigs among them turn the revolution astray and turn into dictators more oppressive and cruel than humans. Unable to find a publisher to print it at first, this book brought Orwell great fame and money when it was published in 1945.

His novel "1984", published in 1949, was also a great success. The events in this novel take place in a future where the world is dominated by three totalitarian states that are constantly at war with each other. Orwell, with this work, warns the world of the danger of a society without memory and opposition, where everything is completely under the control of the states. This book, which affected many people deeply, was adapted into a movie in 1984, like "Animal Farm".

George Orwell's Struggle with Tuberculosis

Orwell, who suffered from lung disease many times during the days of poverty during certain periods of his life, was a tuberculosis patient. His illness worsened when he lost his wife as a result of a wrong operation in 1945. He married again in 1949. Orwell, whose condition deteriorated completely from tuberculosis, died in 1950 at the age of 46.

Animal Farm Novel Plot

Shortly after a male pig called Big Chief (Karl Marx), one of the animals living in Beylik Çiftlik owned by Mr. Jones, calls other animals and tells about his strange dream, an uprising (Soviet Revolution) takes place on the farm.

One day, Mr. Jones, who came to the farm late and forgot to feed the animals, is kicked out of the farm by the animals. The uprising was successful and the farm was left to them. The name of the farm is changed to Animal Farm. A new order and authority dominates the farm. The animals are organized by two pigs named Napoleon and Snowball, who are the smartest of them all. New principles are established, and all animals must abide by these immutable principles.

These principles are grouped under the heading of the Seven Commandments:

1. You will consider anyone who walks on two legs as an enemy.

2. You will consider everyone who walks on all fours or has wings as a friend. 3.No animals shall wear clothes.

4. No animal shall sleep on the bed.

5. No animal shall drink.

6. No animal shall kill another animal.

7. All animals are equal.

While the animals spend their days on the farm, Snowball decides to build a windmill to improve the farm and make production more efficient, a decision deemed unnecessary by Napoleon, with whom he constantly disagrees.

One day, Snowball, who is gathering animals and holding a meeting about the construction of the windmill, is attacked by dogs trained by Napoleon when he least expects it and runs away from the farm.

Now that power is in Napoleon's hands, Squealer, now more in control, imposes on the animals the immutable correctness of Napoleon's ideas. Before long, Napoleon decides to start the windmill construction. Surprised by this situation, the other animals tell Squealer that they had opposed Snowball before, and Squealer explains that this idea was actually Napoleon's idea from the very beginning and that Snowball collapsed on it.

The animals, who do not understand why Snowball is opposed, work like slaves, and the living conditions of dogs and pigs begin to change. They start living in Mr. Jones' house, sleeping in bed, wearing clothes, and waking up later than other animals. As the days pass, some deficiencies and needs arise on the farm.

Napoleon finds the solution by shopping with Mr. Frederick and Mr. Pilkington, the owners of neighboring farms. The prohibitions in the Seven Commandments continue to be violated. Since the animals that rebelled against this are killed, they find the solution in silence. One day, the windmill they had built with great effort was attacked and destroyed by the owner of the next farm, Mr. Frederick and his men.

Although the animals have suffered a lot as a result of this destruction, the construction of the new windmill begins, but the conditions for the animals are getting worse and worse. While they continue to live in these conditions, on a beautiful evening, the animals have finished their work and are resting when they encounter an unexpected sight.

“A pig that walked on its hind legs. It was Squealer. A little later the other pigs showed up on two legs as well. The other animals were frightened and confused by what had happened. The horse named Clover said, “It's like there's a change in the writings. Does the Seven Commandments look the same as before, Benjamin (old donkey)?" Benjamin read the inscription on the wall to Clover, and on the wall was a single command:

All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others

There is a celebration at the farm and people are invited. Napoleon makes a correction as pigs gather around a table and neighboring ranchers are about to toast to Animal Farm. The farm is now referred to by its old name.

The name of Beylik Çiftlik is back. The animals outside look at the faces of a pig or a human, but cannot tell them apart.

What is the Genre of the Animal Farm Novel?

Published in England in 1945, it is a dystopian novel with political satire written in fable style with an allegorical narrative.

Animal Farm Novel Characters

(The characters in the book reflect elements of Russian society and Communism.)

Napoleon: Joseph Stalin

Snowball: Trotsky

Big Chief: Karl Marx

Squealer: Russian media

Mollie (Mare): Aristocracy

Moses (Raven): Clergy

Benjamin (Old Donkey): The Old Generation

Clover (Carriage Horse): Proletariat

Boxer (The Hardworking Horse): The Proletariat

Sheep: The Ignorant Folk

Dogs: KGB

Mr. Jones: Czar II. Nicholas

Mr. Frederick: Adolf Hitler

Mr. Pilkington: Winston Churchill

Animal Farm: USSR

Animalism: Communism

Principality Farm: Kremlin Palace

Uprising: Soviet Revolution

War of the Hallows: October Revolution

The windmill war: World War II. World War

In summary,

George Orwell's novel "Animal Farm" is a critique of the Stalin regime. The work that satirizes people over animals is a political satire from past societies to the present. Unable to withstand human colonization and dictatorship, animals start a revolt in order to create a more egalitarian order.

Unfortunately, the established order is a more totalitarian regime than before. Pigs, which are smarter compared to other animals, occupy a leading position. Finally, it is not possible to distinguish who is a pig and who is a human.