Animal Farm, written by George Orwell in 1945, recounts the dangerous life of farm animals on their farm. The main characters are depicted in a simple format and writing style , but the entire plot of the story alludes to the communist party/ the Soviet related events that were unfolding in Orwell’s life as he aged. (Orwell is known for being against totalitarianism).The novel’s main characters are Napoleon and Snowball (pigs), the two leaders of the animal’s revolution in the story. They first overthrow their human owner with the help of the animal’s original leader, a pig named Squealer. They overthrow Mr.. Jones, then move to the rules of Animalism, making sure the the main rule is “Four legs, good, two legs , bad.” Everything is fine at first, but when Squealer dies and Napoleon/ Snowball come into power, the rules become unclear. All the other animals still follow, although uneasily, and they build windmills, start trading with other farms(though at first the rule stated not to); they even set up battalions to defend the farm when need be.
The pigs begin to take more power then the other animals, despite the rules telling every animal that all animals are equal. The pigs are vicious, they relentlessly work the animals until each is gaunt and sickly. One valiant horse, Boxer, nearly works himself to death. He is not rewarded, but later in the story is shipped off to be processed into glue. All the animals start to question the rules when this happens, but none fight against it. The pigs being walking upright. They are fed more food than the other animals who work more. They even sleep in beds and carry walking sticks. All of these things are prohibited; somehow, the pigs still manage to twist the rules, all because they are in power. At the end of they story, the pigs are seen trading with humans, and the other animals cannot tell the difference between the pigs and the men.
This idea Orwell was trying to create was about how twisted the socialist rulew become once put into law. He was against both capitalism and totalitarianism in any form, but he blatanly bashed the communist system in this story without actually stating it. Napolean and Snowball are allusions to the men in power during communist times while he was alive. The entire story is an allegory to the problems in the Soviet system.
I enjoyed this book thouroughly; it provided me with insight into Orwell’s mindset on communism and explained using examples the way the socialist party fell apart under aggressive powers trying to take advantage of hard- working men and woman beneath them. In communism, the people in power have an easy life and the men and women breath do not. They struggle, they survive with the bare minimum. This book, although fictional, proves the communist system to not work.
I love George Orwell and his works. He has an amazing mindset on certain things and tends to be brutally honest in his work. My next book review might even be on his story, ” 1984.”
