Animal Farm's Communist Roots

 

For my third book blog post, I will be reviewing the book Animal Farm, by George Orwell. It tells the story of a group of animals, fed up with the human who owns them, that rebel and take control of the farm.

WARNING: SPOILS THE ENTIRE BOOK

Review:
    The plot of Animal Farm is really quite simple. The animals on the Manor Farm are abused, overworked, and underfed. One day, Old Major, the most intelligent pig remembers the lyrics to an old song his mother used to sing to him called "Beasts of England". Even though Old Major soon dies, the animals, invigorated by the song, rebel against Mr. Jones, the cruel owner of the farm. 

    Surprisingly, the animals led by Napoleon and Snowball, two pigs, kick Mr. Jones out. As the smartest animals, the pigs learn to read and write, and devise a set of 7 rules. Each animal is treated equally, and is fed much more than when they were under Mr. Jones. They also work harder, knowing that all food they harvest is only for themselves, not some for some greedy farmer to sell.

    This works for a while, but eventually, Napoleon sends a group of violent dogs to chase Snowball. While unclear, the dogs manage to kill him or at least drive him off the property. As time goes on, under Napoleons rule, the animals are fed less and less, work harder and harder, and suspiciously begin to believe that the 7 rules, once painted on the barn, were getting changed over time. Eventually, the remaining pigs led by Napoleon learn to walk on two legs, and begin to use whips to make the animals work. In the end, the cycle begins anew, with a cruel owner treating them terribly.

    The final scene ends with the animals having dinner with a group of neighboring farmers. They sit on wooden chairs in the old manor, use their hands to eat, and talk normally with the humans. As they talk, the farmers praise the pigs saying that the animals on this farm eat less than anywhere else.

Meaning:

Throughout the book, it is pretty clear that Animal Farm represents communism. In the beginning, the whole idea is that every animal is equal. They are motivated to work because they believe in this idea, the idea that everybody deserves to be treated the same. However, George Orwell shows that eventually, this 'perfect' world falls to waste, and returns back to what they had before. 

Additionally, the characters each seem to represent different people during the Russian Revolution. Mr. Jones is Tsar Nicolas II, Old Major is Karl Marx, Napoleon is Stalin, and the rest of the animals are the common folk. This is also not to mention the fact that they each call themselves 'comrade'. 

Closing Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book. I thought that the plot was masterfully written, allowing the reader to slowly realize how the pigs were slowly taking more and more power for themselves. It was also relatively short, keeping things concise, but still not lacking detail. Overall, I would recommend this book to any and all people. It has no inappropriate topics or language, but still manages to entertain. 10/10.