EE Final Proposal Sheet

Text(s) chosen: 1984 and Animal Farm

EE Category: 2

Topic
The ways in which authoritative figures/ characters use their power
to suppress their subjects in Animal Farm and 1984.
Research Question
How does Orwell portray totalitarian systems through the ways of
his authoritative characters control and suppress those they rule in
Animal Farm and 1984?
Approach
I will thoroughly read and annotate both novels in order to extract
specific examples and I will analyze them to be able to explain how
“leaders” in both novels use their power in an unjust manner and
how they are able to control their subordinates. I also aim to look
into George Orwell’s political beliefs and try to highlight how he
shows his political beliefs within the novels through the plot and
characters and also how he mocked the political systems he was
against. For now I have 3 scholarly articles from Jstor to help me
evaluate Orwell’s political beliefs. (these articles are in my scholarly
review and annotated bibliography).

Scholarly Literature Review:

Research question: How does Orwell portray totalitarian systems through the ways of his
authoritative characters control and suppress those they rule in Animal Farm and 1984?
 George Orwell is one of the greatest authors of the 20th century as his works reflect and

criticize our modern-day world and the political movements implemented in our societies. Two of

his best works that exposed his criticism for political figures and movements were Animal Farm

and 1984. In order to effectively elaborate, discuss, and expand on my ideas to answer my

research question, I explored three articles containing information about Orwell’s political beliefs

and how the political movements at the time shaped Orwell’s train of thought.

In the first article, “George Orwell as a public choice economist”, by Michael Makovi,

the author discusses how Orwell is actually a socialist and the fact that Orwell tends to side with

capitalism over socialism in 1984 and Animal Farm shows that he is mocking the Soviet Union’s

political systems and totalitarianism. Orwell’s view on socialism leads Makovi to believe that he

was an early practitioner of public choice as shown when Makovi brings up “The Lion and the

Unicorn”, which Orwell wrote to show his hatred towards capitalism and how it will never work

in our modern-day society. This could allow me to analyze 1984 and Animal Farm in a different

way as Orwell may have placed qualities in his main characters that I have never even thought

about before. Also, the fact that Orwell identified himself as a socialist shows that the aspects

around totalitarianism and capitalism were all used to mock and highlight everything that is

wrong with these political ideologies. I could explore how Orwell portrayed the antagonists in

both novels.

In the second article, “The New Barbarians: Totalitarianism, Terror and the Left

Intelligentsia in Orwell's 1984”, by John David Frodsham, additional hatred towards

totalitarianism is shown by Orwell as he discusses how bad such a movement is for our society as

the need for authority and power is pulling our world apart. And again, Orwell vents on his hatred

towards the Soviet Union. Frodsham also talks about a communist in the Soviet Union, Aleksandr

Solzhenitsyn, who actually agrees with Orwell regarding his view of totalitarianism and its
negative effects on the world. The importance of showing another authors perspective on

totalitarianism allows Frodsham to show how authors that contain a binary way of thinking are

able to share similar view on a political topic. Frodsham also showed how Gulliver’s Travels, by

Jonathan Swift, influenced George Orwell’s works as Swift talks about the hatred towards

mankind, which is an idea that George Orwell uses in Animal Farm. This is a very important

point as the hatred towards mankind in Animal Farm could help me examine the ways in which

the animals act towards the humans. Also, the fact that Orwell thinks that totalitarianism leads to

never ending war, is a very important point to the development of the plot in Animal Farm and

could lead to a number of main characters containing authoritarian qualities.

In the third article, “All Propaganda is Dangerous, but Some are More Dangerous than

Others: George Orwell and the Use of Literature as Propaganda”, by Samantha Senn, she shows

how most of the powerful countries during World War I reacted to the release of 1984 and

Animal Farm and she talks about how the clash between democracy, capitalism and

totalitarianism may have affected Orwell’s ideas in his novels. One example that Senn gave was

how the portrayal of Big Brother, in 1984, may have been influenced from the Soviet Union

portraying their leader at the time. This could enable me to see a new way in which Orwell was

trying to mock the Soviet Union in 1984 and portray them as a controlling and suppressive in his

novel through the use of Big Brother.

To conclude, all three articles could enable me to find out Orwell’s political standpoint,

thus showing what he agrees and disagrees with in politics, which will allow me to find out how

he portrays his beliefs through his characters and plot in his 1984 and Animal Farm. These

articles help show how Orwell mocks totalitarianism and capitalism in 1984 and Animal Farm,

however, they do not show specific examples in the novels of how those political ideas are

mocked and how the characters show negative qualities of each political idea (I will show a

specific link between Orwell’s beliefs and the novels).

Works Cited:

Frodsham, John David. “The New Barbarians: Totalitarianism, Terror and the Left
Intelligentsia in Orwell's 1984.” World Affairs, vol. 147, no. 3, 1984, pp. 139–160. JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/20672021.
 Makovi, Michael. “George Orwell as a Public Choice Economist.” The American
Economist, vol. 60, no. 2, 2015, pp. 183–208., www.jstor.org/stable/43664863.

Senn, Samantha. “All Propaganda Is Dangerous, but Some Are More Dangerous than
Others: George Orwell and the Use of Literature as Propaganda.” Journal of Strategic Security,
vol. 8, no. 3, 2015, pp. 149–161. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26465253.

Word count: 747 (without citations)

Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography on Orwell’s political beliefs and the ways in which he mocks and
portrays different political movements in 1984 and Animal Farm.
Research question: How does Orwell portray totalitarian systems through the ways of his
authoritative characters control and suppress those they rule in Animal Farm and 1984?
Frodsham, John David. “The New Barbarians: Totalitarianism, Terror and the Left
Intelligentsia in Orwell's 1984.” World Affairs, vol. 147, no. 3, 1984, pp. 139–160. JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/20672021.
Frodsham’s article shows Orwell’s hatred towards totalitarianism as the need for power,
authority, and control over one’s subordinates is positioning our society more as a dystopia rather
than a utopia. He explains how Orwell thinks that the need of power is creating a never-ending
war between different nations. He also shows Orwell’s hatred towards the Soviet Union. In
addition, Frosham shows similarities between Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and George
Orwell’s Animal Farm as Orwell uses many ideas from Gulliver’s Travels such as the hatred
toward mankind. I can use this information as a foundation to analyze Orwell’s thought process
and ideas in Animal Farm as I now know one of the authors he was influenced by and why he
hates the Soviet Union and totalitarianism. This could also help me in examining the allegory that
Orwell used in Animal Farm and how it shapes the plot and characters.
(word count:148)
Makovi, Michael. “George Orwell as a Public Choice Economist.” The American
Economist, vol. 60, no. 2, 2015, pp. 183–208., www.jstor.org/stable/43664863.
Makovi’s article shows that even though Orwell is a socialist, he tends to focus on totalitarianism
and capitalism in Animal Farm and 1984 since he is mocking both political systems and the
countries that follow them. His view on socialism makes Makovi believe that Orwell was an early
practitioner of public choice. I could use this to further show how Orwell mocks totalitarianism
and capitalism. I could also examine how the antagonists of 1984 and Animal Farm show the
negative qualities of capitalism and totalitarianism.
(word count: 85)
Senn, Samantha. “All Propaganda Is Dangerous, but Some Are More Dangerous than
Others: George Orwell and the Use of Literature as Propaganda.” Journal of Strategic Security,
vol. 8, no. 3, 2015, pp. 149–161. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26465253.
Senn’s article reflects on how powerful countries during the first world war, such as the Soviet
Union, reacted to the release of 1984 and Animal Farm. Senn also discusses about how the clash
between totalitarianism, capitalism, and democracy affected Orwell’s ideas when developing the
plots, mood, and characters of both novels. Again, this could help me in examining how Orwell
mocked the Soviet Union, totalitarianism, and capitalism. Also, it could enable me to examine
how certain characters are similar to political figures in the Soviet Union and I could show how
Orwell mocked the Soviet Union.
(word count: 96)