From Nowhere: Utopian and Dystopian Visions of our - Chris J. Young

58. George Orwell (1903–1950). Animal Farm. New York: Harcourt, Brace and
Co., 1946.
Satirizing the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and the repressive style of government imposed by Lenin
and Stalin, Orwell’s Animal Farm, represented here in a proof copy, sounds a warning against
revolutionary change. in this dystopia, a farmer named Mr. Jones habitually mistreats his animals,
until a boar named Old Major takes charge and calls a meeting of the animals. Old Major compares
humans to parasites who must be overthrown, but when he dies leadership devolves to two pigs,
Snowball and Napoleon, who lead the revolution. Following its successful execution, the animals
take control of the farm and begin to rebuild under the slogan ‘all animals are equal.’ As the novel
progresses, Snowball is chased from the farm by Napoleon, who then assumes control of the farm.
Napoleon’s rule of the farm illustrates the axiom ‘power corrupts but absolute power corrupts
absolutely.’ As the original ideals of the revolution begin to change, the ruling elite modifies the
original slogan to ‘all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.’
59. George Orwell (1903–1950). Nineteen Eighty-four, a Novel. London: Secker
& Warburg, 1949.
Probably the best known of all modern dystopias, Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four describes a British
totalitarian state under the control of a mysterious dictator, Big Brother. Foreshadowing the rise of
telecommunications as a method of surveillance, the dystopia presents a state where children betray
their parents, party members denounce each other, and an atmosphere of mutual distrust pervades.
Following the life of Winston Smith, a worker for the Ministry of Truth, who spends his working
hours rewriting history for the government, the novel demonstrates the consequences for those who
rebel against the state of Big Brother. Winston begins a love affair with a party member named Julia.
They flee to the countryside to see out their love affair, only to be apprehended and imprisoned by
Big Brother for their rebellious behaviour. Winston is consequently ‘reeducated’ by a party officer
named O’Brien who eradicates the idea that the truth really exists out there, outside of Big Brother.
Furthermore, Winston is told that the truth cannot exist in the individual, but only in the collective,
and therefore the truth is what the Party says it is. Not only does Big Brother control the actions of
the people, but also their thoughts and emotions.
From Nowhere: Utopian and Dystopian Visions of our Past, Present, and Future 73