After WWII and during the beginning of the Cold War, much was thought and much was said about government and about the contemporary culture in general. This is reflected in many of the literary works of the time, and even before that time, as many of the Marxist and socialist principles were well known. Some of the works include symbolism, some include metaphors, some include satire, and some have other methods. Regardless on which device is used, the messages that these books come across with are usually very clear and there is not really any grey area to what the books are all about.
They all share similar themes and ideas, most of which are undoubtedly satirical in their form, and all of which include at least some element of the authors life incorporated into the work. The bottom line of the books usually attacks totalitarian government and government control, but not necessarily just Communist governments; some books aim at capitalism as well. The novel Animal Farm, by George Orwell, does not have any hidden meaning or symbolism; the book was written in a time of war and was made to make a political statement.
Everything that is written in the book was done with a purpose, all of which reflects Orwells personal life influences and ideas. Orwell claimed that Animal Farm was the first book he wrote in which he knew exactly what he was doing, joining political and artistic purpose into one literary novel (Brunsdale 122). Some of the story was based on Orwells life experiences and exposure, while other parts were based on the political message he was attempting to make.
Although it attacks totalitarian governments of the time, this is not to say that Orwell was exactly a fan of the British government either, as he saw the possibly of government corruption and totalitarianism arising in any form of government, not only Nazis and Communists. For this reason, he wrote to attack not only Communism, but also capitalism; but in this case, with Animal Farm, most of the symbols and literary devices lean towards attacking Communism. Most of the characters and events directly correspond with a Cold War figure or event.
Within the book, each character or group of characters has a specific political significance in this allegory portraying Communist Russia. The humans are the capitalists, the animals are the Communists, the wild animals who could not be tamed are the peasants, the pigs are the Bolsheviks, the Rebellion is the October Revolution, the neighboring farmers represent the Western armies who attempted to fight against the Soviets, and the list goes on (Meyers 249). The political structure of the Soviet Union is matched perfectly to the personalities and names of characters that he chose.
Major represents Lenin, who sparked the Communist Revolution in the Soviet Union. Snowball is a pig who threw a military coup to remove the other ruling pig, Napoleon, who represents Stalin. Napoleon represents Trotsky, a member of the Socialist revolution who was always accused of vast anti-Stalin plots (Brunsdale 128). This goes for all the characters in the book, all the way from the donkeys to the horses to the humans and everyone in between. The structure of the farm and the environment Orwell created with the neighboring farms also has political meaning.
The patriotic speech that is constantly sung at the farm is called the Beasts of England. In the book this song was taught to the animals by Major, who signifies Karl Marx, both of whom sparked a revolution (Brunsdale 128). A portion of the song goes: Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland, Beasts of every land and clime, Hearken to my joyful tidings Of the golden future time. Soon or late the day is coming, Tyrant Man shall be oerthrown, And the fruitful fields of England Shall be trod by Beasts alone (Orwell 32)
That is only a portion of the song, but it continues in the same manner, speaking of the golden future and the end of the rule of men. Orwell created this speak to resemble the Communist anthem lInternationale (Brunsdale 129). The lyrics of the Communist anthem are very similar in meaning to the animal anthem. For both of the anthems, the underlying idea is to rise up and win the struggle. The first stanza of lInternationale goes: Arise, the damned of the earth, Arise, prisoners of hunger, For reason thunders in its crater, It is the last eruption! Let us discard the past, Army of slaves, arise, arise!
The world is changing at the base, We who have been nothing, let’s be everything! It is the final struggle Let us gather, and tomorrow The Internationale Will be mankind! One can clearly see the similarities within the two songs, both displaying the very simple ideals that a revolution represented. History shows what happened in the case of the Soviet Union when the revolution was presented to the people, and Orwell demonstrates his interpretation of the reaction to the revolution. The singing of this song threw the animals into the wildest excitement. Almost before Major had reached the end, they had begun singing it for themselves.
Even the stupidest among them had already picked up the tune (Orwell 33). In the book, the stupid animals are lead by Boxer, who is known to say things like I will work harder and Napoleon is always right. With that said, the animals all respected Boxer for his work ethic and loyalty, both of which are staples to the Marx economic philosophy. Later in the book it is revealed this philosophy does not work though, because not all the animals felt this admiration and respect, and the greed that is a part of human nature will not allow for an equal playing field to work for a long period of time.
Another part of Orwells literary devices he uses is the deliberate use of certain quotes; Orwell takes quotes from other parts of history and other literary devices to incorporate into his political satire. The most famous of the quotes is-ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS (Orwell 133). In this single commandment given by the leader Napoleon, Orwell combined Thomas Jeffersons concept in the Declaration of Independence with all men are created equal and Eves command to the Serpent in John Miltons Paradise Lost, render me more equal, and perhaps, /A thing not undesirable, sometime / Superior (Meyers 248).
Similarly, the ideas of Karl Marx are parodied throughout the book, which can be seen in the quotes of Squealer. When Squealer says Four legs good, two legs bad (Orwell 50), it is an example of Marxist reasoning: A birds wing, comradesis an organ of propulsion and not of manipulation. It should therefore be regarded as a leg (Meyers 248). Finally, the very end of the book resembles Marxs Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844: (The Worker) in his human functions no longer feels himself to be anything but an animal.
What is animal becomes human and what is human becomes animal (Meyers 248). This is strikingly similar to the last paragraph of the book: Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which (Orwell 139). Again, Animal Farm is very deliberate in its use of metaphors, and there are numerous examples of this in almost every part of the book.
Because of this somewhat bashing of the Soviet Union, British publishers did not want this type of literature against their so called allies. Likewise, American publishers did not accept it, but this time for a different reason; they thought it was simply a childrens book about animals (Brunsdale 121). Another one of George Orwells books, 1984, has a similar message to it. Orwell creates a world that is supposedly a perfect utopia, but exposes what lies beneath the perfect society. 84 was his last book, published on June 6, 1949, and sums up his lifelong thoughts on politics and is an inspired piece of anti-Communism. It was a huge success because it was intended to be a warning rather than a prediction, a story that most people would agree is not unbelievable (Lewis 112), especially for the readers of the time. Looking back on it, modern readers can relate to the message that is made, because the events that occurred have been lasting, not temporary. Like Animal Farm, 1984 attacks not only Stalin and Hitler, but totalitarianism in general.
As far as the literary devices that Orwell uses to make his point, he looked to other authors dystopias and observed their strengths and weaknesses (Brunsdale 149). To make this novel powerful, Orwell chose to incorporate contemporary events to create an atmosphere of documentary reality, and the use of familiar materials rather than imaginary speculation of the future (Meyers 281). In this way, the reader would be much more likely to believe that the scenario was possible. An example of this would be in the beginning of the book, when Winston watches a newsreel showing the sinking of a refugee ship.
This was inspired by and event on September 27, 1940, when a ship carrying ninety children and their nine escorts was torpedoed and sunk by the Germans six hundred miles off the Atlantic coast. 1984 is so loaded with symbols that nearly every aspect of the book has some sort of symbol involved with it. From the pictures and posters of Big Brother, which symbolize the propaganda of both Hitler and Stalin, to Julia, who symbolizes many things, including hope and freedom and at the same time failure, symbolism is very difficult to avoid.
The list goes on and on, but the underlying tone that the book creates is that is very dark, particularly at the end of the book, where all the hope is lost. This may have something to do with Orwell himself who when he was writing the book nearly was not able to finish it because of health reasons, not to mention the passing of his wife during a minor operation (Lewis 102). He was in a very depressive and uncomfortable state, which may have contributed to the tone of his last novel. Similar to 1984, Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, is based on a seemingly perfect utopian society.
The title comes from Shakespeares The Tempest, in a quote from Act V, scene 1 (Watts 72). This is not just a random quote chosen by Huxley because it sounds good; but the ironic thing of it all is that the world that Huxley creates is nearer to a nightmare than to heaven on hearth. This is also ironic on another level, because Orwell thought that the future that Huxley created turned the future into a sort of Riviera Resort, lacking the moral dimensions that make 1984 what it is, and that is disturbing to Orwell.
This is true on some levels, because in fact this society that Huxley creates works fairly well, but that does not mean that the human aspects are saved in the process. Some of these human aspects are controlled by various technologies. The drug soma, which is supposed to alleviate tensions prevalent to man, is used to give the population instant gratification, but it certainly does not cancel these tensions (Watts 79). This drug in itself is a symbol government control of the population, by means of science and technology.
In most utopian fictions, the author must achieve esthetic success by giving the reader a sense of reality, but the reality is transformed or altered in some way (Watts 73). This happens only once in Brave New World and that is the consciously distorted representation of certain current tendencies. This reminds the reader of the realization of future possibilities that are only stirring in the present (Watts 73). Brave New World is not only a warning of what may happen in the future, but also a reflection of what Huxley felt was going on in the era that the book was written.
This is most obvious is the Ford symbol that is used repeatedly throughout the novel. In Ford the assembly line, made famous by Henry Ford in the early 1900s, workers did the same task over and over again. Similarly, in this utopian world created by Huxley, each individuals place on the assembly line, which is also his obsession, is built in from birth (Meckier 19). The beginning of the book reveals this process in which the unborn citizens are created, ironically on a conveyor belt that once carried Ford cars from start to finish.
Here, the beings are created, not to be individuals, but to cheerfully belong to each other. This is shown in one of the more well known phrases from the book: Everyone belongs to everyone else (Watts 76). To go along with the Ford theme, Huxley decides to incorporate the word Ford, where normally the word Lord or God would appear. For example, my Ford instead of my Lord, or in Ford we trust instead of in God we trust. This society even bases its years differently; instead of using BC or AD, it uses AF, or After Ford.
This was very appropriate and reflective of the time the book was written, right after the Roaring 20s. By using Ford to replace religious words, Huxley warns that technology might replace religion. To go back to the drug soma, this drug can be interpreted as a sacrament to control society, not by true religion, but by technology and medicine. There is one thing that influences the Huxley in this book, and that is his view of man. Huxley had a cherished view of man, but he felt that humans are hampered by limitations that are part of their own human nature (Watts 75).
This might seem like a paradox, but nonetheless this is what is portrayed by Huxley throughout the novel. It would seem obvious that he would get his influences on utopia from the Cold War period. The problem of this is that this book was written way before that time, and the influences of Huxley were just his view of mankind. In this way it is different from the other books, but he was still making many of the same points as 1984, just a little bit earlier.
Besides that, though, the literary devices such as satire, irony, symbolism, etc. e the same as the other novels that were directly influenced by WWII and the Cold War. With that said, although the bottom line of state control is the same, the ways the state controls the people is a bit different. In 1984, Orwell creates a government that controls its people by fear, torture, death, secret police, etc. Huxley, on the other hand, creates a world where the government innovations make people content and happy, not knowing anything else, and use technological developments to do so (Meckier 175).
The reason for this may be that at the time the novel was written, Huxley was only exposed to Marxist thought, while when 1984 was written, Orwell was influenced by Marx, WWII, and the beginning of the Cold War. This Marx influence in Brave New World, is not surprisingly evident in the character of Bernard Marx. Bernard Marx is isolated by his stature and appearance, and is not really part of society, seemingly just what Karl Marx was fighting against. Karl Marx, of course, is one of the pioneers of a utopian society in which everyone is equal.
The satire here comes when Bernard Marx and eleven others proceed to finish a hymn: The group was now complete, the solidarity circle perfect and without flaw Twelve of them ready to be made one, waiting to come together, to be fused, to lose their twelve separate identities in a larger being (Meckier 34). Of course, this feeling is ruined by someone shouting from the top of the stairs, and the hymn exercise falls apart. Undoubtedly, Huxley chooses the Marx character to be the one that is involved in the unity exercise that falls apart.
The attempt by Barnard Marx to become a part of a whole fails, possibly reflecting the opinion of Huxley that a perfect, together society is simply not possible. The next author, Ray Bradbury wrote two books considered to be Cold War Novels, one of which is called Fahrenheit 451. This book focuses on the social issues that faced America during the Cold War years, especially concerning government oppression of the individual (Reid 54). With that said, this is not the only aspect that Bradbury used in the novel.
Although its basic mechanics of thought control derive from 1984, it is different in that instead of focusing mainly on the government, it focuses more on the superficiality of mass culture (Mogen 107). Bradbury combines the oppressive atmosphere of Orwells police state and the science-fiction anti-utopian model introduced in Huxleys Brave New World. Fahrenheit 451 dramatizes entrapment in a sterile heritage and imaginative life, preserving a barren present without a past or future.
It fuses traditional themes of anti-utopia fiction, much like the other authors, to satirically focus on the oppressive effect of a reductionist philosophy translated into social policy. This was written in response to the Cold War atmosphere after WWII, and is not aimed at one type of government institution, but rather at anti-intellectualism and ignorant materialism (Mogen 105). The bottom line in Fahrenheit 451 is a warning that tyranny and thought control always come under the attempts to fulfill ideals, whether is the ideals of Fascism, Communism, or the American Dream.
Still, the book does take an approach that is directed not exactly at American ideals, but at the American assumption that totalitarianism cannot happen in America. For this novel, analyzing its stylistic properties helps very much to understand the literary work. One of these properties that is constantly used throughout Fahrenheit 451 is the use of images (Reid 61). Bradbury uses images coupled with fire and burning, as well as images of light and running water. Fire is used in a symbolic manner, both in a negative and positive light.
Bradbury himself claims that one of his inspirations for using fire in this book was because he had heard stories of Hitler burning books in 1934, as well as Stalin and his match people and tinderboxes (Bradbury 16). He had also heard of the triple burnings of the Alexander Library, two of which were accidental and the other that was done on purpose. In fact, some of this imagery of fire as a literary device comes from the inversion of standards of values in an institution that had once engulfed Bradburys respect as a child (Mogen 106).
Going back to the Cold War and the use of books in this novel, Bradbury lived through the McCarthy period. This is significant because McCarthy had demanded the Army to remove all of the tainted books from the overseas libraries. So really, there was not just one influence on Bradburys life that persuaded him to use his various imagery devices, rather a culmination of life experiences and outside influences. To magnify the importance of imagery within Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury actually changes the structure of his writing. This is very clear in the passage where Montag decides to preserve life and knowledge rather than destroy it (Reid 61):
He saw the moon low in the sky now. The moon there, and the light of the moon caused by what? By the sun, of course. And what lights the sun? Its own fire. And the sun goes on, day after day, burning and burning. The sun and time. The sun and time burning. Burning. The river bobbled him along gently. Burning. The sun and every clock on the earth. It all came together and became a single thing in his mind. After a long time of floating on the land and a short time of floating in the river he knew why he must never burn again in his life (Bradbury 166).
This passage has 112 words, with thirteen sentences, and six of them are fragments. In this passage there is little or no action taking place. Since the passage lacks action verbs, the nouns call for greater attention. In fact, one-quarter of the words in this passage are in noun phrases (Reid 62). The nouns are related to the image clusters that Bradbury uses. Sun is used six times; fire and light are each used once; the verb burning five times; moon is used three times; river is used twice; land and earth are both used once.
The other important image cluster is related to time, with time, clock, and day all used in the passage (Reid 62). All of this just shows how important the use of images is in Fahrenheit 451, as and as how the style of writing is only compliments the use of imagery. These images also represent symbols as well, especially fire. The terror of fire is Bradburys idea of the American Dream gone bad. The community firehouse becomes the agent for the fire itself, and instead of preserving the community institutions, it destroys them (Mogen 106).
Other than symbols of nature, other symbols reflect the theme of censorship that is apparent in many of these novels. At the end of Fahrenheit 451, one of the characters, Granger, says that they must build a mirror factory to take a long look at themselves. It seems that this is a symbol of self reflection, self understanding, and seeing oneself in a clear manner. This all goes back to government and censorship, because of course self understanding and seeing things clearly is not something that a government who is trying to control the population would want for its citizens.
One of the main characteristics not only of Fahrenheit 451, but also of Bradburys best science fiction novels, is its most powerful scenes filled with lyrical intensity. These scenes involve vivid exhibition of dialogue and asides, which enable the reader to notice the spiritual desolation disguised by the busy, upbeat appearances of the modern world, which again goes back to Bradburys main satire involving the modern mass culture (Mogen 108). For example, when the books and magazines burn, they appear as slaughtered birds: A book lit, almost obediently, like a white pigeon, in his hands, wings fluttering (Bradbury 32).
As with Huxley, Bradburys satire is largely influenced by American culture in the twenties, and is also based on pleasure rather than pain, with addition to mindless sensation rather from fear of government, which differs a bit from some of the other novels, particularly those of Orwell (Mogen 108). With that said, the main warning of totalitarianism and government control is repeated in all these books. Whether the government control is gained by pleasure and pain, it is a moot point, because even when the people are controlled by pleasure, it is artificial and does not truly make the individual happy.
Not unlike Orwell, Kurt Vonneguts quarrels with society began with World-War Two. One of the many reason that his novel Slaughterhouse-Five has been so successful is because in Vonneguts mind, he was just writing on what he had seen, and just expanding on that a bit (Hicks 180). What he had seen was the destruction of Dresden, and in his words, All this happened, more or less. Now, it should be mentioned that there are many science fiction aspects to this novel, such as flying saucers and such, which is probably why Vonnegut adds the words more or less.
Even so, Vonnegut felt that writing in a science fiction form was appropriate because in for him it was the best way in which to express his thoughts (Klinkowitz 89). Although there are aspects in the book that involve Vonneguts thoughts on education, religion, advertising, and many more subjects, the main target is the institution of war (Hicks 180). He writes in two different forms in this novel, science fiction and comedy, both complementing each other and creating a dramatized feel. Also, when he was asked why he wrote Slaughterhouse-five in science fiction form, he responded by saying, These things are intuitive.
Theres never a strategy meeting about what youre going to do; you just come to work every day. And the science fiction passages in Slaughterhouse-five are just like the clown in Shakespeare. When Shakespeare figured the audience had had enough of the heavy stuff, hed let up a little, bring on a clown or a foolish innkeeper or something like that, before hed become serious again. And trips to other planets, science fiction of an obvious kidding sort, is equivalent to the clowns every so often to lighten things up (Klinkowitz 91).
So it seems just like Orwell did with Animal Farm, Vonnegut attempts to use some sort of comic relief to release stress from the serious subject matter, particularly for the people of the time. Vonnegut uses some unique techniques that are not often seen in contemporary writing, some of which he established himself. One of these techniques is called the metafiction, in which the author self-consiously reminds the reader that he or she is reading about fiction. Another aspect that of metafiction that is used is when the author writes a passage or chapter in the novel that is also a story of the authors life (wikipedia. m).
For example, the first chapter of the book is a preface about how Vonnegut came about writing Slaughterhouse-Five. He recalls life in Dresden, postwar life, professional life, and so on (Kinkowitz 14). Symbols are used as well, such as the babbling bird that makes no sense following the massacre; the bird likely represented Vonneguts feeling that there is nothing clever to say about a war. He admits this once again in his own writing of the story. Vonnegut apologizes for his writing style, which often is short and jumbled, but says that there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre.
It is true that Vonnegut does not incorporate as many symbols and satire as some of the other authors, but what he does do very well is attempt to put dark humor on some of the situations that may come up during a war, which is ridiculous to begin with, at least in his mind. Another book, Catch-22, by Joseph Heller carries a very strong anti-war sentiment as well, but the literary techniques and devices that are used are much more confusing and mixed up than the previous books mentioned.
With that said, the novel is very humorous, which complements on the war satire, not unlike Kurt Vonneguts writing style. This technique of satire, coupled with humor, may be one of the reasons a war novel can work in the eyes of the public, because it seems that the public would be willing to listen to a story that would not normally be entertaining, especially when it involves something as horrible and sensitive as war. With that said, there are still elements that bring to life the unfortunate of war.
For example, in the first chapter of the book there is a soldier, who is wrapped in white bandage and does not have a name. This soldier represents the replaceable stance that the army takes to its soldiers. Even after his death, he is replaced by another soldier who looks exactly the same, and who everyone assumes is the same person. To try to grasp both the humor and the title at the same time, here is a passage that does both (Hicks 228). It should also be noted that this passage also contains one of the literary techniques that Heller uses, and that is complete nonsense and gibberish.
Yossarian looked at him soberly and tried another approach. Is Orr crazy? He sure is, Doc Daneeka said. Can you ground him? I sure can. But first he has to ask me to. Thats part of the rule. Then why doesnt he ask you to? Because he is crazy, Doc Daneeka said. He has to be crazy to keep flying combat missions after all those close calls hes had. Sure, I can ground him. But first he has to ask me to. Thats all he has to do to be grounded? Thats all. Let him ask me. And then you can ground him? Yossarian asked. No. Then I cant ground him.
You mean theres a catch? Sure theres a catch, Doc Daneeka replied. Catch-22. Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isnt really crazy. This type of writing may seem funny or even crazy, but it surely gets the point across and is repeated throughout the book. One may not think that all wars are pointless, and it seems that even to the biggest pessimist WWII at least had to have accomplished something. In a 1967 news conference Joseph Heller told a college audience what the book was really about, and that is Vietnam (Hicks 225).
This college audience thought that they knew everything there was to know about the book, but because of the layers upon layers of gags and anecdotes throughout the novel, they had missed what it even was about. With all that said about the book having too many whirling antics and aimless digressions, one can argue that these are all elements that the book needs to help it to become what it is. Actually, by close notice the reader will realize that Heller uses these elements to constantly give the reader a sense of time, place, and thematic relevance for each part of the novel (Bloom 22).
One of these techniques is what some call Dj vu, or seeing or experiencing the same thing over and over again. Heller uses this device as the basis of the novels structure; out of the multitude of digressions, flashbacks, and anecdotes, Heller constructs his narrative and creates thematic patterns so that the reader has the experience of seeing the same thing twice (Bloom 22). This element becomes very important because of the story is not in chronological order. If the reader is able to get the Dj vu sense, he or she will be able to relate it to another event or moment in the story.
Also, with this technique Heller is able to manipulate characters and events into elaborate parallels which, through the comparison of the parallel themes, shed light on and exemplify the novels central themes (Bloom 24). This main theme, of course, which was revealed to Heller to be about Vietnam, should have been realized by the college students who asked him this question (Hicks 225), because there is no doubt that most of them were feeling the revolt against being sent off to Vietnam, anyways.
With that said, this argument may be faulty, because how could Heller be writing about Vietnam if the book was written in 1961? This leads one to believe that by saying that he was writing about Vietnam, he may have been writing about the whole revolt against war and the ridiculousness about war that he felt when he wrote the book, and was later felt on a national level during Vietnam. Either way, Heller proves to be somewhat confusing not only within his literature, but also outside of his literature. The dehumanizing effect that war has on people is evident, and is not really too confusing in Catch-22.
When the men go on bombing missions, many times they find out that the bombs that they use are used simply for the purpose of having better aerial photographs, even to make the photographs look more beautiful. This has meaning on several levels; first, the photos represent the ridiculous decisions that the upper levels of bureaucracy often chose to make. It also symbolizes the attempt by the government to try to cover up the horrible effects of war with beauty (Hicks 228). There are also some symbolic similarities to other books of the time.
Milo Minderbinder, who is the mess officer, and often leaves a note saying: What is good for M & M Enterprises is good for the country. In Animal Farm, some of the animals are noted to have said similar things, willing to do whatever necessary for the country, or farm in this case. It all goes back to the satiric attacks on communism, which traces its past to the Marxist economic principles that are introduced in the late nineteenth century, and are confronted in pre WWII/Cold War era books such as Huxleys Brave New World.
Through the whole book, the same conclusion is reached. It was stated earlier that it involved rebellion against the system. This is true, but it goes deeper than it may seem. The book makes the point that since the system cannot be changed; the only way to deal with it is to commit acts of treason, or to desert in the face of the enemy. The point of all this is that to create this theme, Heller chose to use Dj vu as his method of choice.
This is important because it makes for a discernable, ordered pattern, which is at the very core of Hellers work of art (Bloom 27). Even though all of the authors mentioned so far have different techniques in which they make their point, and they take different routes in order to make the point, the books are all satirical at their core meaning, and it is just a different in the authors preference of technique. Any way it is written, it is very clear that all of it has been influenced by the same events, experiences