Abstract：George Orwell’s Animal Farm is one of the most familiar books in world literature. The author describes all kinds of animals with different character traits by the use of personification in the form of allegory. It satirizes totalitarianism and the persons who always hunger for power, and exposed their hideous features incisively and vividly. George Orwell’s brilliant writing skills is exposed in Animal Farm. Moreover, it shows us fully that George Orwell applies flexibly the use of black humor.
This thesis will synthesize rhetoric, literature and political meaning from references, probing into the features of black humor of Animal Farm—the realistic reflection of the theme and the anti-hero protagonists. By analyzing how animals violate the Seven Commandments and move toward totalitarian control, it points out that due to the selfish nature of human being and the imbalance of power, people’s fight for equality and freedom is doomed to be fruitless.
Key words: George Orwell; Animal Farm; black humor
中文摘要：乔治.奥威尔的《动物庄园》被认为是世纪文坛上最为著名的政治讽喻小说，作者通过描写生活在庄园上各式各样不同性格特征的动物，以拟人的寓言形式，讽刺了极权主义和过度追逐权力的人，把他们的丑恶嘴脸刻画得淋漓尽致。乔治奥威尔高明的写作技巧在《动物庄园》里得以体现，更充分展示他对黑色幽默技巧的灵活运用。
本论文综合了文献资料所提及的修辞手法、文学和政治意义，并尝试探讨《动物庄园》中体现的黑色幽默特点——主题反映现实和反英雄的人物。通过分析起义之后动物们如何违反“七条戒律”，走向极权统治，指出人类的自私和权力的失衡是最终导致追求平等和自由的失败的原因。
关键词：乔治奥威尔；动物庄园；黑色幽默
