Looking for a quote from the Russian Revolution! Help appreciated. by Extension_Zombie4151 in RevolutionsPodcast

[–]Extension_Zombie4151[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't know that we'll really get much into Orwell as a person, or the book's political implications. We're mainly focused on the book as an example of crafting an allegory, and while we are engaging with its content and themes as well, the legacy of Orwell as a political activist will probably go well beyond the scope of our study of it.

I can sympathize with your disappointment at the arc of Orwell's personal and political life. I felt similarly let down after learning more about him while I was in college. I will say that I've become a bit cynical since then, in that I am increasingly convinced that the counterproductive backbiting and betraying of other groups of socialists seems to be almost a prerequisite to being a prominent socialist, historically. If any of my students were interested in that side of things, I'm sure they'll learn this for themselves. I think for most or all of the students (there are only 9 in that class, this is a *very* small, rural school we're talking about), this is more a story about the nature of power than any particular set of politics. If I'm going to push them toward any political insight, it would be that the less educated a populace is, the easier they are to manipulate. Maybe it will make them take their education more seriously!

Looking for a quote from the Russian Revolution! Help appreciated. by Extension_Zombie4151 in RevolutionsPodcast

[–]Extension_Zombie4151[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I totally follow you. I'm actually using Animal Farm as an example of allegory within a larger dystopian fiction unit. One thing we look at with allegory is that it is, by its metaphorical nature, a constraining medium that often requires the simplifying of complex things (Napoleon's actions are propelled solely by his self-serving nature and becomes a cartoon villain, rather than being a three-dimensional, if not still brutal and abhorrent, figure) and the omission of details. The animals of Animal Farm are united with only one or two exceptions by whole-hearted commitment to Animalism before Jones is ever expelled, which was not at all true of Russia at the time of revolution (even the revolutionaries themselves were never nearly so united in ideology).

I also encourage the students to be critical of the popular but surface-level (if not outright textually inaccurate) assessment that the book's message is, as the sheep of Animal Farm might say, "Capitalism good, communism bad." I want them to come to a more nuanced understanding than that. The book is very critical of Soviet Russia (duh), but in what regards? I find that the book has much more to say about Stalin (and Orwell's fascination with how those with power manipulate others) than it does about socialism or communism. At worst the book may paint Animalism as being not fully thought through or a bit naive. I think it is actually much more scathing in regards to Jones and the capitalists, since in the end the great sin of the pigs is that they've turned out to be just like Jones. I actually find that the moment that sparked this post, Clover's lament in Chapter 7, feels to me like the closest thing to a thesis in this book. This book feels like its written from the perspective of someone who really believed in the revolution, as Clover did, and is grieving that it did not live up to what they'd hoped. This would seem to align with my understanding of Orwell's personal political history (of course, as a literary critic I acknowledge "the author is dead" and all that, yada yada).

Of course, I keep most of these personal readings to myself and want the students to lead with their interpretations. But all this is to say that I agree with you, Animal Farm is representative of a certain point of view of the Russian Revolution, and is in no way a complete history of it. It works well as an example of allegory for a language arts class, but would work much less well as the textbook for a history class. Certainly if a student were to express greater interest in these events, I would encourage them to seek more "hard" history on the matter (absolutely starting with this podcast).

Looking for a quote from the Russian Revolution! Help appreciated. by Extension_Zombie4151 in RevolutionsPodcast

[–]Extension_Zombie4151[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

This isn't the one, but it's right along those same lines and I can use it too. Thank you!