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Animal Farm
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Because the book criticized the Soviet Union, one of England's allies in World War II, publication was delayed until the war ended. It was published with huge success. The novel explores themes such as politics, truth, and class conflict. Orwell uses the power of allegory to illustrate an attack on the misuse of political power. While the novel can be very entertaining, it is also written as a pointed criticism of Stalinist Russia and a true byproduct of George Orwell's long-held hatred of totalitarianism. Of the readers that are familiar with WWII and Stalinist Russia history, will find pointed parallels to Stalin's dictatorship and reign of terror. The novel illustrates the dangers inherent in a complacent citizenry and the consequences of unchecked power.
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Animal Farm
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Orwell uses allegory to make a huge political statement about Stalinist Russia and the misuse of political power. Orwell uses the animals to make his point that power can corrupt easily, and that a complacent citizenship is also part of the problem. The changes that the animals make, especially the pigs, mirror the changes that men have made to gain political power.
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Animal Farm
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Orwell writes into the novel that the ideas expressed by Old Major mirror the fundamentals of Marx's Communist Manifesto. Old Major, in a dream, has foreseen a world in which animals rule themselves, live among one another equally, and work only toward the betterment of their own. Under the leadership of the pigs, farm labor is organized and divided among the animals, and a list of seven commandments is established - deemed unalterable - under which all animals on the farm would adhere. However, the pigs take advantage of every situation they can to ensure their complete power. Initially, the seven commandments issued by the animals symbolized a code by which the animals could live peacefully and equally among themselves, but the pigs begin to feel that they are more equal than any of the other aminals. They have human qualities because their interest in power and control has taken over to the point that they don't feel that they need to follow the commandments. They also have the power to change the commandments at any time to suit their needs. Consequently, Old Major's vision of a peaceful brotherhood of animals has mutated into a world where reality and truth are molded and disseminated to support the ruling class.
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Lord of the Flies
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Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel, not unlike George Orwell's Animal Farm. An allegory is a way of representing a meaning that is not literal. An allegory uses symbols to convey its meanings. Lord of the Flies is filled with symbolic representations. The conch is an important symbol on the island, representing civilized society. Piggy's glasses are important too. They represent insight and intelligence.
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Lord of the Flies
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The boat shaped island that the boys end up on really does offer many of the necessities to keep the shipwrecked boys alive, including fresh water, fruit, and the pigs that are killed for meat. The island also has a hill that the boys use to look out onto the ocean. The boys are able to make huts from leaves and fire, using Piggy's glasses. The boys found the conch on the island which allowed Ralph to gather the boys together and also allowed them to form their own society with Ralph as their leader.
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Lord of the Flies
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The literal translation is actually Beelzebub, in English, which basically means chief devil, Satan or fallen angel. The decapitated pig's head, which is impaled on a stake, is a symbol of evil or the devil. The life of the boys on the island is a symbol of life in the adult world. The theme of the novel is that there is a fight in each person between good and evil. The boys must fight against the nature to turn to violent and savage. Simon is the one who realizes that the evil does not exist in the pigs head, but within the boys themselves.
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Lord of the Flies
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The conch symbolizes several things. First it might symbolize power because the boy who holds the conch has the power to speak. It also symbolizes power because by blowing into the conch, one has the power to gather the boys on the island. The allegorical meaning of the conch in the novel is authority, civilized authority like on the mainland where men use authority to rule over people.
The destruction of the conch symbolizes the breakdown of the authority on the island. Jack and his group of boys have given into their darker sides, using manipulation and savagery as their forms of power and authority.
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Lord of the Flies
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Piggy is indeed an important character in the novel. The boys survival depends on him and his glasses. Without Piggy's presence on the island, there may not have ever been a fire to roast the pigs or a signal fire to alert the British Naval Officer who saves them. Beyond the obvious, Piggy is important because he symbolizes insight. Piggy wears the glasses because his eyesight is not good, but he is one of the characters who uses his insight very well. He is an important comrade for Ralph as well.
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Lord of the Flies
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The beast is indeed one of the most important symbols in the novel. The main premise of the novel is that if allowed, even in civilized society, many people naturally revert to cruelty and savagery. This theme of innate evil lurking in all of us is pointed out in symbol with the beast. Jack, from the beginning, is interested in power. He uses the boys fearful imaginations of the 'beasties' to propel himself into a more powerful position. Jack's group allow themselves to revert to this primal instinct of violence and savagery by killing, dancing and painting their faces. They actually leave sacrifices for the beast. As Jack and the boys grow more savage, the beast seems more real. It is actually the behavior of the boys which allows the imagined beast to exist within them. Simon is the only boy who connects the savage behavior of the boys to the existence of the beast.
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Lord of the Flies
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The impaled pig head can symbolize several things. First, the boys have allowed themselves to become savage enough to actually kill on the island, when they hesitated at first. Secondly, they become savage enough to decapitate a sow and impale her head on a stake. The head begins to decay and is swarmed by flies. Jack and his gang leave the head as a sacfrifice for the beast. It is a complicated symbol and is referred to as the Lord of the Flies because of what it symbolizes: savagery and the power of evil. As Simon confronts the sow's head, he has a sort of conversation with the Lord of the Flies, which tells him that evil lies in the hearts of everyone. Just as evil is evoked by Satan, the evil in the hearts of the boys is evoked by the sow's head and the imagined beast which allow savagery to rule the island.
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