A Feminist Reading of George Orwell's Animal Farm

Where Are the Sows? A Feminist Reading of George Orwell’s Animal Farm Andre Persson Faculty of Education Independent essay project in English Literature, 15 credits. Spring term 2021 Author Andre Persson Swedish titel Var Är Suggorna? – En Feministisk Analys av George Orwells Djrufarmen English title Where Are the Sows? – A Feminist Reading of George Orwell’s Animal Farm Supervisor Maria Freij Abstract This essay argues that the patriarchy is pervasive throughout George Orwell’s novella Animal Farm. By providing examples of narrative events and character actions, the essay aims to make evident the ways in which the patriarchy is represented throughout the novella. The concept of patriarchy is defined, and characters and events that take place within the narrative of Animal Farm are analyzed through the lens of traditional gender roles and toxic masculinity. Both male and female characters are included to present the ways in which society in Animal Farm is patriarchal and the essay argues that the presence of the patriarchy pervades the narrative. The presence of patriarchal structures can be seen throughout the narrative, including characters, character’s actions and how events are portrayed. To conclude, discussing the novella from a feminist theoretical perspective is good for understanding the work in a way that is different from most other analyses in academia and this essay argues that the patriarchy indeed is present throughout the narrative of Animal Farm. Key words George Orwell, Animal Farm, patriarchy, traditional gender roles, toxic masculinity. 1 George Orwell’s novella Animal Farm was published in 1945. Animal Farm is an allegorical narrative and is commonly interpreted as an allegory for the Bolshevik Revolution and the early years of the Soviet Union. Stewart Cole describes the novella as a “barnyard allegory” and states that Orwell “chose to allegorize Russian Communism through animals” (335). David Dwan argues that it can be read as a criticism of other political ideologies as well, including liberalism and democracy (656), but according to most interpretations the story is an allegory for Soviet Communism. The novella was also used as propaganda, particularly by different intelligence agencies in Britain and America to promote an anti-Soviet and anti- communist agenda (Senn 150). According to John Rodden and John P. Rossi, Orwell himself supported democratic socialism, the British Labour Party, but he was anti-communist and he disliked “the idea of empire” after experiences he had in Burma with the Indian Imperial Police (2-3). One aspect that is not commonly discussed regarding Orwell’s Animal Farm is the way gender is portrayed and plays into the novella’s narrative. This essay analyzes Animal Farm from a feminist theoretical perspective, primarily focusing on traditional gender roles, toxic masculinity and patriarchal structures and norms. This essay argues that the patriarchy is pervasive throughout Animal Farm. Orwell died in 1950 at age forty-six. To put that into context, Orwell lived through both World Wars, the Great Depression and the early-postwar period after the Second World War ended. At home in England Orwell supported the British Labour Party. He was well understood on the London literary scene as a democratic socialist, while opposing communism, in particular the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Rodden & Rossi 3). Rodden and Rossi argue that Orwell’s politics were commonly misconstrued, American conservatives often using his anti-Soviet stance as a reason to defend capitalism and disavow all forms of socialism (3). Orwell’s intention with Animal Farm was to criticize totalitarianism in general, aiming to criticize both capitalists and communists, but that was certainly not how American capitalists, and intelligence agencies in the U.K. and USA, interpreted the novella (Senn 150). Animal Farm was unsurprisingly adapted into other forms of media, including cartoon strips and film, and the CIA pushed to make the film even more anti-Soviet than the source material, “[insisting] on several changes in order to make the message explicitly clear” (Senn 151). Some of the changes included making Snowball a less sympathetic character, drawing clear contrasts between good and bad farmers, and making changes to the ending that reshapes the narrative in a consequential way (Senn 151-152). 2 A lesser analyzed aspect of the novella in academia is how gender is portrayed. In her essay “Political Fiction and Patriarchal Fantasy,” Daphne Patai argues that the “messy business of gender hierarchy” is “carefully reproduced” in Animal Farm (7). This is a statement that this essay agrees with, but while Patai places a focus on Orwell’s political views and his weaknesses as a writer, this essay will shift the focus onto the novella itself, and thoroughly analyze the entirety of the novella and provide examples of the presence of the patriarchy throughout the narrative. This essay will do this by analyzing characters and events that take place throughout the novella. Characters that will be analyzed includes the sows, or rather the lack of sows, the boar Old Major, Napoleon, who is the main antagonist and also the one who assumes leadership on the farm, and an event that takes place where the hens rebel against Napoleon’s leadership. The horses Mollie, Clover and Boxer will also be analyzed, all of which exhibit characteristics that make them fit into the traditional gender roles of the patriarchy. The patriarchy and traditional gender roles are concepts that will constitute the primary focus of this essay. Lois Tyson defines patriarchy as “any culture that privileges men by promoting traditional gender roles” (81). There are other ways to define patriarchy, such as the one given by Toril Moi in The Feminist Reader, saying that the patriarchy is “the way in which male domina[te] over females” (104), but this essay will be using the definition given by Tyson because of how closely the essay ties the concept of traditional gender roles to the patriarchy. Traditional gender roles are the way in which society places men and women into separate categories of what men and women are traditionally supposed to be like. Men are supposedly “rational, strong, protective, and decisive” (Tyson 81) according to traditional gender roles. These are all viewed as male traits, and in a patriarchal society a man is not a man at all if he does not adhere to these traits. On the other hand, women are supposedly “emotional (irrational), weak, nurturing, and submissive” (Tyson 81). According to Tyson, these traits being attributed to women has “been used very successfully to justify inequities” in society, including limiting women’s ability to access leadership roles and positions within the decision- making processes, both within the family and in their working lives, including academia, politics, and the corporate world (81). This essay will discuss and analyze how different characters, including Old Major, Clover, Boxer, Mollie, and Napoleon, fit into their traditional gender roles and the way in which said characters exemplify different aspects of their traditional gender roles. At this point it is important to discuss the fact that Animal Farm is an allegorical narrative, and therefore certain characters must fit into specific gender roles. The 3 characters represent historical figures, most being specific persons or groups that played important roles during the early portion of the existence of the Soviet Union. While this is important to be aware of, this essay will discuss these characters regardless, and show how they fit into patriarchal norms and gender roles throughout the narrative. Traditional gender roles are not innate, instead they are a consequence of socially constructed gender categories, a view on gender that is an example of what has become known as social constructionism (Tyson 82). According to Tyson, gender is the way in which men and women are culturally programmed as masculine and feminine. Additionally, Tyson states that feminists have observed that to “maintain the male monopoly of positions of economic, political, and social power” society has used “[t]he belief that men are superior to women” (82). This social construction is negative for women and a woman’s ability to achieve success, particularly in business and politics. But society’s social construction can also be negative for men. A man who does not adhere to patriarchal norms is often ridiculed, seen as “weak and unmanly,” suggesting that the “only way to be a man [is] to be a patriarchal man” (Tyson 82). Men are further pressured to be their family’s primary provider, and “[f]ailure to provide adequate economic support for one’s family is considered the most humiliating failure a man can experience” because then a man has “failed at what’ patriarchal society “[considers] his biological role as provider” (Tyson 83). The idea of men failing to live up to their role as provider that is established by patriarchal structures can be linked to the concept of toxic masculinity. Toxic masculinity is a concept that will be discussed in this essay in relation to the male characters in Animal Farm, including their actions and motivations throughout the novella. Terry Kupers defines toxic masculinity as “the need to aggressively compete and dominate others and encompasses the most problematic proclivities in men” (713). These tendencies to “aggressively compete” and “dominate others” will be a focus in the analysis when discussing Napoleon’s character, particularly in relation to the dynamics between Napoleon and Snowball. Another character who will be analyzed and discussed in relation to the concept of toxic masculinity is Boxer, and how toxic masculinity may relate to Boxer’s actions and his motto saying that he will work harder. His character is not directly tied to the willingness to compete and dominate others, but he is rather affected by toxic masculinity when it comes to other characters’ suggestions, particularly the boars who, who suggest that he is not to show sentimentality and merely value Boxer for his work.

Load more