Finding Utopia in Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies (Like Acing your AP Calculus Exam without Knowing Addition)

Since the beginning of time human beings have imagined living in a utopia. It seems simple enough. In a perfect world everyone would live together in harmony, help each other out, there would be no war, no hunger, and no hate. It sounds pretty simple on the surface. Writers William Golding and George Orwell both explored the idea of a perfect society in their famous, captivating allegorical tales. Each author may be saying something slightly different, but in the end they both clearly have negative views about us human beings being capable of ever attaining the perfection of a utopia. Alduos Huxley too, explored the idea of

Williams Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies explores the idea of living in an ideal society. The young boys that find themselves stranded on an island have an ideal opportunity to form a perfectly utopian existence. With WWII as a backdrop, one would think that these boys would do their best to make their world as peaceful and harmonious as possible. And maybe they do try their best. Maybe that is the point. It is clear that to Golding, a utopian society is about as realistic as acing your AP Calculus exam without knowing how to add. Golding believes it is the flaw of human beings, not a political system that is to blame for our imperfect society.

According to the world of Lord of the Flies human beings with their “dark hearts,” are too evil to ever truly live in harmony.

George Orwell explored the idea of an ideal society in Animal Farm but he doesn’t make it as clear as Golding as to whether or not he feels the failure of a perfect society is inherent or simply a product of our society, who we have been conditioned to become. Orwell is clear about one thing though: the division of class is a large part of the problem and a threat to freedom. Golding would most likely say that the desire for a division of class is a human desire while Orwell may think that this desire is a product of our own creation. Truly understanding which of the two theories is correct would require us to delve deep into the recesses of the human psyche, which is why both these books would probably be interesting for students attempting AP Psychology.

The animals of Manor Farm are extremely unhappy with their horrible present situation and aim to find a better system. Once they get rid of the terrible farmer, things are on the up and up. The animals agree on leaders and to follow the list of rules created by the pigs the most important one being, “All animals are equal.” At first things are going well and everyone is contributing to the greater good. The peaceful and happy environment does not last and things begin to unravel pretty quickly for the animals. The three pigs get greedy and start acting on their own interests. (A natural or learned desire?)

Both the Lord of the Flies and Animal Farm tells the story of character that is not happy with their present “society” and attempt to create a better one. Both sets of characters begin by trying to create a “Utopia” where everyone is equal. Once ego and the struggle for power kicks in, things fall apart. The sad truth in both of these books is clear: we are incapable of truly living in harmony.