Chronicle-1995

paper on a chosen aspect of English literature and presenting it to an audience and a group of adjudicators. Matthew choose to present a highly controversial paper on the works of George Orwell; Rowan explored the war imagery in Chaim Potok's work; and Andrew chose to analyse the life of the biblical David in Joseph Heller's satirical novel,"God Knows." The competition drew over 250 candidates from all over Natal, and was of an exacting standard. Although all three boys reached their second rounds, only Matthew reached the finals in which he competed against the best literary minds in the province. Matthew was awarded third prize: an obvious recognition of a fine literary mind in the making. Roberto Candotti GEORGE ORWELL'S CRITICISMS OF AND DISILLUSIONMENT WITH HUMANITY IN HIS BOOKS:"ANIMALFARM"AND"1984" George Orwell has long been regarded as one of the greatest writers this century. His career as a writer in his prime spanned only a decade, but during this time he made a marked contribution to political literature. His political allegory, "Animal Farm", won him international acclaim as a 'master writer', although his many books and essays before that had also been of rare quality."Animal Farm"and"1984"are two ofthe most well known books ever written,and are studied in schools and other institutions of learning the world over. Orwell was a man whose power over the English language was probably as complete as anyone's,a man with the power to convert thousands to his viewpoint through the sheer persuasiveness of his writing. George Orwell succeeded in making himself immortal through his talent, yet despite the fame he has achieved it seems to me that Orwell hates man,or at least despises him in passages which reflect his sadness or his bitterness. The story of"AnimalFarm"is simple.The animals live on the Manor Farm, with Jones as their master. Their lives are miserable, but they're not overly discontented until Major points out to them the futility of their existence. In due time they overthrow Jones and set up their own egalitarian, communist government, but the pigs slowly wheedle their way into power until the farm is transformed into a place offear, distrust and death. The animals believe anything they're told by Squealer, Napoleon's lieutenant. They all blunder blindly on, in the false belief that they are free, that their life must be better than it was. One afternoon, a huge group of animals are executed by the pigs for the crime of treason, despite the fact that the Sixth Commandment stated:'No animal shall kill any other animal '. When the animals go to the list of commandments to check, they become quite confused. 'Muriel read the Commandment for her. It ran: 'No animal shall kill any other animal without cause. 'Somehow or other the last two words had slipped out of the animals'memory.' Through the animals' apathy Orwell comments on our ineffectiveness as a species,saying that we so often see injustice but are too weak or dim-witted to redress it. Next Orwell attacks humanity's intelligence and explores the fact that we often make no distinction between illusion and reality. 'He proved to them in detail that they had more oats, more hay, more turnips than they had had in Jones's day,that their drinking water was ofbetter quality,that they had more straw in their stalls and suffered less fromfleas.' This is another of Squealer's propaganda campaigns, and is very similar to the way in 1984 that the Party publishes lists of meaningless figures,and although the populace never see the reality of these claims, they believe them unquestioningly. Orwell's third comment on our failures shows in probably the saddest moment in "Animal Farm", when Boxer dies. Boxer was a great horse who was the hardest worker on the farm. He rose a full hour before the rest of the animals, and he devoted his life to Animal Farm. He is the closest thing to a hero in the book, although he is flawed in that he too is of sub normal intelligence. One day,when he is almost twelve,the age at which he should retire, he collapses,and is taken off to the 'vet'. In actual fact,the pigs are sending him to his death,and although the animals see this,they do nothing until it is too late. It is this lack of action and bewilderment which is so irritating to the reader: again and again Orwell subtly emphasises that we do nothing for our friends, even when they need us most. There is nothing subtle about the way in which Napoleon maintains power though. Through a wellorganized propaganda campaign Squealer, Napoleon's lieutenant, makes sure that the animals always agree to the measures Napoleon takes. He normally ends off his pleas by asking them if they want Jones to come back. To this the animals always reply no, they definitely do not want Jones back, and thus are willing to endure whatever new hardships they must. This endurance has a price however,as Orwell in his Notes on Nationalism. 'The abiding purpose of every nationalist is to secure more power and more prestige, notfor himself butfor the nation or other unit in which he has chosen to sink his own individuality.'(i) The truth is that the animals lose more than their individuality. They lose their dignity, their souls, and their lives. Critics have hailed this book as a critique of socialism yet Orwell says in his essay. WhyI Write, 'Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism andfor democratic socialism.'(ii) The author himself states that "Animal Farm" (Published 1945) is not a criticism of socialism. The 60 Kearsney Chronicle 1995

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTc3MDU5Nw==