'I watched the animated film ‘Animal Farm’ (1954) based on George Orwell’s novel. The basic plot is that the farmer at Manor Farm is a drunk and so the animals rebel against him to run themselves more efficiently, they rename it ‘Animal Farm’. All the animals are supposedly equal until Napoleon the pig begins a scheme to take over the whole farm. The film runs a full circle of the animals rebelling against their leader and then a new leader arising, the film then ends with the animals wanting to rebel again.
I thought that because it was animated and based on a farm, it might be quite light hearted and maybe child friendly but I was wrong. I found this film rather strange to watch and it was quite dark in some places. It was clear to see how the film reflects politics and attitudes in society.’
This was the only real knowledge I had on the work of George Orwell but I remember thinking when I was watching it that the concepts in his work are interesting and its clever how he draws parallels to society that people can easily relate to. I started to read 1984, one of his most popular novels, and recorded my thoughts after reading part one of the book.
This was the only real knowledge I had on the work of George Orwell but I remember thinking when I was watching it that the concepts in his work are interesting and its clever how he draws parallels to society that people can easily relate to. I started to read 1984, one of his most popular novels, and recorded my thoughts after reading part one of the book.
- The concept of being constantly under surveillance is frustrating to read about because everyone should have a right to their own privacy.
- No escape and an inability to live a free life. Winston is stripped of his right to individuality, a personality and enjoyment of things he likes.
- This is relatable to most people on a smaller scale as most people know what its like to work under rules that they don’t agree with.
- Severe division of classes - upper and middle classes are part of the Party whereas lower classes are insignificant to this.
- Thought police - shows the extent of the invasion of privacy. Is this a reflection of our modern day? (social media, phone hacking, reality tv, paparazzi, etc) Leaders don’t trust their public so they must eliminate negative or opposing thoughts and actions one by one.
- Telescreens - a way of keeping watch over members of the Party in their own homes. (invasion, controlling the public with technology, a modern dictator? a manufactured god to obey?)
- Elimination - the fact that people can be vaporised and after this, any sign of their existence is erased is a scary thought. It’s sad to think that people annoy leave legacies or that people of the future have no way of finding out what life was like. Humans are worth nothing for vaporisation to be such a common thing.
- Are these people living? Is there any quality of life? Are they becoming robots manufactured from humans?
- Selectivity of information being passed onto the public could be an exaggeration of what happens in our modern day. Brainwashing, a constant stream of media feeding us information that we accept as the truth without question. False figures of improvement of society - highly unlikely to be true but used as an attempt to keep spirits up.
