Satire

Artists today employ satire in their work in order to make fun, criticize or correct a vice in the society. In the past, satire was the style that sent several artists to jail, exiled some, ban their books and killed many in countries with dictatorial leaders. This essay shall discuss satire as used by George Orwell and Charles Dickens in their works the Animal farm and The Hard time respectively. It shall also answer on the type of satire and the message the artist sent to the audience.

In his text Hard Times, Charles Dickens satirizes the utilitarianism of his time, which believed that money was better than humanity. He uses character such as Mr. Gradgrind who believes money is everything and humanity is nothing. He forgets teaching his children humanity in the end; he has a sad daughter and two of his sons as thieves. Dickens describes him Mr.

Figures, averages, and nothing else (Dickens, 2011). This is a socio-philosophical satire. The artist is teaching the audience that money is not the ultimate dream to pursue rather they should strive to be humane. On the other hand, George Orwell comes up with a political satire to criticize the Joseph Stalin government his renowned book “Animal Farm: The Fairy Story”. In his text, he points out politicians as mean and careless lawbreakers who change the law to suit their interests. For instance, on the animal farm, Napoleon changes the law from all animals are equal to all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others are.

This is just one of the laws. From this satire, the author tries to explain to the audience that in some cases, hypocritical politicians promise better lives when in reality what they offer is worse than what the citizens had initially. It is apparent that the two authors have employed satire to send coded messages to their audience.