Animal Farm by George Orwell Essay Example for Free

Animal Farm by George Orwell Essay Animal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell published in England on 17 August 1945. According to Orwell, the book reflects events leading up to and during the Stalin era before the Second World War. Orwell, a democratic socialist,[1] was a critic of Joseph Stalin and hostile to Moscow-directed Stalinism, especially after his experiences with the NKVD and the Spanish Civil War.[2] In a letter to Yvonne Davet, Orwell described Animal Farm as his novel contre Stalin.[3] The original title was Animal Farm: A Fairy Story, but the subtitle was dropped by U. S. publishers for its 1946 publication and subsequently all but one of the translations during Orwells lifetime omitted the addition. Other variations in the title include: A Satire and A Contemporary Satire.[3] Orwell suggested the title Union des rà ©publiques socialistes animales for the French translation, which recalled the French name of the Soviet Union, Union des rà ©publiques socialistes sovià ©tiques, and which abbreviates to URSA, the Latin for bear, a symbol of Russia.[3] Time magazine chose the book as one of the 100 best English-language novels (1923 to 2005);[4] it also places at number 31 on the Modern Library List of Best 20th-Century Novels. It won a Retrospective Hugo Award in 1996 and is also included in the Great Books of the Western World. The novel addresses not only the corruption of the revolution by its leaders but also how wickedness, indifference, ignorance, greed and myopia corrupt the revolution. It portrays corrupt leadership as the flaw in revolution, rather than the act of revolution itself. It also shows how potential ignorance and indifference to problems within a revolution could allow horrors to happen if a smooth transition to a peoples government is not achieved. Plot summary Snowballs revolution Old Major, the old boar on the Manor Farm, calls the animals on the farm for a meeting, where he compares the humans to parasites and teaches  the animals a revolutionary song, Beasts of England. When Major dies two young pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, assume command and turn his dream into a philosophy. The animals revolt and drive the drunken and irresponsible Mr Jones from the farm, renaming it Animal Farm. They adopt Seven Commandments of Animal-ism, the most important of which is, All animals are equal. Snowball attempts to teach the animals reading and writing; food is plentiful, and the farm runs smoothly. The pigs elevate themselves to positions of leadership and set aside special food items, ostensibly for their personal health. Napoleon takes the pups from the farm dogs and trains them privately. When Mr Jones tries to retake the farm, the animals defeat him at what they call the Battle of the Cowshed. Napoleon and Snowball struggle for leadership. When Snowball announces his idea for a windmill, Napoleon has his dogs chase Snowball away and declares himself leader. Napoleons rule Napoleon enacts changes to the governance structure of the farm, replacing meetings with a committee of pigs, who will run the farm. Using a young pig named Squealer as a mouthpiece, Napoleon announces that Snowball stole the idea for the windmill from him. The animals work harder with the promise of easier lives with the windmill. After a violent storm, the animals find the windmill annihilated. Napoleon and Squealer convince the animals that Snowball destroyed the windmill, although the scorn of the neighbouring farmers suggests that the windmills walls were too thin. Once Snowball becomes a scapegoat, Napoleon begins purging the farm with his dogs, killing animals he accuses of consorting with Snowball. He and the pigs abuse their power, imposing more control while reserving privileges for themselves and rewriting history, villainising Snowball and glorifying Napoleon. Squealer justifies every statement Napoleon makes, even the pigs alteration of the Seven Commandments of Animalism. No animal shall sleep in beds is changed to No animal shall sleep in beds with sheets when the pigs are discovered to have been sleeping in the old  farmhouse. No animal shall drink alcohol is changed to No animal shall drink alcohol to excess when the pigs discover the farmers whiskey. Beasts of England is replaced by an anthem glorifying Napoleon, who appears to be adopting the lifestyle of a man. The animals, though cold, starving and overworked, remain convinced that they are better off than they were when under Mr Jones. Squealer abuses the animals poor memorie s and invents numbers to show their improvement. Mr Frederick, one of the neighbouring farmers, swindles Napoleon by buying old wood with forged money, and then attacks the farm, using blasting powder to blow up the restored windmill. Though the animals win the battle, they do so at great cost, as many, including Boxer, are wounded. Despite his injuries, Boxer continues working harder and harder, until he collapses while working on the windmill. Napoleon sends for a van to take Boxer to the veterinary surgeons, explaining that better care can be given there. Benjamin the donkey, who could read as well as any pig,[5] notices that the van belongs to Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughterer and Glue Boiler (a knacker), and attempts to mount a rescue; but the animals attempts are futile. Squealer reports that the van was purchased by the hospital and the writing from the previous owner had not been repainted. He recounts a tale of Boxers death in the hands of the best medical care. Shortly after Boxers death, it is revealed that the pigs hav e purchased more whiskey. Humanisation Years pass, and the pigs learn to walk upright, carry whips and wear clothes. The Seven Commandments are reduced to a single phrase: All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. Napoleon holds a dinner party for the pigs and the humans of the area, who congratulate Napoleon on having the hardest-working but least fed animals in the country. Napoleon announces an alliance with the humans, against the labouring classes of both worlds. He abolishes practices and traditions related to the Revolution, and changes the name of the farm to The Manor Farm. The animals, overhearing the conversation, notice that the faces of the  pigs have begun changing. During a poker match, an argument breaks out between Napoleon and Mr Pilkington when they both play the Ace of Spades, and the animals realise that the faces of the pigs look like the faces of humans, and no one can tell the difference between them. Animalism Seven Commandments redirects here. For the Noahide code, see Seven Laws of Noah.: The seven laws listed by the Tosefta and the Talmud are[7] 1. Prohibition of Idolatry 2. Prohibition of Murder 3. Prohibition of Theft 4. Prohibition of Sexual immorality 5. Prohibition of Blasphemy 6. Prohibition of eating flesh taken from an animal while it is still alive 7. Establishment of courts of law The pigs Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer adapt Old Majors ideas into an actual philosophy, which they formally name Animalism. Soon after, Napoleon and Squealer indulge in the vices of humans (drinking alcohol, sleeping in beds, trading). Squealer is employed to alter the Seven Commandments to account for this humanisation, an allusion to the Soviet governments revising of history in order to exercise control of the peoples beliefs about themselves and their society.[6] The original commandments are: 1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. 2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend. 3. No animal shall wear clothes. 4. No animal shall sleep in a bed. 5. No animal shall drink alcohol. 6. No animal shall kill any other animal. 7. All animals are equal. Later, Napoleon and his pigs secretly revise some commandments to clear them of accusations of law-breaking (such as No animal shall drink alcohol having to excess appended to it and No animal shall sleep in a bed with with sheets added to it). The changed commandments are as follows, with the changes bolded: 1. No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets. 2. No animal shall drink alcohol to excess. 3. No animal shall kill any other animal without cause. Eventually these are replaced with the maxims, All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others, and Four legs good, two legs better! as the pigs become more human. This is an ironic twist to the original purpose of the Seven Commandments, which were supposed to keep order within Animal Farm by uniting the animals together against the humans, and by prevent animals from following the humans evil habits. Through the revision of the commandments, Orwell demonstrates how simply political dogma can be turned into malleable propaganda.[7] Characters Pigs Old Major – An aged prize Middle White boar provides the inspiration  that fuels the Rebellion in the book. He is an allegory of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, the founders of communism, in that he draws up the principles of the revolution. His skull being put on revered public display also recalls Lenin, whose embalmed body was put on display.[8][9] Napoleon – A large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar, the only Berkshire on the farm, not much of a talker, but with a reputation for getting his own way,[10] An allegory ofJoseph Stalin,[8] Napoleon is the main villain of Animal Farm. In the first French version of Animal Farm, Napoleon is called Cà ©sar, the French form of Caesar,[3] although another translation has him as Napolà ©on.[11] Snowball – Napoleons rival and original head of the farm after Jones overthrow. He is mainly based on Leon Trotsky,[8] but also combines elements from Vladimir Lenin.[9] Squealer – A small white fat porker who serves as Napoleons right hand pig and minister of propaganda, holding a position similar to that of Molotov.[8] Minimus – A poetic pig who writes the second and third national anthems of Animal Farm after the singing of Beasts of England is banned. The Piglets – Hinted to be the children of Napoleon (albeit not explicitly stated) and are the first generation of animals actually subjugated to his idea of animal inequality. The young pigs – Four pigs who complain about Napoleons takeover of the farm but are quickly silenced and later executed. Pinkeye – A minor pig who is mentioned only once; he is the pig that tastes Napoleons food to make sure it is not poisoned, in response to rumours about an assassination attempt on Napoleon. Humans Mr Jones – The former owner of the farm, Jones is a very heavy drinker. The animals revolt against him after he drinks so much that he does not feed or take care of them. Mr Frederick – The tough owner of Pinchfield, a well-kept neighbouring farm, who briefly enters into an alliance with Napoleon, represents Germany. Mr Pilkington – The easy-going but crafty owner of Foxwood, a neighbouring farm overgrown with weeds, represents Britain. Mr Whymper – A man hired by Napoleon for the public relations of Animal Farm to human society, who is eventually used to procure luxuries like alcohol for the pigs. Equines Boxer – Boxer is a loyal, kind, dedicated, and respectable horse, although quite dim-witted. Clover – Boxers companion, constantly caring for him; she also acts as a matriarch of sorts for the other horses and the other animals in general. Mollie – Mollie is a self-centred, self-indulgent and vain young white mare who quickly leaves for another farm after the revolution. Benjamin – Benjamin, a donkey, is one of the oldest animals. He has the worst temper, but is also one of the wisest animals on the farm, and is one of the few who can actually read. He is skeptical and pessimistic, his most-often-made statement being Life will go on as it has always gone on – that is, badly.[12] Other animals Muriel – A wise old goat who is friends with all of the animals on the farm. She, like Benjamin and Snowball, is one of the few animals on the farm who can read. The Puppies – Offspring of Jessie and Bluebell, taken away from them by Napoleon at birth and reared by Napoleon to be his security force. Moses – An old raven who occasionally visits the farm, regaling its denizens with tales of a wondrous place beyond the clouds called Sugarcandy Mountain, where he avers that all animals go when they die—but only if they work hard. He is interpreted as symbolising the Russian Orthodox Church, with Sugarcandy Mountain an allusion to Heaven for the animals.[13] The Sheep – They show limited understanding of the situations but nonetheless blindly support Napoleons ideals. The Hens – The hens are among the first to rebel against Napoleon. The Cows – Their milk is stolen by the pigs, who learn to milk them, and is stirred into the pigs mash every day while the other animals are denied such luxuries. The Cat – Never seen to carry out any work, the cat is absent for long periods, and is forgiven because her excuses are so convincing and she purred so affectionately that is was impossible not to believe in her good intentions.[14] She has no interest in the politics of the farm, and the only time she is recorded as having participated in an election, she is found to have actually voted on both sides.[14] Glossary of Terms Coccidiosis: a parasitic infection that causes bloody diarrhea and sudden death in animals Communism: a theory or system of social organization based on the  holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state; in practice, communism is often a totalitarian system of government Comrade: a fellow member of a political party; a member of the Communist party Disinter: to exhume; to unearth that which is buried Proletariat: in Marxism, the class of workers, especially industrial wage earners, who do not possess capital or property and must sell their labor to survive Propaganda: information, ideas, or rumors disseminated to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, or other entity Regime: a mode or system of rule or government; such a system when in power Socialism: a theory or system of social organization that advocates vesting the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, and other assets in the community as a whole Totalitarianism: absolute control by the state or a governing branch of a highly centralized institution Tushes: small, short tusks such as those belonging to a boar. Major Themes The Soviet Union under Stalinism Animal Farm is a satire of totalitarian governments in their many guises. But Orwell composed the book for a more specific purpose: to serve as a cautionary tale about Stalinism. It was for this reason that he faced  such difficulty in getting the book published; by the time Animal Farm was ready to meet its readers, the Allies were cooperating with the Soviet Union. The allegorical characters of the novel represent specific historical figures and different factions of Imperial Russian and Soviet society. These include Karl Marx (Major), Vladimir Lenin (Major), Leon Trotsky (Snowball), Joseph Stalin (Napoleon), Adolf Hitler (Frederick), the Allies (Pilkington), the peasants (Boxer), the elite (Mollie), and the church (Moses). The resemblance of some of the novel’s events to events in Soviet history is indubitable. For example, Snowball’s and Napoleon’s power struggle is a direct allegory of Trotsky’s and Stalin’s. Frederick’s trade agreement with Napoleon, and his subsequent breaking of the agreement, represents the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact that preceded World War II. The following Battle of the Windmill represents World War II itself. Despite his fairy-tale clarity in satirizing some historical events, Orwell is less specific about others. For example, the executions in Chapter VII conflate the Red Terror with the Great Purge. The executions themselves bear resemblance to both events, although their details connect them more to the Moscow Trials than to the Red Terror. Squealer’s subsequent announcement that the executions have ended the Rebellion connects them to the period of the Red Terror, however. Orwell leaves some ambiguity in the identities of the Rebellion and the Battle of the Cowshed. These ambiguities help the reader focus on the overall satire of Stalinism and the broader warning about the evils of totalitarian government. The Inevitability of Totalitarianism Orwell held the pessimistic belief that totalitarianism was inevitable, even in the West. According to Russell Baker, who wrote the preface to Animal Farm’s 1996 Signet Classics version, Orwell’s pessimism stemmed from his having grown up in an age of dictatorship. Witnessing Hitler’s and Stalin’s movements from afar, as well as fighting totalitarianism in the Spanish Civil War, Orwell came to believe in the rise of a new species of autocrat, worse even than the tyrants of old. This cynicism is reflected in  both of his highly successful novels, Animal Farm and 1984. Orwell emphasizes the insidiousness of totalitarianism early in the novel, when the pigs take the fresh milk and apples. The pigs justify their actions on the basis of their superiority; they are smart and need more nutrition than the other animals to fuel their brainpower. There is no scientific basis for the pigs’ claim—in fact, if anyone needs more food to fuel their labor, it is the manual laborers—but they can count on the animals’ being too ignorant to realize that. In this way, Orwell makes the point that totalitarianism need not be blatant in order to be operating. It can hide under the guise of the â€Å"greater good† as it did in the Soviet Union before the totalitarianism became obvious. Orwell uses a cyclical structure in Animal Farm, which helps advance the idea of totalitarianism’s predictability. The novel begins with Jones as autocratic tyrant and ends with Napoleon not only in Jones’s position, but in his clothes as well. Over the course of the novel, Napoleon essentially becomes Jones just as Stalin becomes an autocrat after pretending to espouse equality and freedom. Orwell cements this idea in the book’s final scene, where he writes, â€Å"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† (139). The circularity of Orwell’s story prevents the reader from imagining a better future for Animal Farm. After all, even if another Rebellion were to take place, its leaders would eventually come to emulate Napoleon. According to Baker, technology turned out to be the force freeing people from Orwell’s age of dictators. But â€Å"technology† can be just another banner under which to rally the people. While Orwell does portray technology as a source of progress in Animal Farm, he points out that it is useless unless it is in the people’s hands. Most notably, even when the windmill is finished it is used for milling corn instead of its original purpose of supplying the animals with electricity in their stalls. Intelligence and Education as Tools of Oppression From the very beginning of the novel, we become aware of education’s role in stratifying Animal Farm’s population. Following Major’s death, the pigs are the ones that take on the task of organizing and mobilizing the other animals because they are â€Å"generally recognized as being the cleverest of the animals† (35). At first, the pigs are loyal to their fellow animals and to the revolutionary cause. They translate Major’s vision of the future faithfully into the Seven Commandments of Animalism. However, it is not long before the pigs’ intelligence and education turn from tools of enlightenment to implements of oppression. The moment the pigs are faced with something material that they want—the fresh milk—they abandon their morals and use their superior intellect and knowledge to deceive the other animals. The pigs also limit the other animals’ opportunities to gain intelligence and education early on. They teach themselves to read and write from a children’s book but destroy it before the other animals can have the same chance. Indeed, most of the animals never learn more than a few letters of the alphabet. Once the pigs cement their status as the educated elite, they use their mental advantage to manipulate the other animals. For example, knowing that the other animals cannot read the Seven Commandments, they revise them whenever they like. The pigs also use their literacy to learn trades from manuals, giving them an opportunity for economic specialization and advancement. Content in the role of the intelligentsia, the pigs forgo manual labor in favor of bookkeeping and organizing. This shows that the pigs have not only the advantage of opportunity, but also the opportunity to reject whatever opportunities they like. The pigs’ intelligence and education allow them to bring the other animals into submission through the use of propaganda and revisionism. At the book’s end, we witness Napoleon’s preparations to educate a new generation of pigs and indoctrinate them into the code of oppression. Propaganda and Duplicity Working as a propagandist during World War II, Orwell experienced firsthand both the immense power and the dishonesty of propaganda. Many  types of governments make use of propaganda, not only totalitarian ones. Consider, for instance, the arguments that led many United States citizens to go along with the idea of invading Iraq after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. Propaganda serves the positive task of uniting the people, sometimes at the cost of misleading them. Orwell takes a firm stance on the harmfulness of propaganda in Animal Farm while acknowledging its value for rallying a mistreated and disillusioned populace. In Chapter IX, Orwell demonstrates the positive value of propaganda. By this point, the animals are so downtrodden that they are desperate for something in which to believe. (Note the irony, though: it is Napoleon who has robbed them of their belief in the original version of Animalism.) The falsely optimistic statistics, the songs, and especially the Spontaneous Demonstrations give the animals something to live for. This chapter is an exception in terms of portraying propaganda in a positive light. For the majority ofAnimal Farm, Orwell skewers propaganda and exposes its nature as deception. Squealer represents a totalitarian government’s propaganda machine. Eloquent to a fault, he can make the animals believe almost anything. This fact is especially clear in Squealer’s interactions with Clover and Muriel. Each time Clover suspects that the Seven Commandments have been changed, Squealer manages to convince her that she is wrong. After the executions, Napoleon abolishes the singing of â€Å"Beasts of England† in favor of a new anthem, the lyrics of which contain a promise never to harm Animal Farm. In this propagandist manoeuvre, Napoleon replaces the revolutionary spirit of â€Å"Beasts of England† with the exact opposite, a promise not to rebel. In addition to being a source of manipulation, propaganda is an agent of fear and terror. Orwell demonstrates this quite clearly with Napoleon’s vilification of Snowball and his assurances that Snowball could attack the animals at any minute. He uses similar fear tactics regarding Frederick and Pilkington. The most egregious example of propaganda in the novel is the maxim that replaces the Seven Commandments: â€Å"All animals are equal / But some animals are more equal than others.† The idea of â€Å"more equal† is mathematically improbable and a nonsensical manipulation of language, but by  this time, the animals are too brainwashed to notice. Violence and Terror as Means of Control In Animal Farm, Orwell criticizes the ways that dictators use violence and terror to frighten their populaces into submission. Violence is one of the yokes from which the animals wish to free themselves when they prepare for the Rebellion. Not only does Jones overwork the animals and steal the products of their labor, but he can whip or slaughter them at his discretion. Once the pigs gain control of the animals, they, like Jones, discover how useful violence and terror can be. They use this knowledge to their full advantage. The foremost example of violence and terror in the novel is the pattern of public executions. The executions can be said to represent both the Red Terror and the Great Purge, but they stand more broadly for the abuse of power. For example, they are also similar to the Taliban’s public executions in Kabul’s soccer stadium in modern Afghanistan. Capital punishment for criminals is a hotly debated issue. Killing suspected criminals, as Napoleon does, is quite another issue. The executions perhaps best symbolize the Moscow Trials, which were show trials that Stalin arranged to instill fear in the Soviet people. To witnesses at the time, the accused traitors’ confessions seemed to be given freely. In fact, they were coerced. Napoleon likely coerces confessions from many of the animals that he executes. Orwell’s use of the allegory genre serves him well in the execution scene. Execution with weapons is a violent and horrifying act, but many people have become desensitized to it. Orwell’s allegorical executioners, the dogs that kill cruelly, portray the bloody and inescapably animalistic side of execution. Terror comes also in threats and propaganda. Each time the animals dare to question an aspect of Napoleon’s regime, Squealer threatens them with Jones’s return. This is doubly threatening to the animals because it would mean another battle that, if lost, would result in a return to their former lifestyle of submission. Jones’s return is such a serious threat that it quashes the animals’ curiosity without fail. The other major example of fear  tactics in the novel is the threat of Snowball and his collaborators. Napoleon is able to vilify Snowball in the latter’s absence and to make the animals believe that his return, like Jones’s, is imminent. Snowball is a worse threat than Jones, because Jones is at least safely out of Animal Farm. Snowball is â€Å"proved† to be not only lurking along Animal Farm’s borders but infiltrating the farm. Napoleon’s public investigation of Snowball’s whereabouts cements the animals’ fear of Snowball’s influence. In modern language, Snowball is pegged as the terrorist responsible for the infringements on the rights and liberties instigated by the pigs. Exploitation and the Need for Human Rights Exploitation is the issue around which the animals unite. Initially, the animals do not realize Jones is exploiting them. For this reason, Old Major’s speech is a revelation of momentous proportions. Major explains to the animals that they are enslaved and exploited and that Man is to blame. He teaches them not only what exploitation means, but also the fact that it is not inevitable. Orwell suggests that exploitation is, in fact, bound to happen when one class of society has an advantage over another. The opposite of exploitation, according to Major, is the state of being â€Å"rich and free.† Major’s ideas about animal rights symbolize the importance—and scarcity—of human rights in an oppressive regime. Gaining freedom does not necessarily lead people also to become rich, but it is better to be poor and free than poor and exploited. All the animals on Animal Farm are exploited under Napoleon’s control, save the pigs. Even the dogs, which work closely with the pigs, are exploited. The dogs face perhaps even a worse form of exploitation than the other animals, because they are made into agents of intimidation and death. Whereas Napoleon exploits the other animals’ physical strength and their ignorance, he exploits the dogs’ viciousness and turns them into villains against their parents’ wishes. Boxer’s life is a particularly sad example of exploitation because he exploits himself, believing wholeheartedly in Napoleon’s goodness. In the  end, Napoleon turns the tables and exploits Boxer, having him slaughtered for profit. By the end of the novel, we see clearly how the animals participate in their own exploitation. They are beginning to build a schoolhouse for the thirty-one young pigs Napoleon has fathered (perhaps an oblique reference to the â€Å"Thirty Tyrants† of ancient Greece). That schoolhouse will never benefit the animals that build it; rather, it will be used to educate the pigs and indoctrinate them into the cycle of exploiting others. Throughout the novel, Orwell shows us how the lack of human rights results in total helplessness. However, though it underscores the need for human rights, the novel does not suggest how to achieve them. After all, once the animals expel Jones and gain rights for themselves, the pigs take those rights away and the cycle of exploitation continues with new players. Apathy and Acceptance In the beginning of Animal Farm, the idea of freedom rouses the animals as if from a long slumber. Immediately following Major’s death, the animals begin preparing themselves for the Rebellion; just the idea of revolution is enough to motivate them, since they do not expect it to happen in their lifetimes. By the book’s end, the animals have become as apathetic as Benjamin always was. Despite the many hardships and injustices they face, the animals’ pride as well as Napoleon’s propaganda keep them invested in the â€Å"greater good† and the illusion of freedom. If Benjamin is the harbinger of apathy, Boxer is its antithesis. Strong not only in body but also in spirit, Boxer will make any sacrifice for the benefit of Animal Farm. With Boxer’s eventual betrayal by the leaders he served so unconditionally, Orwell lays bare another type of apathy—theirs. Far from truly considering Boxer a loyal comrade, the pigs treat him as apathetically as they would a mere object. Symbolically, they even make a profit by having him turned into literal objects—glue and bone meal. Boxer’s enthusiasm does not give him an advantage, but the other animals’ eventual apathy gives them a defense mechanism against the painful reality of their lives. It is no coincidence that Animal Farm’s most apathetic and cynical animal, Benjamin, is one of those that survives the  longest. Benjamin’s emotional detachment from situations, whether they are good or bad, keeps him from being disappointed. In his apathy and cynicism, Benjamin represents the stereotypical â€Å"gloomy† Russian and also the perennially pessimistic Orwell himself. Summary and analysis of Chapter I Mr. Jones, the owner of Manor Farm, stumbles drunkenly up to bed as the farm animals wait in still silence. The moment he is out of sight, they begin to bustle around, preparing themselves for the big meeting that is to take place that night. Old Major has called the meeting to discuss a strange dream he had the previous night. He is waiting for his fellow animals in the big barn.

Computers :: essays research papers

Computers The Computer that you know these days is a small thing that sits on a desk in your room that is composed of a monitor, keyboard, mouse and a small box. But computers have changed so much that if you seen old computer you would never recognize it. The first computer was built in the early 17 hundreds. You probably heard that the first computer was made in the 1950’s but computers have been around for hundreds of years.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  All a computer is is something that calculates number. So these computers of the 1700’s were made from gears that worked together to make a answer. â€Å"In the nineteenth century, Englishman Charles Babbage designed a steam powered machine that could calculate square roots, cube roots and other exponential functions.† (1) The first computer was an abacus. â€Å"The Chinese abacus consists of a wooden frame divided into an upper and lower section.† (2) These are all computer that have been around 100’s of years.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Latter in the 20th century the government started to work on a top-secret project. That was the birth of type of computer. Similar to your computer but still very vary different. You would probably still would have never have guest what it is. The computer had no screen and it was the size of a office building. This computer was programmed differently too instead of typing in to a computer they had to make cards with holes in it that stood for different thing for it to do. They first had to make a program for typing so that they could have a keyboard connected to it. But still that was not good enough they need a program so that they could use the keyboard program on the system. This is called a operating system. The operating system is a lot like windows, it’s what keeps your computer interactive with you. But at that time they didn’t have a operating system and had to create one. One of the first operating systems open to the public was DOS.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The computer for years had been improved to smaller and smaller parts to run it faster and faster. Soon the computer was the size of a house. By then everyone knew about a computer. It was not until 1985 that the computer industry was able to take off and become one of the most important necessities in this world.

Ashley Bracero september Essay

America a land of hope and prosperity, one might even go as far as saying ,†The land of Dreams†. People from all over the world migrate to our great country for the luxurious rights we offer to all our people. Some of those rights including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of press, and The right to privacy. But what if we told everyone one who entered the united states that there was a catch ? That at any moment if the goverment felt threatened enough, they could twist those rights to there benefit ? Do you think people would still view America as a getaway or more like a false advertisement ? Now we will try and dicuss one topic that has been raising a huge controversy in America today, security vs privacy. Ever since it has been revealed that the goverment has been hacking into american citizens private information for ,†Security Meaures,† America has been going into a spiral of doubt. Both parties are making compelling arguments regarding their reasoning and perspective on the matter of security vs privacy. The huge question being raised,†Is security actually more Important than privacy ? The goverment may tell you yes; that the precautions they are taking are only minor set backs necesary for the continuation of a strong society. In my opinion this is just yet another fib told to keep the goverment in control of what has been spiraling in the other direction since 9/11. Fear of Terrorism has fueled many changes in The United States , some proving better than others. For example, The TSA has been given massive amounts of power to protect America and has been rediculed for being unconstitutional, too expensive, and ineffective, yet it remains. Little by little it seems that the goverments fear of terrorism is beginning to drive them to any measures. Threatening the privacy of their own citizens to protect national security. The worst part is some of these under cover plans are so top secret it often takes leaks to get the truth on how much of our privacy is actually being threatened. Realistically you can not have a hunderd percent of privacy along with a hunderd percent of security, so, as an American citizen i chose privacy. I believe security should come as a choice, not to say it does not withold a huge place in society, because realistically without security the world would rapidally fall into choas. Privacy is a natural right more of an obligation that should always be presented to us no matter what the circumstance. America’s power has always laid in our rights and freedoms. It is America’s individualism and personal freedom that our enemies often hate the most. So, I believe if we change our great society to make us less free we are rolling around in their hands as pawns . I do not believe that we should neglect our liberties for one victory, for the chance that it might deminish the reputation that makes our society great. Forcing important networks like facebook, yahoo, and many more to relinquish private information is a huge disrespect to all citizens. Every citizen has the right to privacy, even the idea of privacy originated from the fourth amendment. Ironically, though the goverment seems to dismiss that fact for reasonings they seem only intitled to debate on. For a country that has comforted citizens on the idea that we are a democracy, the goverment begins to show the public holes in their stories and true intentions. Slowly the public is being to sway a different direction since it was revealed the goverment was hacking into americans private information. In 2010 a Pew research survey was held and showed that 32 percent of people believed that the goverments anti-terrorism policies have gone to far in restricting the average persons civil liberities. That means 66 percent of people found it vaild and implaced for a reasonable cause. In 2011 the same survey was conducted by the same organization and found that 53 percent now found that it has gone too far, thats more than half the people surveyed in 2010 . So, with that piece of information we see that people arent just doubting the goverment, they are begining to re-evaulate their own way of thinking. I believe if the goverment continues to deny us our full privleged right to privacy, we will crumble as a nation and they will being to lose not only our trust but our respect. No matter how much our society improves and develops there will always be a threat. So, if they begin to strip away our rights now , how long will it take before we lose more ? Don’t just take my word for it , here are some people who co-exist with my idea that privacy holds more substance and reasoning than security. Jessica from Debate.org says, † Now the reason for why i feel privacy is more important, is as simple as, If i owned a home of 5 acres and bought that land. A home because i wanted to feel secluded. This allows for me to walk around my home naked if i would like without a curtain down, or go swimming in my pool naked. If i knew i was being watched 24/7 like many famous people it would make me go insane, and i would not be able to deal with it.† Also, fliex jimenez, 17 says,† Security is always going to be there no matter how much we have of it, but, once you take away someones privacy you cant get it back. Its kind of like respect when you cross that line you just cant re-write that wrong.† In conclusion, privacy is a valuable thing to many citizens. lately the right we use to have is being to stripped away from us layer by layer. Many people are debating wether security holds more value than privacy but when it comes to statistcs it seems that is not the case. Like Benjamin Franklin said,† They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserves neither liberty or safety.† So as a country we continue to try and fight this idea of selling moral rights for temporary safety promised by the goverment. So, like Benjamin Franklin said we must remember to hold on to important things such as our privacy and not sell it for something that has unpredicatable outcomes and strive for a greater stronger country were all people are respected.

The Study on Abolishment of Death Penalty of Corruption Crimes - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 11 Words: 3383 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/09/16 Category Advertising Essay Tags: Death Penalty Essay Did you like this example? Bribery and corruption crime exists widely worldwide, and are very serious in some countries and areas. Particularly, bribery and corruption crimes will occur frequently with high degree in the specific period of fast development of economy, rapid transform of society and imperfect of some mechanism in our country. â€Å"It badly harmed healthy development of our society and blocked the aim of building harmonious society of our government. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Study on Abolishment of Death Penalty of Corruption Crimes" essay for you Create order In order to keep bribery and corruption crimes within limits; the government always persists in giving a great blow to the crimes, and even used the most severe criminal punishment-death penalty. (Changsha, 2006) â€Å"But, we can find from the case arising status in the lately decades, that is, one side, the case arising rates, related money amounts and the civil levels constantly broke the record. †(Zhao, 2004) On the other side, some new circumstances and aspects constantly happened such as high frequency of hiding and spoliation, low utilization rates of death penalty, escaping of corrupt officials, and even appeared giving corrupt officials lower criminal punishment who were repatriated because of extradition. It made unfair of justice as a matter of fact, showed disability of death penalty in punishing bribery and corruption crimes, and made some misunderstanding of doctrine of severe punishment. The appearance of dispute about existence and abolishment of death penalty of briery and corruption crimes is based on that with the rapid development of economy, â€Å"culture and society in lately two decades, material wealth get maximum abundance, and people’s concept of human rights and consciousness of rights get progressively boosting up. (Ma, 2004)At the same time, internationally movement of abolishment of death penalty increased. Every year cases of condemning and carrying out death penalty mostly in our country,which is out suit to great effect of our country, and also runs counter to the great aim of building harmonious society of our country. â€Å"It is necessary that to adapt the trend, to abolish death penalty of bribery and corruption crimes. (Chen, 2001) The necessity of abolishing of death penalty of corruption crimes Death penalty, to be the most stern penalty that take away people’s life, the debate of keeping it or abolishing it was first been put forward in the book â€Å"Crime and Penalty†, written by Beccaria. This issue has been argued for hundreds of years. Nowadays, civilization is highly developed, academic circles’ opinions for the death penalty, especially for death penalty of non-violent crime, which should abolish, are basic consensus. Professor Zhao, Bingzhi pointed out that â€Å"The crimes that obviously are too harsh to set death penalty or will resulting for value imbalance, should be abolished their death penalty from legislation in time. † â€Å"In particular for non-violent crimes which there are no specific victim and crimes which do not have the potential hazard to other people’ person basic right† (Zhao, 2004), should be abolished their death penalty from legislation right immediately. Speaking of bribery and corruption crimes, the issue that whether should abolish death penalty or not becomes academic circle and theory circle’s focus of debate increasingly. One opinion consider that even though bribery and corruption crimes seriously endanger the integrity of country staffs and encroach on public property, but they do not harm for people’s life, so we should abolished death penalty of bribery and corruption crimes(Ma. 2006). Another opinion thinks that abolish bribery and corruption crimes’ death penalty is not fit for China’s national conditions, and there are two reasons. On one hand, at present, China excessively uses probation or exempted from criminal punishment to majority bribery and corruption crimes, which contravene the principle of fairness penalty. On the other hand, comparison to other countries which abolish death penalty for bribery and corruption crimes, our country does not have a reasonable alternative penalty, and life imprisonment is too costly and country’s financial resources is hard to support. So, bribery and corruption crimes should be abolished. The reasons are: First, from internal cause to consider the form of bribery and corruption crimes, engender and exist of bribery and corruption crimes have necessity. When discuss the problem of the death penalty’s keeping or abolition, people always interested in investigating the social harmfulness of bribery and corruption crimes or death penalty’s connatural defect, although these two issues have a great influence to the discuss of keeping or abolition death penalty. But, we ignore the most important internal cause the basic reason of bribery and corruption crimes’ form, because â€Å"no matter focus on general prevention or focus on special prevention, penalty’s effect will realize through people’s reaction. (Liu, 2005) So why these corrupt officials still appears one after one, even if they facing deter of death penalty? Because corrupt officials’ psychological defects gradually turned into bad need stimulated by the objective environment, the bad needs malignant development has produced the crime motive finally. Like Beccaria advanced the â€Å"crime saturation principle†, that is, â€Å"ea ch society should has crimes that it deserves, the production of these crimes result from its natural and social condition, its quantity and quality is fit for each social collectivity’s development. (Ma, 2004) Even if engender and exist of bribery and corruption crimes has necessity, it will breeding corruption only if the national power exists. So the thought that Monotonous considers with the severe penalties can contain the crime of corruption is clearly untenable. â€Å"Killing is not a good way to contain corrupt, exposes ugly and display corrupt can not lead people do good turns. †(Zou, 2006). Second, seeing from the external cause of the corruption crimes’ forming, bribery and corruption crimes are always a social syndrome, shift the responsibility is obviously wise. ribery and corruption crimes’ happen, â€Å"is a result of economy, politic, law, culture and some other factors’ synthesis process, not only relate to bribery and corruption criminals that greedy pursue the improper economic interest and extremely ignore to the national social public interest, but also has close relate to the confusion of the state economy management and the lack of the society supervise, as well as criminal law’s negligence. (Wang, 2004) On one hand, made significant achievements in economic reform today, the political system lags behind, the condition of power highly concentrate has not fundamentally changed yet, and the party committee and government have too much power so they give party and government leader’s excessive power and make them control too much social resources. Coupled with a lack of leadership within the power constraints, supervision is often a mere formality. So, some people who relaxation of ideological and moral cultivation, self-awareness is not strong walking to the abyss of corruption are an inevitable phenomenon. This lag of the political system is made of history and system and a variety of complex factors, and can not change by using death penalty for individual corrupt criminals. On the other hand, some people think that Chinas use of the death penalty for corruption crimes, shows that we stepped up punishment of the crime of corruption is bound to greatly reduce the incidence of corruption crime. However, what we think is not the same as the fact, in China, the penalty which install for bribery and corruption crime is â€Å"severe†, but criminal law is â€Å"negligence†. â€Å"In the installed laws, the problems of legislate negligence, concept lurred and difficult to operating exist in a large amount, the problem in legislate quality restricts anti-corruption practice. † All these above show reasons that from bribery and corruption crime—corrupt officials’ own psychology defect, besides, many factors from external circumstance. It is a â€Å"social syn drome†, and this symptom can not be cured by only carrying out severe penalty to corrupt officials, and our country should shoulder the responsibility of system’s maturity, if our country ascribe the blame to corrupt officials themselves, I’m afraid the country has a suspicion that transfer responsibility and hoarkae people’s enmity. So, speaking of a corrupt official, our country is â€Å"happy to kill him†, really. However, it cannot cure the whole society’s corrupt crime but produce more corrupt officials. System construct has properties of fundamental, overall and long-term, and it’s the basic safeguard for economy, politic and social optimum movement. Same, to prevent bribery and corruption crime must always focus on system construct, not only strike when it happen, but also prevent before it happen. (Tan, 2006) therefore, we can say that, enhance system construct is the necessary road of preventing bribery and corruption crime radically. Because the time that China prevent and cure bribery and corruption crime by system construct is short, comparison with western countries, in system install and operate, our country is not so perfect or match, it leads China’s rate of bribery and corruption crime increasing year by year. We should learn the achievements in using system to prevent bribery and corruption crime from western developed countries, to get ready for preventing bribery and corruption crime in system efficiently. Third, speaking of bribery and corruption crime, the method that â€Å"Beat the dog before the lion† is not so efficient and penalty’s general prevention function don’t show to public. The death penalty for the corrupt officials, surely achieve the aim of special prevention and they won’t crime again forever. However, are there any deterrent for other corrupt officials? Feuerbach, who is a famous jurist of classical school of criminal law, also thinks that law express stipulation penalty of different kinds of crime, at the same time, the law announces that any kinds of crime must be penalized. Depending on using penalty to prevent crime, is not focusing on strictness but on stringency. Deterrent of penalty should include three aspects, the first one is that penalty has necessity; it means that anyone who affront law must be punished. The second one is that penalty must has promptness, means people who affront laws must be punished in time, to let them aware of the inevitable causality between crime action and penalty. The third one is that penalty must has strictness. These threes aspects relate closely and cannot be divided. They influence and restrain the deterrent of penalty together. Emphasize the strictness of penalty alone and ignore another two aspects, obviously penalty’s general prevention is not so efficient. Forth, seeing the bribery and corruption crime’s stipulation in countries all over the world, make its penalty to be death penalty is not fit international fashion. Use death penalty to bribery and corruption crime is out of tune with the international in common principle that â€Å"death penalty doesn’t extradition†, instead even more does not favor to the serious bribery and corruption crime attack. Majority countries stipulate prison term between six months and ten years. But in South Africa, people who first bribe will be put in jail at least 15 years, second time 20 years, above 2 times the time will be 25 years. In China, the same crime, it may be life imprison or even death penalty. From this we can see that China may be the most crucial country that attack bribery and corruption crime for install death penalty for bribery and corruption crime, but its rate of bribery and corruption crime increase year by year. Other countries don’t install death penalty for bribery and corruption crime, and there aren’t so many bribery and corruption crimes. Besides, the international current role â€Å"death penalty doesn’t extradition† makes many Chinese corrupt officials escape to foreign countries and cannot be extradited back to China to judged, and it also makes nation public property loss. Many corrupt officials make use of this hole escape to foreign countries, America, Canada and some other countries become their harbor. The aim that China installs death penalty for bribery and corruption crime is to attack bribery and corruption crime better, but backfire, this becomes a â€Å"reasonable reason† to corrupt officials. The feasibility for abolishment of death penalty of corruption crimes The Opportunity for abolishment of death penalty of corruption crimes Violent crimes directly point at human’s life right, and directly threat to people’s life and health, to abolish death penalty in this area, it is a great challenge for the view of â€Å"a death for a death† which passed down for thousands years in China, it would certainly causes un uproar and meets with reat resistances; it is not necessary to achieve abolishment of death penalty in military crimes and state crimes, but to link to current situation in china, it has a certain sense to remain the death penalty for maintaining China’s national security and unity, and maintaining social stability and economic order a nd stability. Only corruption crimes, it concerns on the money interests, and it encroach on the building system of an incorruptible government, by the standard for China determine nature of crimes with social harmfulness, to abolish death penalty in this field undoubtedly has the least resistance and is according to the international trends, it has more operability. Moreover, compared to other crimes, corruption crimes are entirely preventable, it is no need to threaten and punish with extreme penalty in all respects. In my opinion, although there are variety of reasons for corruption crimes on the surface, but in reality, it may have roots in a proper system——although not all of it, at least, it can be prevented form the system. However, the happen reason of violent crime is one’s inner violence desires, or the performance of a occasional crime of passion, or the performance of a calculated crime through the course of a crime in preparation, all of them are not the problems which can be solved from the system level. Therefore, the abolishment of death penalty of corruption crimes is completely feasible. The theoretical basis and sociological basis for abolishment of death penalty of corruption crimes have been founded The theoretical community of China has long advocated that death penalty should not be abolished immediately, but government should gradually reduce and strictly limit death penalty, and provide the conditions for abolishing it in the future. To achieve this goal, many scholars have put forward different options to reduce and limit death penalty. Although these theories exist many differences, but one thing in common, they all think that the applicable scope of death penalty should be limited to crimes which serious harm to national security, public safety, and personal safety. In most countries which keep death penalty, they also have not set the death penalty for corruption crimes. Jiang Bixin thought that based on the historical tradition and legal culture, the reality situation of China and the public values and other factors, it is unrealistic to completely abolish death penalty in present. The key of prevention and containment for economic crimes is to sound economic management system, to improve the social supervision mechanism; government should abolish death penalty for most corruption crimes. This view is as the same as the objective of building a socialist harmonious society and establish a new culture in China. In conclusion, the theoretical basis and sociological basis for abolishment of death penalty of corruption crimes have been founded. Use ratio of corruption crimes is low in recent years In recent years, from the use of corruption crimes of death penalty in judicial practices, few cases have been sentenced to death, it account for a few percentages of the incidence of these crimes, so death penalty of corruption crimes is keeping itself for future possible use. Many corruption crimes cases which the amount of the province with tens or hundreds thousands did not apply death penalty. Abolishment of death penalty of corruption crimes is conducive to have a unified jurisdiction in China Abolishment of death penalty of corruption crimes is conducive to main criminal disposition be unified with related mechanisms of Hong Kong and Macao. â€Å"In recent, China’s subject increasingly close exchanges with political and economic of these regions, personnel exchanges gradually achieve the accessibility, it is great practical significance. (Roger, 2005) For now, China Mainland sentenced the death penalty for some comers who came from Hong Kang and Macao; it also caused a number of international non-governmental organizations concerned. Amnesty International thought: â€Å"when many criminals who implement crimes in HKSAR and MCSAR have been sentenced death penalty by China Mainland, this makes effectiveness problems which are called â€Å"transfer rather than extradition to China Mainland† emerged from the water; in the foreseeable future, Amnesty Internati onal will continue to launch attack to the Chinese government on this issue. Immediate abolishment of death penalty of corruption crimes is the need of completely fighting against the corruption crimes suspects fled Since 1992 to the end of June 2007, in the Chinese corruption criminals fled, there are 87 provincial and ministerial levels, 320 are to departmental level, 1920 is to vice departmental level, 8250 is to the division level, 11340 is to the deputy position at the division level, it is a total of about 16000 people; these people embezzled and took over one billion of RMB. In fact, it is a very conservative data. In fighting against them, China have been caught in a dilemma: Because most countries have abolished the death penalty, according to a particular principle of extradition, these countries generally made in its extradition legislation with the principle of non-extradition of the death penalty, Chinese government can not have commitments of â€Å"corrupt officials will not be sentenced to death for these countries†. If Chinese government has these commitments, it would be contrary to Chinese law, at the same time, it is difficult to achieve fairness for corrupt officials fled in the criminal law, and leading to different punishment with the same crime; this problem is particularly that reflected in the crime. To solve these problems, the fundamental method is abolishing death penalty for bribery and corruption crime. Abolishing death penalty is a trend that is already reached common ground in academic cycle. Many people think that China does not have the conditions of abolishing death penalty. As abolishing death penalty is the thing that must do sooner or later, we must walk out the first step. And today is a good chance. Predict for bribery and corruption crime with no death penalty Abolishing death penalty for bribery and corruption crime, on one hand, makes the penalty measures of bribery and corruption crime more reasonable, on the other hand, can restrain corrupt officials’ escaping and reduce the space that they can escape and hide. Abolishing death penalty for bribery and corruption crime has a strong justice practice meaning: our government can sing extradition role with developed countries which hidden many corrupt officials and thorough attack escaping corrupt officials; at the same time, it is an efficient frighten to the potential criminals to hardly reduce the escape space. On one aspect, abolishing death penalty for bribery and corruption crime shows more justify by sentence with the amount of money or circumstances. On another aspect, penalty’s determinism will obtain a thorough implementation with escaping corrupt officials becoming less, which decrease bribery and corruption crimes. In 1997, China published â€Å"New Law† which abolishes death penalty for steal crime. Through these years’ check, the rate of steal crime is not increasing apparently after abolishing death penalty and common people don’t show much more attention. Therefore, speaking of practicing, abolishing death penalty for economic crime is totally possible. Works Cited [1] Changsha Evening News, March 11, 2006. [2] Zhao, Bingzhi. From China’s Death Penalty Policy to See the Issue about Abolishment of Death Penalty of Non-violent Crime. Beijing: Chinese People Security University Press, 2004. [3] Ma, Kechang. To Carry Out The â€Å"Kill Fewer, Kill Carefully† Criminal Policy. Beijing: Chinese People Security University Press, 2006. [4] Chen, Xingliang. Ontic Crime Law. Shanghai: The Commercial Press, 2001. [5] Zhao, Bingzhi. Exploration Of Way About Abolishment Of Death Penalty. Beijing: China Prosecution Publishing House, 2004. [6] Ma, Kechang. A Brief History Of Modern Western Criminal Law. Beijing: China Prosecution Publishing House, 2004. [7] Liu, Lu. Psychological Characteristics And Punishment Of Duty Crime. Journal of Zhejiang Public Security College, 2005. [8] Ma, Kechang. To Carry Out The â€Å"Kill Fewer, Kill Carefully† Criminal Policy. Beijing: Chinese People Security University Press, 2006. 9] Zou, Yunxiang; Tian, Hongjie. A Study On Certainty Of Strengthening Anti-corruption Legislation And Law Enforcement. China Young Daily, 2006. [10] Wang, Zuofu. Reflection On Legislation Of Death Penalty Of Duty Crime. Beijing: China Prosecution Publishing House, 2004. [11] Tan, Zhongchi. Duty Crimes Must Be The Protection For System. Procuratorate Daily, 2006. [12] Roger, Hood. Global Survey Of Death Penalty. Beijing: China Prosecution Publishing House, 2005.