AP Essay #3

AP Essay #3

2012. "And after all, our surroundings influence our lives and characters as much as fate, destiny or any supernatural agency." Pauline Hopkins, Contending Forces. Choose a novel or play in which cultural, physical, or geographical surroundings shape psychological or moral traits in a character. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze how surroundings affect this character and illuminate the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.


          In George Orwell's allegorical novella, Animal Farm, the government exists on a farm, built upon a cult of personality, which largely is enforced through terror. The animals become isolated from the outside world through the boundaries of the farm, leading to drastic modifications in the original principles and ideologies of the animals, as well as destruction of common culture.
          The overall focus of the novella is specifically the Bolshevik Revolution, up until the Stalin era in the Soviet Union. The farm is secluded, and is therefore cut off from external influences. This allows authority to change hands easily from one animal to the next –drawing parallels with the many changes in leadership in the Soviet Union. Though once believed that "all animals are created equal," under the new establishment, this ideology is altered to describe that "all animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others" (Orwell 85). As Snowball and Napoleon take hold of the farm, drastic measures are taken to cast the farm into an era of tranquility and productivity. Although these newly instituted principles are deemed useful by the citizens of the farm, they only serve to contribute to the downfall of the farm as it creates chaos and conflict between animals with opposing beliefs. At one particular instant in the novella, the animals are unable to distinguish their own leaders from the wretched humans because as they "looked form pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again," they realized that their own leaders were exactly the same as the humans—ruthless, callous and cruel (Orwell 102). As leadership continues to falter under the newly renovated farm, common culture is obliterated by the government, causing for much tension between the animals as they attempt to solve the overarching problems of the farm.
          Although the animals present on the farm try to establish an equal environment for each other, the lust for power overwhelms some of the pigs as they begin to exert their dominance over the other, supposedly inferior beings. Even though the work became strictly voluntary, any animal who "absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half" (Orwell 68). Through the manipulative nature of the leaders of the farm, Orwell is able to illustrate the termination of freedom. The animals no longer feel the need to serve the best interests of their entire society—they now only wish to obtain their own wealth, status or power. The commonalities held dear to each individual animal are soon splintered by conflicts of interest between animals. Several of the animals "would have protested if they could have found the rightarguments" (Orwell 59). The society, once successful through determination and impartiality is now corrupted with a sense of distinct social classes and variation.
          Through the destruction of peace and friendship on the farm, Orwell is attempting to satirize the Soviet Union’s actions in order to portray his distaste towards its society. He was a staunch advocate of democratic socialism, which is illustrated through his overly sarcastic tone in the novel. Though the proud animals attempt to make the farm a paradise, they only succeed in creating turmoil and ruining their society for everyone.