Animal Farm and the Totalitarian State

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Often times literature has a deeper meaning and it can also represent events that have happened in the past. Although George Orwells novella “Animal Farm” is known for being an allegory to the Russian Revolution and how power can be used for good or absolute evil, it is also similar to how things are in North Korea.“Animal Farm” is about a group of animals who rebel against the farmer, Mr. Jones, and create their own type of government called Animalism. As the story progresses the new leader of the farm becomes more like a dictator, but all the other animals don’t seem to realize what is actually going on. They believe that they are living in a utopia, but it’s more of a dystopia. It is very similar to the way things are in North Korea because they also rebelled against their government and appointed a new leader. This new leader was Kim Il-Sung, who later passed down control to his son Kim Jong-Il. When Kim Jong-Il came to power was when North Korea really became a military enforced dictatorship. North Korea’s leader and the leader of Animal Farm are similar because they both rule their countries by fear, they both have scapegoats, and their citizens are deeply devoted to them. One of the ways Kim Jong-Il and Napoleon from Animal Farm are similar is that they both rule by fear. Speaking out against the actions of Napoleon or Kim Jong-Il can lead to very serious consequences. In North Korea speaking bad of “The Dear Leader’ can either get you killed or you and your whole family could end up in a work camp. Ending up in work camp causes you and your family to stay there for 3 generations. Having these work camps and hearing of all the bad things that go on in there makes the people think twice about speaking out against the government. Napoleon tends to use militarism and his 9 loyal dogs to scare the people into obeying him and keeping his power.“But suddenly the
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