Exploring Satire

If you have read a satire before, you no doubt agree that is one of the most interesting forms of literature that exist.

 I first came across the term satire back at school. My English teacher used the term to describe the book we were reading then, Animal farm.

 I am certain you have read the book before.  Written by George Orwell, whose real name is Eric Blair, the book was rejected by certain publishers at one time. This was because, our teacher said, it was ridiculing people in the soviet government then.

The story is about farm animals which stage a revolution and expel their cruel farmer and owner, Mr. Jones, from the farm.   The pigs which were described as the intelligent ones, took over the proceedings of the farm. However, in the long run, these animals became just like their cruel human owner, Mr. Jones, and began to abuse the other animals. In the end, it was difficult to tell the difference between them and him, because they had become the same. Power had corrupted them. Ultimately, this lead to another revolution, which would hardly solve the problem of the corrupting effect of power.

 A superficial analysis of this piece of work would hardly reveal its satirical nature. One would think it is just a fun story about animals on a farm and how they overthrew their cruel leader.  Yes, one would assume it is just a fable and nothing more. Well, not really. Our teacher revealed to us that it is more than just a story about animals like the proverbial Hare and Hyena stories. It is a piece of satire and an allegorical fable, that is, a work using characters as symbols that suggest deeper meaning.

Let me now take the time to define a satire.

 
A satire is a piece of work that uses clever word use (wit), sarcasm, and or irony to criticize or ridicule.

 That is precisely what Animal Farm is. The animal characters used in the play actually depict people. People In Government. You would wonder how pigs could be more intelligent than other animals. We hardly know them to be so. When I think of pigs, the first thing that comes to my mind is a large, oddish animal wallowing in mud, without an ounce of intelligence.

 But in Animal Farm these animals rule. When you realize that these pigs stand for People In Government, George’s use of them in the book becomes more obvious. If you have not seen it yet, take the first letter of each word in the phrase ‘People In Government’ and form an acronym. What does it read?

 This illustrates one of the elements of satire. Wit, or clever word usage and association. Certain words or combination of words, do not really mean what they appear to mean at face value. Rather, such words are formed in an effort to convey a certain meaning, often one which ridicules the people it depicts.

 So people in government are pigs, animals of no relative intelligence? No wonder George Orwell’s book was shunned by certain publishers at one point.

  The other animals like the valiant horse, Boxer, may more appropriately symbolize the working class, the rank and file, the working class. Boxer, along with the other animals, seemed to easily get fooled by the pigs, especially of their lack of ability to recollect past events and associate them with present events.

 For example, the fundamental laws which governed the animals, scribbled on the barn wall, underwent significant change.

 One such law was: ‘No Animal shall drink Alcohol.’

 But when the pigs began to adopt Mr. Jone’s bad ways, this law was altered to: ‘No Animal shall drink Alcohol to Excess.’

 The same fate befell the other laws.

 A very interesting work of Satire, Animal Farm is. The theme that permeates the whole work is: ‘Power corrupts, and Absolute power corrupts Absolutely.’ (Lord Acton)

George is in effect trying to say, ‘No matter how noble your intent is, when invested with power, you will become just as bad as your predecessors, perhaps even worse. Revolutions amount to nothing and solve nothing. People will always become corrupt when invested with power. They behave just like pigs.”

 Talking of pigs being intelligence, we all know that is sarcasm. Sarcasm is a very important element of satire.  It is stating something when you actually mean the opposite of what you are stating. Sarcasm has to be obvious in order for it to be effective. For example, how do you describe a pig as intelligent when it is obvious that such a pig anything but that?

 Another example of sarcasm is this: a person has clearly hurt your feelings. But you say to him, ‘You are a very considerate person.’ That is sarcasm, pure and raw.

 Irony is close to sarcasm, if not sarcasm. However, Irony extends to mean an outcome that is contrary to what is expected, often resulting in humor. The major difference between sarcasm and irony is that irony almost always is humorous. Sarcasm may not. It may even be distasteful.

 Another satirical work that we examined back at school was The Government Inspector, a book criticizing the Russian regime of the time. Perhaps nothing illustrates how much irony the author used in this work than the author’s (Nikolay Gogol)own words:

 ‘In the Government Inspector, I gathered all that was bad in Russia and turned it into ridicule. But the impression it created was that of fear. Through the laughter that I have never laughed more bitterly, the spectator feels my bitterness and sorry.’

It's been a while since I read the book, so I may not have quoted exactly.

There are other works of satire that I personally like. Some of them are those written by Spectator Kalaki. His works are freely available for all on his blog. He ridicules the shenanigans exhibited by people in politics. They personally crack me up, and I am sure they will crack you up too.

Intend to write a satire? You might as well start by reading one.

 Keep checking right here, and we will explore satire together.

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