Animal Farm is a political allegory penned by the brilliant British author George Orwell back in the 1940s. He wrote it to push back against totalitarianism and poke fun at the Soviet Union’s idea of a perfect society. But the wild part is that, whether on purpose or not, Orwell ended up predicting a bunch of major events in China over the next 60 years - from the Liberation War and the Cold War to the Great Leap Forward, the Anti-Rightist Movement, and even the Cultural Revolution. Honestly, reading it still gives me chills, like waking from a bad nightmare.

The story kicks off at Manor Farm in England, where animals have been oppressed by humans for generations, living in constant pain and fear. They never really knew why things were so awful or how to change their fate.

Then along comes Old Major, a remarkable pig, who gathers everyone and drops this truth bomb: "Animal life is misery and slavery, not because the land is bad - England’s soil is rich and the climate is great - but because humans steal our labor. Our real enemy is Man. Get rid of Man, and we’ll finally be free from hunger and endless work."

Inspired by Old Major’s words, the animals decide to rebel. After his death, they launch an unexpected uprising and, against all odds, kick Mr. and Mrs. Jones (and the other humans) off the farm. Suddenly, every animal is in charge, and life feels totally different - food is theirs, made just for them, and every meal is a delight.

To mark their new freedom, the animals rename the place Animal Farm. They kick off a weekly Sunday ritual: first comes flag-raising. Their “flag” is actually an old green tablecloth from Mrs. Jones, painted with a white hoof and horn. The pigs say the green stands for England’s fields and the white for the future Republic of the Animals—a new society without humans.

But even without humans, someone’s got to run the show. Naturally, the pigs step in, using their smarts to take charge. They handle all the complicated stuff like filling out “files,” “reports,” and “memoranda” (basically big piles of paper that get burned afterward). Meanwhile, they don’t even lift a hoof when it comes to food production, even though they’re known for having big appetites.

Every Sunday after flag-raising, the animals meet in the big barn to plan their week. The pigs always propose the plans, while the others just vote along, unable to come up with ideas on their own.

A few months later, the pigs nail down the “7 Commandments” of Animalism—rules meant to govern all animals forever:

1. Whatever goes on two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes on four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal.

They even simplify it to one catchy slogan: “Four legs good, two legs bad.” According to the pigs, if you truly get this, you’re safe from human influence.

News of the rebellion freaks out other farm owners, who desperately try to keep their animals from catching on. At first, they laugh at the idea of animals running a farm, predicting the whole thing would collapse in a couple of weeks. They spread rumors that Manor Farm (they couldn’t accept the new name) was in constant chaos and would soon starve. But when the animals didn’t starve, critics like Frederick and Pilkington switched their tune - claiming Animal Farm had become a den of wickedness, with animals fighting, torturing each other, and even sharing mates. They argued this was the inevitable result of a revolution gone wrong.

Within Animal Farm, the 2 main pig leaders, Napoleon and Snowball, are constantly at odds. The ruthless Napoleon starts believing that educating the young is more important than the work of the adults. By chance, two dogs give birth to nine puppies, and once they’re old enough, Napoleon takes them away to “educate” them in isolation. Soon, these puppies grow up to be as fierce as wolves, always sticking close to Napoleon. They start acting just like the dogs once loyal to Mr. Jones.

After using these dogs to drive out the practical-minded Snowball, Napoleon takes over completely, scrapping the Sunday meetings and shifting all decisions to a secret pig committee led by him. With power in his hands, he begins crushing any dissent—ordering the dogs to kill any animal who dares disagree, leaving behind grim scenes that remind everyone of the brutality they escaped from.

To boost his image, Napoleon orders the construction of a massive windmill. For a whole year, the animals work like slaves - initially excited because all food is theirs, but soon realizing they’re working harder than ever under a new, tougher regime.

They slog away 60 hours a week in the spring and summer, and even Sunday afternoons get thrown into the mix. Missing work means your rations get slashed, and despite all their hard work, not everything gets done. Harvests suffer, and with winter looming, hope begins to fade. The pigs, however, keep the animals motivated with rousing speeches about the glory of labor and hard work - even though the extra hours don’t really translate into better living conditions.

To keep control, the farm kicks off a full-on “cult of personality” around Napoleon. No one can just call him Napoleon anymore - they must say “Our Leader, Comrade Napoleon.” The pigs even pile on fancy titles like “Father of Animals” and “Protector of Humanity.” Every time Squealer speaks, he’s practically in tears, praising Napoleon’s wisdom and love for all animals, especially those still suffering under human rule. Every little success on the farm is credited to him, with animals chattering about how under his guidance, even the simplest things - like laying eggs or tasting water - are miracles.

Back in the early days, Animal Farm set retirement ages for different animals and promised decent benefits - like extra food rations. There were even plans to set aside a special pasture for retired animals. But in reality, no one ever really got to retire, and the idea was eventually dropped.

Years of brutal rule left the farm in ruins. Out of sheer necessity, the pigs decide to open up the farm to human investors. They invite a delegation of neighboring farm owners to tour the place, and the visitors are particularly impressed with the windmill. As the animals toil away in the turnip fields, they can’t help but wonder whether they fear the pigs more or these visiting humans.

Mr. Pilkington from Foxwood Farm even praises Animal Farm’s modern methods and strict discipline, noting that the animals work harder and eat less than anywhere else. He and his team plan to borrow many of these practices for their own farms. By then, the line between pigs and humans becomes so blurred that no one can tell who’s really in charge.

For me, the smartest animal in this novel has to be the old donkey, Benjamin. He sees right through the pigs’ tricks and isn’t swayed by their propaganda. But under Napoleon’s harsh rule, even his best move is to keep his head down.

If the wise have to be so careful, what hope is there for the others? Boxer, the hardworking horse, is the perfect example of a brainwashed animal - constantly believing “Comrade Napoleon is always right.” Even when political turmoil and brutal purges happen, all he can think is, “I must work harder.” And when he finally gets injured and old, Napoleon shows no mercy by selling him to the slaughterhouse for a case of whiskey. This heartbreaking outcome of blind obedience to authority is a powerful lesson.

If I could help Orwell continue the story, I’d add something like this:

After the so-called reforms and opening up, Animal Farm sees a brief revival. But the pigs never really give up power—they keep stifling the animals’ freedom of thought and making them believe they can’t control their own lives. They even bring in other “elite” animals and give them special privileges, making life even tougher for everyone else. Now, instead of ten animals supporting one pig, just three have to do it.

To keep things in check, the pigs use two strategies: First, they dull the animals’ minds by pushing them toward mindless pleasure and the so-called ‘dream of success.’ These days, the animals are forced to work nonstop just to survive, leaving no time to learn or think about their future. Second, the pigs welcome human investors back onto the farm, which means even lower wages and worse working conditions. This setup boosts the pigs’ economic stats while humans get cheap labor, and soon enough, both pigs and humans are smiling at the new order.

Haha.

As Descartes famously said, “I think, therefore I am.” If you stop thinking for yourself, you become part of the “silent majority”—letting others control your destiny, leading you to be exploited, enslaved, or even worse.

The tragedy of the animals in Animal Farm is their inability (or refusal) to think independently, blindly following the crowd. Orwell, with his calm and insightful style, keeps challenging us with deep questions: Do you really think? How do you protect your rights? How do you pursue your own happiness?

Each of us has to answer these questions for ourselves. Even if life is confusing, at least go out knowing you tried to understand.

5 / 5 stars

My other review of Orwell's Work:
Animal Farm
1984
The Road to Wigan Pier
Down and Out in Paris and London
Why I Write
Coming up for Air

Posso riassumere la mia opinione nei confronti di questo libro con una sola parola: VERITÀ!
In questo libro Orwell è riuscito a descrivere perfettamente la nascita e lo sviluppo di un regime dittatoriale di tipo oppressivo e soppressivo.
Attraverso questo breve libro possiamo capire che per quanto l'idea, il sogno o quel che vi pare, sia buona e giusta bisogna fare i conti con la natura umana, in questo caso si fa riferimento agli animali ma si può traslare questa visione nei confronti dell'uomo, che spesso e volentieri non è mai benevola e generosa ma è sempre volta al benessere di un singolo o di un ristretto gruppi di individui.
Il mondo immaginato dal Maggiore è un mondo utopistico che Palladineve cerca di realizzare mettendo al primo posto il benessere di ogni singolo animale e non solo dei maiali ma a Napoleone questo non sta bene e, di conseguenza, si comporta come si comportarono i dittatori dell'epoca: raccontando menzogne, sopprimendo la libertà di espressione e scacciando gli oppositori.
Alla fine di questo libro sono rimasta con l'amaro in bocca consapevole del fatto che questo libro non solo descrive la situazione politica del passato ma descrive gli scenari politici presenti e anche quelli futuri.

“Any animal caught singing [Beasts of England] was given a flogging on the spot.”

George Orwell’s ANIMAL FARM has earned its place in the annals of classic English literature. No doubt about that. It’s a heavy-handed, unequivocally straightforward and painfully obvious, satirical allegory that points up the evils of totalitarianism (Communism, in particular), political demagoguery, government propaganda, and the corrupting nature of absolute power. The animals on Manor Farm revolt against the heartless, ineffective, cruel and heavy-handed administration of Farmer Jones. But when the pigs fall naturally into the obviously required role of new leadership of the farm, the other animals discover that their intellect is not equal to the task of farming and self-government. And the pigs? Well, suffice it to say their character fails to live up to the temptations of what becomes available to them in the role of leadership.

The story can be read on the surface even by young readers as an admittedly brutal story about the difficult, harsh, and unhappy lives of animals on a self-managed farm. On the symbolic level the story is a first page to last metaphor for the Communist Revolution - from Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto to Russia's participation in World War II against Germany in complete violation of the non-aggression pact that Stalin had signed with Hitler. Despite its brevity, readers will discover a metaphorical analogue to an almost bewildering variety of the actual events that took place throughout Stalin’s rise to totalitarian power – the preservation of Lenin’s body; Trotsky’s assassination; the formation of the NKVD secret police and the Politburo; the Great Purge; the suppression of theistic organized religions; the ineffective Five Year Plans and the resulting famines that killed millions which Stalin blamed on hostile elements and sabotage within the peasantry … well, the list is remarkably long and quite fascinating. Orwell even creates a human stand-in for Germany’s Adolf Hitler and Britain’s ineffective Neville Chamberlain.

Take your time and read it slowly. It’s WELL worth the effort despite the rather simplistic nature of the narrative.

In my personal opinion, a more modern takeaway (which was probably not intended by George Orwell, at least not specifically) is that readers in today's USA should be very concerned that they are treading the razor’s edge of falling prey to a right-wing revolt led by similar power hungry demagogues whose intent most assuredly does not include the well-being of US citizens. Read ANIMAL FARM for yourself and see what you think.

Paul Weiss

Keep your Melville, with his dense, Scripture-based allusions. Stow your Dostoevsky, with his endless psychological babbling. Retain your Hawthorne, with all his thee-and-thou-studded dialogue. Instead, give me George Orwell, a writer of classics that are as easy to understand as any book by Ricahrd Scarry or Stan & Jan Berenstain.

Oh, to be sure, there is something to be said of the struggle and the rewards of some of classic literature's heftier entries. This is especially true if you can read them at your own pace. (Is there any worse way to get kids to love reading than to subject them to Crime and Punishment in high school? On top of worrying about college, worrying about how you project yourself, and worrying about scoring a date with that cheerleader, you also expect kids to keep track Raskolnikov's narcissistic rants?) Still, whenever I finish one of these complex classics, I'm hesitant to open my mouth, lest I tell everyone that I have no idea of what I just read.

ME: The point of Anna Karenina was follow your dreams. Right?
YOU: [Shake head sadly. Walk away.]

With George Orwell's Animal Farm, you don't have this problem. It is clear, direct, and on-the-nose. Communism is bad. That's the point. (This did not stop me from Googling Animal Farm just to make sure.)

The plot of Animal Farm is so simple that even your Marxist-leaning child will be able to follow with ease (have him/her read it early, and read it often, before the fledgling Commie in your life asks for a CCCP shirt). It is a parable in which the talking animals of Manor Farm rebel against Farmer Jones, try to create a utopia, and eventually devolve into totalitarianism. At the time it was written, it was aimed squarely at Soviet Russia, then under the leadership of Joseph Stalin.

The parallels aren't really subtle. And that's the beauty of it. It doesn't need to be subtle. Why? Because there are talking animals! When the beasts start soliloquizing, subtlety is the least of your concerns. The animals of Manor Farm, like the drones of the USSR, are fond of committees, slogans, a flag that mimics the hammer and sickle, Soviet-style medals, and a fluid memory. The animals even call each other "Comrade". (At this point, you might as well have called your main character Joseph Stalin the Pig.)

The pigs are the elites. Their leader is Napoleon, who obviously represents Stalin; Squealer is Beria, and the pack of dogs that Napoleon trains represent the KGB. Other characters include a noble, hardworking horse named Boxer, who is eventually turned into glue. There is also Benjamin, the donkey, who's seen it all, because donkeys live a long time.

The animal rebellion begins, as all revolutions do, with grand intentions. The animals kick Farmer Jones off his farm, repel an attack, then set to the work of creating a more efficient concern in which animals are exalted. There are seven commandments. Everyone works. For awhile, things seem to be going well. Gradually, though, the stratification begins. It starts with the pigs, who have the advantage of education, taking extra milk and apples. It ends with a pig in a bowler hat.

The tragedy of communism. (Except for the bowler hat part. That is just hilarious.)

The book is knowingly funny, deftly ridiculing the hypocrisies and failed logic of Stalinism. I especially enjoyed how the pigs kept changing the seven commandments, adding a word here or there, until, finally, there is only one commandment (now famous): all animals are equal; some animals are more equal than others. I also enjoyed how the pigs constantly changed their own history, and convinced the other animals that their memories were faulty. (Though I would say this aspect of politics is not confined to Communism alone.)

It is one thing to be simplistic, and wholly another to effectively convey your message without losing your reader. Orwell falls into the latter category. He gets his point across without browbeating or lecturing or reaching into his thesaurus for long fancy words. Those tactics are off-putting. Orwell gets his point across in a more palatable fashion. I mean, come on! Talking animals. Who can resist?

To his credit as a writer, Orwell also has a way of penning memorable lines. They are simple, yet stick in your head, long after you've closed the book:

Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

I have a love-hate relationship with allegorical novels. While some, like The Lord of the Flies, are examples of lean, graceful storytelling, others (I'm talking about Moby Dick) are turgid, semi-comprehensible literary Gordian knots. Animal Farm, to me, is what an allegory should be: simple enough to be understood by the dumbest among us (by which I mean myself), but well-written enough to capture the attention of the tweediest elite.

“Bravery is not enough…loyalty and obedience are more important”

This sums up this entire message behind Animal Farm. Social constructs, power grabs, intellectual manipulation, tactical warfare and in the end, a psychological and thought provoking novel using animals in place of people in a world in which we actually live in. Pure manipulation and this story not only angered me, but saddened me. Not unlike many governments we all know…

I think everyone should either read or listen to this, along with 1984!!!!!

"Los animales, asombrados, pasaron su mirada del cerdo al hombre, y del hombre al cerdo; y nuevamente del cerdo al hombre, pero ya era imposible distinguir quién era uno y quién era otro"

Un terminante y preciso alegato a favor de la libertad y en contra del totalitarismo que se ha convertido en un clásico de la literatura.

Esta sátira de la Revolución rusa y el triunfo del estalinismo, escrita en 1945, se ha convertido por derechos propio en un hito de la cultura contemporánea y en uno de los libros más mordaces de todos los tiempos. Ante el auge de los animales de la Granja Solariega, pronto detectamos las semillas de totalitarismo en una organización aparentemente ideal; y en nuestros líderes más carismáticos, la sombra de los opresores más crueles.

George Orwell escribió "Rebelión en la Granja" entre 1943 y 1944, pero la novela no se publicó de inmediato debido a la condición de aliado de la URSS en la Segunda Guerra Mundial.

Se publicó en Inglaterra en 1945, justo después de la guerra, e irónicamente se convirtió en un gran éxito, ya que la Guerra Fría dio paso a la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Sin embargo, el libro fue prohibido en la URSS y también en otros países comunistas. En pleno siglo XXI estuvo prohibido en varios países. Creo que a día de hoy sólo lo está en Corea del Norte.

George Orwell nos relata el ascenso al poder de Stalin, representado por el cerdo "Napoleón" en el libro. La historia es paralela a su surgimiento como líder y su ascenso al poder como dictador. Cerca del comienzo del libro, los animales de la granja derrocan a su opresor, el granjero Jones.

Una analogía de la revolución bolchevique de octubre de 1917, cuando el zar ruso Nicolás II, que había abdicado en febrero, fue ejecutado por los bolcheviques junto con el resto de su familia en 1918. Orwell creo que mencionó que el granjero borracho Jones, que descuida a sus animales, se basó en el zar Nicolás II de la vida real.

Pero esta coalición democrática de animales, con una visión de independencia, comodidad y libertad de restricciones, se va desmoronando. Inmediatamente hay una consolidación del poder entre los cerdos, que no trabajan porque son digamos una inteligencia superior. Tal como lo hizo la intelectualidad soviética, los cerdos se establecen como la clase dominante en la nueva sociedad "libre". Inmediatamente comienzan a manipular y controlar el nuevo estado para su propio beneficio.

Todos los males de nuestra vida surgen de la tiranía del ser humano, de su crueldad.

"Eliminamos al hombre y el producto de nuestro trabajo será nuestro. Esta noche podríamos volvernos ricos y libres. ¿Qué hacer entonces? ¡Trabajar noche y día, en cuerpo y alma por la destrucción del género humano! Este es mi mensaje para ustedes camaradas. ¡Revolución!”

La bandera de la granja fue sustituida por la del nuevo régimen. Elaborada en paño verde en referencia al campo y llevaba dos estampas: un cuerno y un casco. Crearon un himno titulado "Cantos de Inglaterra" denota la esperanza y el deseo de igualdad y libertad. Instituyeron en esta nueva sociedad siete mandamientos que guiarían el Animalismo y la vida en comunidad.

Descubrid todo esto, es original y sinceramente imperdible a la par que necesario.

Un relato directo, crudo y amargo en el que el punto de vista, se cambia haciéndonos ver y vivir toda la historia a través de los ojos de los animales y en la que el hombre queda relegado a una figura secundaria, aunque siempre muy presente.

Una historia memorable, atemporal que está maravillosamente escrita, de manera fluida y atrapante. Los personajes están muy, muy bien caracterizados y en algunos casos, como el de Napoleón el cerdo jefe o el de Clarinet el jefe de la propaganda, están tan bien construidos como para poder hacer sentir al lector ciertas cosas.

Una maravillosa crítica de manera satírica del régimen de Stalin, la corrupción de los ideales del socialismo todo por las ansias de poder, la explotación de la clase trabajadora, apartada de la alfabetización. Te lleva por todo esto de una manera muy interesante, poder ser testigo de cómo el poder va corrompiendo a los cerdos y cómo el resto de animales van aceptando sus palabras. El caos que nos provocamos nosotros mismos. Triste pero cierto.

The inherent evil in Teletubbies. The satanic perversion of one extremely Disneyfied utopia. Orwell's super scary fairy tale is actually PERFECT. The tenderness in the animals easily translates to that shared by all mankind for itself. And, oh, so easily do modern political players fill the spots of pigs or dogs.

Basically in "A.F." all the little animals contracted serious rabies simultaneously. Who will survive the plague? A.F.=America, now. The fairy story of SHORT MEMORIES & DUPES.

This is the first time I read this baffling novel. AF! Its NEVER too late to acquaint oneself with this authentic gem.

TOP 100

3,5

Animal Farm: A Fairy Story was published in August 1945, a couple months before the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima, before the war was ended. Orwell once wrote, in "Why I Write":

"Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism. . . Animal Farm was the first book in which I tried, with full consciousness of what I was doing, to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole."

In this fabled satire that is in part about the Russian Revolution, {human] Mr. Jones's Manor Farm is transformed into Animal Farm, an (initially) democratic society proclaiming All Animals Are Created Equal. I say that the book is only in part about the Russian Revolution because his larger target is really the concentration of political power. As Orwell demonstrates, “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely,” and whoops, here comes the new boss, just like the old boss, and the official dictum at Animal Farm soon becomes Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others.

“But what [Orwell] illustrates, by his commitment to language as the partner of truth, is that 'views' do not really count; that it matters not what you think, but how you think; and that politics are relatively unimportant, while principles have a way of enduring, as do the few irreducible individuals who maintain allegiance to them.”―Christopher Hitchens, Why Orwell Matters

A lot of liberals thought/think of this book as reactionary, because it depicts the communists of Russia in a negative light. And if we think of Napoleon as Stalin, well, I am sure this is a deep critique of Stalin, for sure. But I don’t think a critique of communism is his overall point, as if to say that socialism or communism is necessarily worse than any other form of government. I tend to think that Orwell’s view may best be represented by Benjamin the donkey, who mistrusts any kind of ideology, suggesting to me he was a kind of anarchist. But I return to what he says, that he is anti-fascist, anti-totalitarianism. I think this is a great book.

n  Modern Library 100 Best Novelsn (31/100)

"If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right."

Animal Farm was one of those books I always wanted to read, however, I never found the right moment to do so. Fortunately, and due to a read along with some people here on GR, I decided to give it a try and the experience couldn’t have been more impressive and superb. Trust me, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

This story might sound quite simple, and if you just consider the plot itself, it seems like a tale at which a group of animals decide to throw their owners out of their farm, and take control of this place. Nevertheless, it’s more complex than that: Orwell is portraying the path which is followed from revolution to the corruption inside the new system. This fact is precisely what makes this story to have an ominous atmosphere, and therefore, it might be scary at some point.

Animal Farm is an allegory, basically almost each character is connected to a historical figure, and some events which take place in the story are closely related to certain events that happened in real life. Perhaps the fact that you can foretell the terrible fate which awaits some characters, and overall many events throughout the novel are predictable, might be a little ‘disappointing’, especially if you are expecting something different at the end. Despite it all, Orwell’s narrative is quite good and understandable; as for me, I didn’t know much about the historical context (therefore, I was completely impressed by the story itself), and once I understood some references, everything made sense to me.

Besides, and this is a huge recommendation for you guys, I listened to the audiobook of this novel and it was a marvelous experience: a special shoutout to the narrator, Steven Garnet, for making this possible.
This guy made a splendid performance; his voice, pace and consistency with the different characters’ voices were really outstanding. Just for the record, he decided to sing ‘Beasts of England’, a kind of anthem in the story, and he made it so catchy that I couldn’t get it out of my head for a couple of days (if this is good news or bad news, I don’t know).
Here you have a link to the audiobook if you are interested: n   Animal Farmn

In a nutshell, Animal Farm is absolutely a must read and it has become a favorite one of this year so far – I can’t help but recommend it, and the fact that it is rather short, makes possible for some people to read it in just one sitting; so, what are you waiting for? :)
Even I’d probably recommend this book to someone who is starting reading novels, due to it is easy to read and quite compelling.

n  "I do not understand it. I would not have believed that such things could happen on our farm. It must be due to some fault in ourselves. The solution, as I see it, is to work harder. From now onwards I shall get up a full hour earlier in the mornings."n

I suspect this is what my pets are getting up to while I’m away. ‘All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others,’ is something I’m fairly certain my dog has barked while stealing a treat from the other dog, and cats are inherently libertarians so there’s probably some horrible revolution brewing. Come to think of it, when my cat pukes on the rug it does sound vaguely like he’s saying‘the only good human being is a dead one,’ but I won’t hide the Orwell from them because there will be no censorship in this house. Anyways, Animal Farm is a classic for a reason and it is one that I found managed to hit even harder as an adult than it did when I read it for my freshman literature class. This story was used to teach us all the term allegory, as in “Orwell wrote Animal Farm as an allegory of the Russian Revolution” as well as the term satire, as in “Orwell satirizes following political leaders into totalitarianism,” but above all it taught me how a good writer can deliver an important political message even adorned in the trappings of a barnyard tussle. While it is highly critical of the Soviets, readers shouldn't mistake it as a condemnation of socialism as Orwell was more intent on showing how those who thirst for power will hijack socialist movements and Orwell wants to protect those in order for them to flourish. Animal Farm remains a staple of western literature and classroom discussions for Orwell’s ability to be succinct and accessible while also conveying complex themes on freedom, power struggles and one of Orwell’s signature themes: propaganda.
n  n
Sandra Boynton’sBarnyard Dance…Orwell style

Having just recently read and been blown away by Watership Down from Richard Adams where themes of leadership and power are examined through a story of the animal kingdom, I wanted to revisit Orwell and see how his similar allegorical packaging held up. While Adams’s tale is fairly symbolic of WWII, I think it functions really great as a general metaphor on authoritarianism and struggles for freedom whereas Orwell’s Animal Farm is much more confined within its narrative as a take on the Soviet Union. Not that it can’t be read as a more general look at the way well-intentioned movements can be corrupted by power and those in power can propagate the people into paving their paths to power, but a lot of Animal Farms charm is seeing the satirical allegory and the character references. For instance, we can see how Old Major is representative of Karl Marx and his dream a nod to the The Communist Manifesto, or Napoleon representing Joseph Stalin, Snowball as Leon Trotsky, and more metaphorical stand-ins such as the working class personified as Boxer. Though perhaps it is Squealer who is my favorite of the political metaphors on propaganda and rhetorical manipulations for all the books snappy slogans, but more on that in a moment,

‘All men are enemies. All animals are comrades.’

The opening of the story reflects the overthrow of the Czar and while Orwell is speaking out against the communist regime that took control, Orwell is often misinterpreted as being broadly anti-socialism, anti-marxism, etc. In his essay Why I Write (you can read it HERE) he states ‘every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand it.’ Which I think adds an important nuance to this story that is often misinterpreted: it isn’t to say that the idea of all animals being equal, or the idea of organizing for a more just society are inherently bad, its that movements often get hijacked to become antithetical to what they started as and rhetoric gets twisted and turned back inwards.

The irony, however, is that for all his work examining the evils of propaganda—a primary theme in 1984—the book Animal Farm itself became weaponized as propaganda. In his introduction to a Ukranian edition, Orwell himself admits he wanted to use distribution of the novel as anti-Soviet rhetoric, because apparently all propaganda is equally bad but some propaganda is more equally bad than others. ‘I have been convinced that the destruction of the Soviet myth was essential if we wanted a revival of the Socialist movement,’ he says, and wrote Animal Farm in a way that ‘could be easily understood by almost anyone and which could be easily translated into other languages.’ Which explains the accessibility of the novel, and while it is fairly heavy-handed it still reads quite well.

The use of the novel as propaganda didn’t just end at distributions of translations, however. In his book Orwell Subverted: The CIA and the Filming of Animal Farm, Daniel J. Leab argues that Animal Farm was intended as a ‘ warning against the Stalinist perversion of socialism’ and not socialism itself, though the CIA found the narrative a useful tool if they could make a few changes. Orwell’s widow was apprehensive of a film adaptation originally and then demanded they maintained the integrity of Orwell’s vision, and one might wonder if her reluctance to give access to any of Orwell’s work after that. The CIA made the anti-Soviet theme more pronounced without any nuance, such as making Snowball completely irredeemable and making a division between “good” and “bad” farmers to make a statement that not all farmers (and by proxy all capitalists) are bad.

‘Can you not understand that liberty is worth more than just ribbons?’

What fascinates me most in this novel is the use of language, particularly the way language can be manipulated or intentionally obfuscated in order to seduce the masses, subvert opposition and reframe reality. Language with oversimplificatiosn like ‘four legs good, two legs bad’ masks ulterior motives and becomes a sort of catch-all to smuggle a whole ideology. As Noam Chomsky wrote in Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda:

'That's the whole point of good propaganda. You want to create a slogan that nobody's going to be against, and everybody's going to be for. Nobody knows what it means, because it doesn't mean anything.'

Squealer and Napoleon repeatedly walk back earlier statements, twisting logic as they see fit and Boxer, confused and wanting to remain loyal, is easy propagated to believe any revision. Even to history, such as Snowball’s role in the revolution. This idea is expressed in Orwell’s 1984’ as well, ‘if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought,’ and through Orwell we often see how language is a great tool but one that can also be weaponized for evil.

‘Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals. He sets them to work, he gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving, and the rest he keeps for himself. ’

This is a quick read, and a rather fun one at that even if you aren’t reading for the Soviet allegory. It is fairly heavy handed, and intended as such, and while I think I prefer the way Watership Down is more broadly metaphorical and emotional (also has its own lore and language), the directness and accessibility of this one also help it land a major impact upon the reader. It is no surprise this has remained a classroom staple for its ease of teachability on both literary techniques and political history but also from the way the CIA harnessed it as propaganda forever enshrining it in US culture as well as English. Though at heart it is more a warning about power and abuse of rhetoric in order to hijack movements. So watch out, your pets might be collaborating with each other and you should be wary if a meow starts to sound strangely like Vive la révolution...

4.5/5

‘The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.’

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

When I read this in school I flew through it. I do remember it made me uncomfortable, but at the time I couldn't figure out why. I don't think I understood very much of it.

Reading it so many years later, I can see how witty and intelligent it is. With all that's going on in the world right now it definitely still makes me uncomfortable...and in many ways scared. At any rate I'm glad I re-read it. I do appreciate it much more than I did back then.

“Man serves the interests of no creature except himself.”

“The distinguishing mark of man is the hand, the instrument with which he does all his mischief.”