Evan Nyhus Katherine Arguijo-Flaiz and Lisa Mulkerin-Carey Comparative Literature September 21, 2013 Animal Farm Essay

George Orwells Animal Farm is an interpretation of a pivotal time in history, the Russian Revolution, through the point of view of a community of farm animals. These animals represented the leadership, the propaganda, and the population of laborers made famous during that time. Unfortunately, even today, circumstances exist where twisted leadership takes advantage of its workforce. North Koreas leader, Kim Jong-un, eerily mimics the cruel dictatorship of Napoleon in Orwells novel by subjecting his populace to forced labor, controlled media, and a police state. The nasty pig, Napoleon, is Orwells malicious leader and his over the top, larger-thanlife persona might closely resemble North Koreas leader. While Animal Farm deals with Communism, Jong-un is the leader of a totalitarian government whose family has been in power for generations. He rules with an iron fist. While he and members of his government live in luxury, reports indicate that there are as many as sixteen labor camps, many of these containing anywhere from 3,000 to 50,000 people (Marquand). Like the animals on the farm, these laborers work in terrible conditions, with little food, sometimes only eating fourteen beans in a meal (Marquand). Much like the laborers on Animal Farm, the people of North Korea are overworked, supplied very little in return and completely taken advantage of by a government and leadership that show little concern for their overall well-being. Like the poor demise of

Nyhus 2 Snowball, those that question the leadership of Jong-un are sent away to these labor camps or worse, executed for questioning his authority. Both Napoleons and Kim Jong-uns success as leaders are largely due to the efforts of their propaganda machines. On the Animal Farm, Squealer tirelessly adjusted and concocted stories to keep the animals doing whatever it was Napoleon and the pigs wanted. In North Korea, a central news agency was created over sixty years ago which means there is no other form of media (Introduction). All the information that reaches its people is carefully constructed, often times whether it is true or not. Even religion falls under the category of propaganda in North Korea. In Animal Farm, Moses the Raven might be the closest thing to a preacher bringing stories of a better place and Napoleon quickly learns how to use him to his advantage to get more out of the animals. The only religion practiced in North Korea is Juche, which is a dogma based Jong-uns grandfather, worshiped as a God, but also influencing every aspect of the populations life (Juche). Propaganda played an important role in Animal Farm as we saw how easily the animals could be controlled by the information they were receiving, and the same is true in North Korea. In order for a farm or a country to be kept under such strict control, there has to be some sort of police or enforcement. In the book, Napoleon cleverly trains the dogs to enforce his rules and maintain a certain level of fear and the same is true for North Korea. In this country, enforcement comes in the form of a police state keeping a watch on peoples every move. After his fathers death, Kim Jong-un appointed himself Marshall of all these forces, police and military, whose primary job is to take down anyone who challenges his leadership (FrancePresse). And, to justify the need for such a large force, a leader needs an enemy. Napoleons one-time ally, Snowball, becomes the scapegoat for anything bad that happens on the farm.

Nyhus 3 Between humans and claims made against Snowball, Napoleon can justify just about anything. For Kim Jong-un, presenting the United States as a threat to his people he has created an enemy to justify his use of force and crazy way of dictating. Unfortunately, cruel leaders require the ability to keep their people in line by the threat or use of force and creating false or perceived threats to rationalize their behavior. George Orwells book, Animal Farm, demonstrates many problems that occur under certain political systems. Although the book was written many years ago, it is easy to see here how these problems can still exist today. The totalitarian government created by Napoleon weirdly resembles that of North Korea. Through both of these leaders use of forced labor, propaganda and policing, an environment of control and blind allegiance has been created. It is only in the reality of stories shared from defectors of North Korea that we learn about the true atrocities that occur under this rule.

Nyhus 4 Works Cited France-Presse, Agence. " Massive police state controls North Korea: study | The Raw Story." The Raw Story | America's #1 completely independent news and politics source. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2013. <http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/07/19/massive-police-statecontrols-north-korea-study/>. "Introduction to KCNA." Korean News Agency. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Sept. 2013. <http://www.kcna.co.jp/index-e.htm>. "Juche Idea." NORTH KOREAN CHRISTIANS. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2013. <http://www.northkoreanchristians.com/juche-idea.html>. Maquand, Robert . "North Korea's hidden labor camps exposed - CSMonitor.com." The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2013. <http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2013/0521/North-Korea-s-hiddenlabor-camps-exposed>.