FREE ESSAY ON ANIMAL FARM VS. THE GODFATHER

ANIMAL FARM VS. THE GODFATHER

Animal Farm vs. "The Godfather"
George Orwell and Mario Puzo wrote Animal Farm and "The Godfather" (from the book The
Godfather), 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 anthropomorphizes the animals, and eludes each one to a counter part in
Russian history. The movie "The Godfather", directed by Francis Ford Coppula, also
typifies this kind of literature. Besides the central theme of mob life, 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 of these
works are similar in that both describe how, even with the best of intentions, our
ambitions get the best of us. Both of the 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, "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.'" (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 constantly 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 favors, 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
1914-1944 Russia. For example, Old Major, who invented the idea of "animalism," is seen
as representing Karl Marx, the creator of communism. Snowball represents Trotksy, 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 
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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 constantly 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 other animals cruelly. The animals could
not do anything, unless they again realized their strength in numbers against their own
kind. Unfortunately, they were too stupid to realize this and accepted the "status quo."
It began when the milk and apples were appropriated to the pigs, and continued to when
the pigs could drink and sleep on beds, until finally the pigs were the "human masters"
to the rest of the animals. Orwell criticized Germany, representing it as Pinchfield
Farm, which betrayed Animal Farm by paying for lumber with counterfeit money. In real
life, this represents the Soviet-Germany non-aggression pact during World War II that
Germany eventually broke. Eventually, towards the end of the story, the term, "absolute
power corrupts absolutely," is proven, as the pigs, which retained all the privileges for
themselves, have evolved into a different caste from the other animals. Orwell's
implication is that "real" communism cannot exist in the countries, which claim to be
communist. The ruling class - politicians - owns everything and ironically is therefore
in total control. 
"The Godfather" chronicles the lives of Vito Corleone, a Sicilian who renounced his
friendship with senor Selotso by not befriending him in a drug business proposal, and
Michael Corleone, a son of Vito. Both of these characters headed the family's affairs in
crime. After Selotso had Vito shot, and almost killed, in the streets, Michael avenged
his father's injuries by killing Selotso and Police Captain 
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McClupski. With this war going on, family business is in a dangerous position of losing
power and becoming outcast by the five families. The family risks its political and
police backing if they are not able to pay them off, and when the Kids are running the
business they make hasty decisions that go against what the Don believes of justice, he
says, "that is not justice, your daughter is still alive." ("The Godfather", 1972)
Instead the Vito's kids act irrationally and kill all that may not be on the side of
their family when no deaths have occurred. People's lives were deemed inferior and
insignificant, as illustrated when Paulie was killed, Pete said, "leave the gun, but grab
the canoles." ("The Godfather", 1972) Michael stepped out of his life as a college
student studying to be a politician to become a killer when his time was needed to step
out of his safe position out of the muscle part of the business. Michael risked his
freedom in America and said, "… if you can find a way to plant a gun then I will
kill them both." ("The Godfather", 1972) 
The Cause of the war in New York was the decision to hold a meeting with Solotso and
already know that the godfather does not want to get involved with drugs. His son Sonny
that will be the next leader gets his opinion in the decision and wants to get a share of
the drug profits. Declining Solotso is rude by the godfather and does not respect the man
enough to understand his greed. Solotso tried to kill the godfather so that he could get
his business deal with the Corleone family and convinces Tom (the council) to stop Sonny
from coming after him and make the deal go through, "Sonny was hot for my idea and you
knew it was the right thing to do…its good business Tom." ("The Godfather") 
Animal Farm and "The Godfather" were written to express their authors' disenchantment
with the state of evolution of human nature. They seem to be saying that even when we
begin with honorable intentions, there will be some of us who will let their base
instincts take control. Orwell, in Animal Farm portrays this nature by parodying events
in real history. Given the right conditions, those events could happen anywhere- a leader
becoming overly ambitious, to the point of harming his people for more power. In "The
Godfather", Coppola examines the hearts of the family to find what they can decide what
is more
important - business or personal - and how people are driven to the valley of human
emotions, where desperation and anger reign. Every human being is capable of becoming a
ruthless, opportunistic being like Napoleon or Sonny, if given the right opportunity. 
Bibliography
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Works Cited
Coppola, Francis Ford, dir. The Godfather. Perf. Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. Paramount,
1972.
Gardner, Averil. George Orwell. Boston. Twayne, 1987.
King, Martin. Students' Guide to Animal Farm. Scotland: Tynron Press, 1989.
Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1946.