Grade 8 Unit 2, EA 1: Writing an Expository Essay - Option 1
The assessment uses a novel read as Independent Reading.
Animal Farm Dystopia vs. 21st Century America
Dystopian societies are created in novels to express the need for change in
modern societies. They come as warnings for people to prevent the future from getting
worse. George Orwell’s Animal Farm is about a group of animals that take over a farm
in the search of freedom and equality. But over time their community evolves into an
authoritarian style rule due to corrupt decisions being implemented. Animal Farm is an
example of a dystopian society and includes five out of the nine traits dystopias have.
Common dystopian traits that are present in Animal Farm include: restrictions, fear,
dehumanization, conformity, and control. Some dystopian traits exist in most societies
today, but the level of extremism tends to determine if negative or positive results occur
from them. In Animal Farm the qualities of restriction and fear are most similar and
different in modern societies.
Primarily, one quality of a dystopia that is represented in Animal Farm is
restriction. The animals initially had seven commandments that must always be followed
and four of them were restrictions. One restriction given to the animals was, “No animal
shall ever wear clothes” (p.19). Animals were forbidden from clothes because only
humans were supposed to wear them. Another restriction was that, “No animal shall
ever drink alcohol” (p.19). The animals could not drink alcohol because only humans did
and alcohol caused humans to be impaired and act ignorantly. The two restrictions
showed how the animals were attempting to avoid being more human like. To the
animals, the humans were the oppressors and when they rebelled against their human
keepers, it was to lead a better life which meant not becoming similar to the oppressor.
Another major restriction the animals had was, “No animal shall kill any other animal”
(p.19). This restriction against killing was made by other animals for all the animals to
follow. In modern day society, restrictions exist as well. Laws govern nations and
values govern cultures for people to act a specific way to create order. If the animals in
Animal Farm were trying to avoid being like humans, it is arguable that humans follow
laws to avoid being like animals. Some restrictions a majority of people agree with, for
instance, the restriction against killing other humans.
The first seven commandments on Animal Farm appeared to be reasonable and
the animals did not mind obeying them. But many restrictions can cause social
upheaval in the world, such as segregation laws, military involvement in other countries
or tax discrepancies. America specifically is a nation founded on freedom of assembly
and the citizens often react when there are restrictions they do not approve of. For
example, during Prohibition alcohol was outlawed creating a new outlet for crime
because bootleggers were in competition with each other to distribute alcohol. The
restriction created more problems than there were when the restriction was not in place.
Similarly, at the end of Animal Farm, all of the previous commandments are cancelled
out and only one commandment remains: “All animals are equal, but some animals are
more equal than others” (p.52). It showed the need for societies to have rules and
structure, but at the same time people need to focus on a balance of power to prevent
inequality amongst citizens.
Furthermore, in Animal Farm fear is used to keep the animals under control. The
character Old Major told the animals: “Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove
Man from the scene and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished forever”
(p.5). Old Major used fear to get the animals to rebel by telling them how horrible Mr.
Jones was, and rallying them up together. The animals’ fear of being treated cruelly
and controlled by Mr. Jones fueled their resentment, although they were trapping
themselves into being controlled and betrayed by Napoleon. Other characters would
bring up Mr. Jones to create the element of fear when persuading the farm animals to
obey. Fear as a method of control is usually a key element in a dystopian society. In
modern society today there are nations, usually warring nations, which are controlled
with fear by their rulers. But America was founded with ideals to avoid having the
masses of the nation controlled by fear. American democratic ideals were established to
allow people to have a voice and not be lead blindly. However, there have been times in
American history that fear was used to influence the nation. For instance, recently
promoting a fear of terrorism and terrorists helped garner support for American
involvement in the Middle East. Using fear to control people exists, even in such a
country founded on freedom as America. In Animal Farm the level of fear and control is
much higher than the level you see in daily life in America.
Animal Farm shows that balance and moderation is important to prevent
dystopian-like societies from forming. American values instilled when the country was
first forming shows that the founders had similar goals in preventing dystopian-like
societies. Although dystopian settings are usually set in the future to provide a warning
to the people in the present about making changes to avoid such a terrible fate, Animal
Farm still provides insight into the disastrous outcomes such a restrictive and fearridden society could have. It mirrors situations that have occurred in history such as the
evolution of Russia, and shows that dystopian societies can occur in the present.
Dystopian qualities exist in all forms of government and nations but how extreme they
are distinguishes the difference from one world to the next.
Works Cited
Orwell, George. Animal Farm. Harcourt Brace & Company.1946.