Animal Farm, a novel written in 1945, has many connections to other text, films and stories. In fact, the Animal Farm is very similar to novels such as 1984, Handmaid's Tale and films such as V for Vendetta. All of the titles above are similar as they all share themes such as lack of freedom and class stratification. The authors of those books wanted to emphasize the human tendency to maintain and establish class structures even though the society calls for everyone to be equal. The novels also describes how harsh life would become if the people are ruled by the dictatorship of a person or a group as the citizens' daily lives would be filled with censorships, propaganda or even brain washing. The readers, however, may wonder if they are being brain washed with the idea of "democracy is the best" after reading those stories.
The novel may have had a strong connection to the world back in 1945
since the U.S.S.R. was only established for approximately 20 years then and the
Cold War was starting up. However, as time progresses, the connection between
the world and the story is lost. The Soviet Union has broken up and a more
democratic Russia has been established. The dictatorship and manipulation of
speech described in the book are no longer common in the world. The working
class in the modern society are no longer naive and are more educated than
before.
Animal Farm effectively connects to the readers in a thrilling way. In
the story, Squealer is a propaganda tool that brain washes animals into
believing that life is better than before when in fact it has been the same if
not worse. In comparison, the media around us is, in as sense, also a propaganda
tool of the government. It often praises the achievements of its own country
and criticizes the actions of other countries. By listening to the media, the
reader may be brain washed into believing that their own country is the best
and their life is the best when in fact it is not.
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