A Comparison Between Swift?s ?Gulliver?s Travels? And Orwell?s ?Animal Farm? Essay, Research Paper
????????? In many ways ?Gulliver?s Travels? is a
unique work. There is little to compare it to in world literature and at first
glance, ?Animal Farm? appears to be a very different kind of book.? The authors are separated by over two
centuries, yet there are a surprising number of similarities between ?Animal
Farm? and ?Gulliver?s Travels?. Some of the most intriguing similarities can be found when you examine
the two authors, George Orwell and Jonathan Swift.? They are perhaps the most prolific political writers of their
time and? share likenesses that occur
throughout their upbringing, to the publication of their books. Orwell, like Swift, felt a deep sense of isolation throughout his
childhood especially in 1911, at a preparatory boarding school.? There he was distinguished among the other
boys for his poverty and intellectual brilliance.? Orwell grew up a morose, withdrawn, eccentric boy, and told of
the miseries of these years in his autobiographical essay, ?Such, Such Were The
Joys? (1953). ????????? Orwell and Swift both received an
excellent education, Orwell at Eton and Swift at Trinity College, and found
themselves as editors later in their lives.?
In 1943-45, Orwell became the literary editor of the Tribune, having
contributed several articles to the Observer and Manchester Evening News.? Swift (as noted in ?Swift and his Satire In
?Gulliver?s Travels? And ?A Modest Proposal??), had been editor of The Examiner
two hundred and fifty years earlier. The authors? backgrounds heavily influenced their purpose for writing
their novels.? Jonathan Swift was Irish
and, in ?Gulliver?s Travels?, satirised George I?s court and the English
landowners in Ireland.? George Orwell
was English and satirised political power including Communism, in the Russian
revolution and its aftermath. ?Animal Farm? is also an attack and analysis of
the search for power and the ways in which corrupt figures can gain and
manipulate power for their own purposes.?
Lord Acton observed that: ?Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts
absolutely?. Orwell stated that ?Totalitarianism has abolished freedom of
thought to an extent unheard of in any previous age?.? He believed that this was achieved not only by preventing or
forbidding certain thoughts or ideas but also by telling people exactly what to
think.? This is demonstrated from the beginning of ?Animal Farm? when Snowball
simplifies Major?s ideas into slogans, in an effort to make the less
intelligent animals understand the principals of animalism.? For example, Major?s statement that
?Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy? is reduced to the slogan ?Four legs
good.? Two legs bad?.? This simplification can lead to a loss of
meaning and become dangerous as we see when the sheep use the chant to drown
any opposition to Napoleon in the meetings.?
Both Orwell and Swift made their intentions in writing their novels
clear in the preface, which created great difficulties for their publication
namely because of the controversial satire within them.? ?Animal Farm?, for instance, was veiled a
criticism of the regime in the Soviet Union at a time when the regime was
Britain?s ally.? In order to avoid any further delays in the publication of the two
books, they were subtitled ?fairy stories? to obscure the true purposes behind
the writing of the two books.? In
?Animal Farm?, however, this also drew the readers? attention to the artificial
nature of the story line.? ?Animal Farm? and ?Gulliver?s Travels? are both political allegories and
can be read on different levels.?
?Gulliver?s Travels? can be read as a travel book, diary, fantasy and
satire of the time.? ?Animal Farm,
however, can be read on fewer levels: as a fable and a satire of general human
nature and the Russian Revolution. Besides satire, ?Gulliver?s Travels? can be considered as having many
genres whereas ?Animal Farm? has been classed as a fable.? These works (such as Aesop?s Fables) utilise
animal characters to make serious moral points.? Characters do not behave in a naturalistic or realistic way but
are symbolic of certain attitudes or view points e.g. Anthropomorphism as seen
in ?Animal Farm? and ?Gulliver?s Travels?. ?George Orwell?s novel satirises
ways in which power can be abused by individuals, whereas Jonathan Swift
targets all human foibles and institutions. ?I have ever hated all nations,
professions and communities, and all of my love is towards individuals: for
instance I hate the tribe of lawyers, but I love councilor such a one, judge
such a one? but principally I hate and detest that animal called man, although
I heartily love John, Peter Thomas and so forth?. This is one of the principal
differences between the two authors and the two novels. The structure of
?Animal Farm? helps to clarify the theme of the betrayed revolution through
repetition of certain key images or phrases.?
It follows a conventional narrative structure, written in the third
person in contrast to ?Gulliver?s Travels? which is written in the first
person. The story is
divided into ten chapters, which have the decline of the high ideals of the
animalistic revolution.? The book is
also structured in a more subtle way.?
Once the revolution had happened, several chapters open by referring to
the suffering of the animals or the harsh winters (Chapters 5,6 and 7 all open
in this way) and end with the gradual perversion of one of the commandments. The repetition of
various ideas and images forms a pattern in the text and links events
together.? In particular, Major?s speech
at the start of the novel is echoed and referred throughout the novel, to
provide a standard by which the pigs? actions are judged. ????????? The recurrent appearance of the
menacing dogs ensures that the reader never forgets the terror and violence
that underpins Napoleon?s rule: the sheep?s mindless and repetitive bleating is
used in a similar way. ????????? The repeated breaking of the
commandments and the animals? continual checking of the wall, makes clear to
the reader, the gradual distortion of Major?s ideals.? This reaches a shocking climax, when all pretence of following
the commandments is abandoned by the pigs, in favour of open terror and
oppression, signified by the whips. In contrast to
?Animal Farm?, the structure of ?Gulliver?s Travels? has often been
criticised.? It has been suggested that
the neat balance between Lilliput and Brobdingnag is not maintained in Books 3
and 4.? Book 3 lacks a single
imaginative design such as links the opening Books together and returns in the
4th.? Book 3 was written
last, and it seems to consist of many loose ideas that Swift wanted to squeeze
in without spoiling the climax.?? ?Gulliver?s
Travels? consists of long sentences, which are heavily punctuated and full of
intricate descriptions. ?His features are strong and masculine, with an Austrian
lip, and arched nose, his complexion olive, his countenance erect, his body and
limbs well proportioned, all his motions graceful, and his deportment
majestic?.? This quote, taken from
?Gulliver?s Travels?, represents only a very small portion of the description
of the Emperor. ?Animal Farm? has
a simplistic style composed of a simple storyline and straightforward
characters. ?He was twelve years old and had lately grown rather stout, but was
still a majestic-looking pig, with a wise and benevolent appearance in spite of
the fact that his tushes had never been cut?.?
This quote, taken from ?Animal Farm?, describes Old Major. We see the
pigs make use of the word ?equality to mean its opposite. The style of writing
has enabled Orwell?s comments to be transmitted to the widest audience in its
most readable form.? Orwell suggested
that writers simplify their words, use straightforward language rather than
foreign or technical words, which could mislead the reader and fail to make the
meaning clear.? Orwell also suggested
that language had to try, as far as possible, to reflect the truth of an issue
rather than be distorted or relay false sentiments or feelings.? In ?Animal Farm?, language is used to cover
up meaning.? ????????? Despite the large time span separating
the two authors, it has been possible to find many similarities and contrasts
in the two novels.? However, the main
factor that has ensured the novels? success over the years, is their appeal and
popularity among adults and children alike.?
Chancie Knights April 1998