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Symbolism In Animal Farm And The Lives Of Others

Decent Essays

Animal Farm by George Orwell and The Lives of Others by Florian von Donnersmarck have highlighted the dangers inherent in a Totalitarian society by using stylistic features. The stylistic features used include, symbolism of art, and themes of corruption and hope. Animal Farm is an allegory for communism, specifically the 1917 Russian Revolution the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union and reflects on many of the events that lead up to the revolt. The Lives of Others is an allegory for socialism, specifically the German Democratic Republic during the Second World War. And although both focus on different times, both Orwell and Donnersmarck have used the power of artistic expression in their respective works. The two texts use the symbolism of artistic expression to show how totalitarian societies can use art to manipulate and control. In Animal Farm, Orwell uses the song of ‘Beasts of England’ to show how the animals were easy to encourage to rebel, whereas in Donnersmarck’s The Lives of Others, Dreymann’s plays are used to glorify the status quo, which, throughout the film, change to show how the society is changing. This change of status quo is evident at 006:46 at the beginning of the film where it is ‘for the people’ and very realistic by being set in an actual workhouse, and again at 154:20 towards the end of the film where the play is no longer realistically set in a workhouse and toned with shades of brown, instead, it’s more ‘western’ and abstract. Although both texts

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