Abstract

Symbolism, an artistic and poetic movement or style which uses symbolic images and indirect suggestion to express mystical ideas, emotions and states of mind, was very popular with authors in 20th century. George Orwell, as one of the most typical masters of irony, employed such expression throughout his representative work Animal Farm. Then this allegorical novel has won a lot of success and been awarded as the top 100 novels at that time because of its vivid usages of symbolism.
Therefore, in order to help readers better understand the theme of this masterpiece, George Orwell’s style of writing and his political views, the author chooses to analyze symbolism used in Animal Farm. This paper can be divided into four parts. The first part talks about George Orwell and his works, and introduces the definition and characteristics of symbolism. The second part mainly analyzes the symbolism of different characters, the slogans and the scenes. The third part focuses on the purposes of using symbolism in Animal Farm. Finally the last part further discusses George Orwell’s political views on both imperialism and socialism.
 In conclusion, by analyzing symbolism in this work, it is obvious that Animal Farm has satirized the Russian Revolution in reality and its influence has gone beyond both academic circles and political world and continues up to now. And this novel has established Orwell’s position in the literary arena. Therefore, from the perspective of the symbolism, this paper discloses the ironic meanings in this novel with details in the hope that it could facilitate readers in better understanding this novel.

Key words: symbolism; totalitarianism; slogans; socialism; animal farm

摘  要

象征主义是一种艺术表现形式或风格，使用象征的形象和间接的表达方式来抒发作者不为人知的思想感情。尤其在二十世纪，象征主义手法受到作家们的欢迎。作为最典型的讽刺大师之一，乔治•奥威尔便在其代表作《动物庄园》中广泛使用象征主义。因此，得益于作品中生动地运用了大量象征主义手法，该政治寓言体小说取得了巨大成功，并被评为当年最好的一百部小说之一。
为了帮助读者更好地理解该部佳作的主旨，乔治•奥威尔的写作风格及其在作品中反应出来的政治观，本文作者选择分析《动物庄园》中的象征主义手法为研究对象。本论文分为四部分。第一部分主要介绍作者乔治•奥威尔和其作品，并介绍象征主义手法的定义和特征；第二部分重点分析《动物庄园》中的角色，标语和部分场景的象征意义；第三部分分析乔治•奥威尔大量使用象征主义手法的目的；最后一部分主要深入探讨乔治•奥威尔的政治观，尤其是他对于帝国主义和社会主义的政治观念。
因此，通过上述分析可知《动物庄园》实为讽刺俄国革命，而该部作品在文学领域和政治圈中的巨大影响亦延续至今。这部小说奠定了乔治•奥威尔在文坛的地位。通过分析作品中的象征主义手法，本论文向读者细节化揭示了《动物庄园》的讽刺意义，以此使读者更好地理解该部作品。

关键词：象征主义；极权主义；标语；社会主义；动物庄园