Analyzing Political Power in George Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984 through Machiavellian Lenses

Abstract

Throughout history, mankind has witnessed the rise and fall of various kingdoms, leaders, and political systems. Yet, regardless of how constantly changeable and different they were; they all valued and sought the same thing; power. Thus, this research work aims to study the theme of power in George Orwell’s satirical novella Animal Farm and the dystopian novel 1984 by applying a sixteenth century philosophy called the Machiavellian theory. This extended essay intends to focus on how totalitarian systems take and use power by applying some of the Machiavellian strategies on Orwell’s antagonists Napoleon and Big Brother. In addition, this dissertation also seeks to spotlight the realistic and pragmatic writings of both Machiavelli and Orwell by tackling their political beliefs and experience, and showing how they depicted them through their writings.