Animal Farm and 1984 are the two classics written by George Orwell, both dealing with the issue of totalitarianism. In a way, Animal Farm is a precursor to 1984, though the former was written prior to the latter. It is also a “companion reader” to 1984, in which if you have read one book, you must read the other.
This novel, subtitled “A Fairy Story,” is imagined by the reader to be sort of a comic book, or a cartoon. It deals with talking animals on a farm that live under the “tyranny” of a farmer, in which the animals produce all the food through hard work, or being slaughtered, and the farmer (Mr. Jones, in this case) takes it and gets all the produce, selling it to make money for himself, with the animals getting nothing.
The animals rebel and take over the farm, expelling Mr. Jones, and here, they run the farm themselves, forming a “nation.” Of course it is called “Animal Farm.”
At first, they set up a Utopia, burning all reminders of slavery by humans, making all animals equal, posting “The Seven Commandments,” where animals don’t kill other animals, sleep in beds, drink alcohol, and man being the eternal enemy. By nature, some animals are smarter than others, and there is a caste system of pigs, horses, sheep, goats, dogs, etc. The pigs lead, with two opposing leaders, Snowball and Napoleon, with Squealer being a “messenger”. Snowball is more democratic oriented and draws up plans for a windmill to produce electricity for comfort, but Napoleon then overthrows him and drives him off the farm, taking command.
With Napoleon in charge, the animals work hard to build their “Utopia” but there are setbacks, as in building a windmill and then it being destroyed, twice. (You may wonder if Napoleon planned this.) The pigs hoard the apples, with the propaganda saying they need them for brain power, and here, the lies commence. The pigs then start to hoard more of the luxurious items for themselves.
The other animals work extremely hard, food is rationed, life is miserable, but the “propaganda minister,” Squealer, always comes out with statistics of life being better and more luxurious then it was under farmer Jones. Tyranny abounds, animals are put to death, all of the “Seven Commandments” are violated, and life turns out just as bad, or worse, than how it was when owned by farmer Jones.
Like 1984, this book is a satire on society, but here, it depicts societies like Communist Russia, which is what the book originally depicted, but more countries could be added to the list. It’s what happens when one country overthrows a tyranny, only to be replaced by another. Examples include that of Russia, Cuba, and any African and South America country, where, a regime is overthrown, or a colony declared its independence, originally becomes a free society, and then, chaos ensues, and the country is a dictatorship.
Orwell, in a way, was a little pessimistic on human society. He grew up in England during the Industrial Revolution and has seen its effects of the working class. He felt that tyranny is in reality, the natural order of any society, and a free society takes effort, education of the masses, and eternal vigilance, something that is hard to maintain. If we leave societal rule to others and do nothing, or if we blindly follow what the leaders say and do, then that society will evolve into a tyranny. I think this is the underlying message in this book.
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