Cynicism and Perpetual Repression in Term Paper

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Each had distinct characteristics that made them endearing to the animal members in the farm. In this social order, animal farm members became idealistic and hopeful, adopting the political slogan, "Four legs good, two legs bad." However, this social order was also considered as a transitory phase in the shift of animal farm from being capitalist to totalitarian, because at this stage, Napoleon and Snowball were shown to subsist to different ideals. While Napoleon believed that a strong, peaceful, and stable animal farm was based on a strong military and massive political propaganda, Snowball believed in the provision of education and basic social services for the animals: "Until now the animals had been about equally divided in their sympathies, but in a moment Snowball's eloquence had carried them away..." This event led to the full transition of animal farm into a new social order, that of totalitarianism. In effect, Major's vision of a perfectly socialist order failed with Snowball's death and Napoleon's reign in animal farm.

Under Napoleon's leadership, Animal Farm became totalitarian. Animals no longer worked for the sake of their community, but rather, for the sake of Napoleon and his military of dogs, as well as the privileged 'class' in the farm -- the pigs. This social order was once again proved ineffective because of the oppressive nature of Napoleon's leadership. Ironically, Man, the enemy of animals, began establishing good relations with Napoleon and the pigs, an occurrence that proved how the farm had once again returned to its first social order (capitalism) under a new leader and regulations (Lenhoff, 2001). In fact, conditions in the farm worsened than ever before, with the animals working now as slaves only for the sake of Napoleon and his 'comrades': the pigs and humans.

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Thus, at the end of the novel, the dominant political slogan was "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others," signifying the end of Animal Farm's pursuit for an ideal society and social order.

Contrary to claims that he advocated for socialism, Orwell instead presented cynicism as the only solution by which animal farm -- and in effect, humanity -- can alleviate their suffering and repression (Lucas, 2000). This is through adopting no ideals about an egalitarian society, and focus must be on daily survival, no longer considering comforts in life, much so the idea of private property and ownership of material things. This is the hard reality he implied in the novel, for the world as humanity witnessed it had failed for many years to create a social order in which true freedom and happiness can be achieved and is possible. As Martin (1997) argued, Orwell, in writing the novel, "...is reaching the exhaustion of idealism and approaching the bathos of cynicism" (197). This assertion was evident when Orwell ended his novel on a pessimistic note, wherein he stated, "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." Humanity had already exhausted its efforts to achieve Utopia, and with the persistence of suffering and repression, it was Orwell's realization that perhaps, not a new social order was needed, but acceptance of the fact that this is the true reality of human life on earth, and that this social order was the only social order that humanity can find, whoever leads them and whatever the conditions are......

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