Social Criticism In Literature Essays - Criticism, Discrimination

Social Criticism In Literature Essays - Criticism, Discrimination Social Criticism in Literature Many authors receive their inspiration for writing their literature from outside sources. The idea for a story could come from family, personal experiences, history, or even their own creativity. For authors that choose to write a book based on historical events, the inspiration might come from their particular viewpoint on the event that they want to dramatize. George Orwell and Charles Dickens wrote Animal Farm and A Tale of Two Cities, respectively, to express their disillusionment with society and human nature. Animal Farm, written in 1944, is a book that tells the animal fable of a farm in which the farm animals revolt against their human masters. It is an example of social criticism in literature in which Orwell satirized the events in Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution. He anthropomorphises the animals, and alludes each one to a counterpart in Russian history. A Tale of Two Cities also typifies this kind of literature. Besides the central theme of love, is another prevalent theme, that of a revolution gone bad. He shows us that, unfortunately, human nature causes us to be vengeful and, for some of us, overly ambitious. Both these books are similar in that both describe how, even with the best of intentions, our ambitions get the best of us. Both authors also demonstrate that violence and the Machiavellian attitude of "the ends justifying the means" are deplorable. George Orwell wrote Animal Farm, ". . . to discredit the Soviet system by showing its inhumanity and its back-sliding from ideals [he] valued . . ."(Gardner, 106) Orwell noted that " there exists in England almost no literature of disillusionment with the Soviet Union.' Instead, that country is viewed either with ignorant disapproval' or with uncritical admiration.'"(Gardner, 96) The basic synopsis is this: Old Major, an old boar in Manor Farm, tells the other animals of his dream of "animalism": " . . . Only get rid of Man, and the produce of our labour would be our own. Almost overnight we would become rich and free.'" (Orwell, 10) The other animals take this utopian idea to heart, and one day actually do revolt and drive the humans out. Two pigs emerge as leaders: Napoleon and Snowball. They coneztly argued, but one day, due to a difference over plans to build a windmill, Napoleon exiled Snowball. Almost immediately, Napoleon established a totalitarian government. Soon, the pigs began to get special favours, until finally, they were indistinguishable from humans to the other animals. Immediately the reader can begin to draw parallels between the book's characters and the government in 1917-44 Russia. For example, Old Major, who invented the idea of "animalism," is seen as representing Karl Marx, the creator of communism. Snowball represents Trotsky, a Russian leader after the revolution. He was driven out by Napoleon, who represents Stalin, the most powerful figure in the country. Napoleon then proceeded to remove the freedoms of the animals, and established a dictatorship, under the public veil of "animalism." Pigs represent the ruling class because of their stereotype: dirty animals with insatiable appetites. Boxer, the overworked, incredibly strong, dumb horse represents the common worker in Russia. The two surrounding farms represent two of the countries on the global stage with Russia at the time, Germany and England. Orwell begins his book by criticizing the capitalists and ruling elite, who are represented in Animal Farm by Mr. Jones, the farmer. He is shown as a negligent drunk, who coneztly starved his animals. "His character is already established as self-indulgent and uncaring." (King, 8) Orwell shows us how, "if only animals became aware of their strength, we should have no power over them, and that men exploit animals in much the same way as the rich exploit the proletariat." (Gardner, 97) What was established in Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution was not true communism ("animalism"), which Orwell approved of, where the people owned all the factories and land. Rather, "state communism" was established, where a central government owned them. Orwell thought that such a political system, "state communism," was open to exploitation by its leaders. Napoleon, after gaining complete control, did anything he wished - reserved the best for the pigs, and treated the animals cruelly. The animals could

How to Use Conjunctions As Far As, Since, and Even Though

How to Use Conjunctions As Far As, Since, and Even Though How to Use Conjunctions: As Far As, Since, and Even Though We use conjunctions (e.g., and or but) to build grammatical sentences, which in turn allows us to express ourselves clearly. Every conjunction has its own meaning though, so it’s a good idea to learn a few more! In this post, we take a closer look at three conjunctions that could help in your academic writing: â€Å"as far as,† â€Å"since† and â€Å"even though.† As Far As (To the Degree That) Used as a conjunction, â€Å"as far as† means â€Å"to the degree or extent that.† It therefore qualifies statements that apply only under certain conditions. The phrases like â€Å"as far as we know,† for instance, signals that something is based on incomplete information: The experiment poses no risk as far as we know. Here, â€Å"as far as† suggests the sentence is true to the best of our understanding. However, it leaves open the possibility that it is based on imperfect knowledge. Because â€Å"as far as† is a subordinating conjunction when used like this, it always joins a dependent clause (â€Å"as far as we know†) to an independent clause (â€Å"The experiment poses no risk†). Since (Time and Justification) Also a subordinating conjunction, â€Å"since† has two distinct uses. The first is to specify that something happened after a particular point in time: Since learning to dance, I’ve felt more graceful. In this case, â€Å"since† shows that the speaker started feeling this way only after learning to dance. The second meaning is to introduce a reason or justification for something (making it a synonym for â€Å"because†): Since we are interested in how people perceive retail experiences, we have adopted a qualitative research approach. Here, the word â€Å"since† joins a clause about the reason for picking a research approach to the main clause about the approach chosen. Even Though (Despite the Fact That) The term â€Å"even though† is used to introduce contrast in a sentence, like saying â€Å"despite the fact that†: Even though he was completely deaf from around 1820, Beethoven began work on his Ninth Symphony in 1822. The difference between â€Å"even though† and â€Å"though† is simply that â€Å"even though† is more emphatic. We therefore use â€Å"even though† when introducing a particularly surprising or unexpected contrast.