A Study Of The Political Irony In Animal Farm From Terry Eagleton's Ideology Theory

In this thesis,Terry Eagleton's ideology theory is used as a theoretical framework to analyze the political irony in George Orwell's Animal Farm.Orwell satirizes the Soviet Union society in Stalin's era and reveals the ideological tyranny of Stalin government through a series of absurd stories.Eagleton summarizes previous ideology theories,and deepens them at different levels.Ideology is more than just concerned with politics.It connects to every aspect of human life.It can be employed properly to promote the progress of human civilization.On the other hand,it can also be used by the ruling class with dubious motives to tyrannize.There are clues of the ruling class' ideological tyranny in the novel Animal Farm,where every description aims to satirize Stalin and his government and to warn the leaders in modern democratic society.First of all,according to Eagleton's definition of ideology,Old Major's speech in Chapter I of the novel is the first official ideology stated in Animal Farm.To all animals in Manor Farm,this speech plays the role of "enlightenment" and"action-orientation".More than that,"the Seven Commandments",as the most important official ideology,reflect Lenin's "April Theses" in the Soviet Union.Next,in the novel,Orwell describes animals' high enthusiasm right after their victory and pig leaders' privilege life in depth.With the help of stylistic analysis and the features of ideology-universalization and uniformity-given by Eagleton,Orwell's sarcasm towards the "Great Leap Forward" and the cadres' privileged life under Stalin's rule.Then,pig leaders modify "the Seven Commandments" for several times.According to Eagleton's ideology theory,ideology is often employed by the ruling class to "legitimize" their interests.Orwell satirizes Stalin's revising the definition of"equality",and criticizes Stalin that he controls people's thoughts through controlling their ideology.Finally,the notion of "false ideology" that Eagleton emphasizes is combined with stylistic analysis to explore the popular cult of Napoleon on the farm;education of the young and the allocation of the farm works.Orwell tries to satirize the cult of Stalin,the improper ideological education of teenagers and highly-centralized politic and economy system in the Soviet Union.