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Classic Literature. Fiction. HTML: George Orwell's classic satire of the Russian Revolution has become an intimate part of our contemporary culture, with its treatment of democratic, fascist, and socialist ideals through an animal fable. The animals of Mr. Jones' Manor Farm are overworked, mistreated, and desperately seeking a reprieve. In their quest to create an idyllic society where justice and equality reign, the animals of Manor Farm revolt against their human rulers, establishing the democratic Animal Farm under the credo, "All Animals Are Created Equal." Out of their cleverness, the pigs�Napoleon, Squealer, and Snowball�emerge as leaders of the new community. In a development of insidious familiarity, the pigs begin to assume ever greater amounts of power, while other animals, especially the faithful horse Boxer, assume more of the work. The climax of the story is the brutal betrayal of Boxer, when totalitarian rule is reestablished with the bloodstained postscript to the founding slogan: "But Some Animals Are More Equal than Others." This astonishing allegory, one of the most scathing satires in literary history, remains as fresh and relevant as the day it was published..… (more)
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What makes this one of my favourite novels of all time is the fact that, while it works brilliantly as a harsh criticism of the abuses perpetrated by Stalin and his cronies, the story also points to the universal truth that the most idealistic principles can be manipulated to justify the greatest injustices and abuses of power. Beyond all the politics though, one can't help but get attached to the characters—especially with Boxer the hard working horse, with his mottos of "I will work harder" and "Napoleon is always right", which become increasingly poignant as we see him struggle with reduced circumstances and encroaching old age. We become quickly wholly invested in the fate of these animals, while being in turns fascinated and horrified by the flagrant offences perpetrated by the pigs. A great classic which everyone should read at least once.
Animal Farm begins strongly. As a wise old pig edges toward death, he stands on a stool in the black of night to profess to the rest of the farm his dream of a world where animals are free from men. This scene was portrayed deftly; I couldn't wait for Orwell to relate the personalities of the animals to the roles they would play in the newly formed society. Surprisingly, the rest of the book is bland.
Each character is modeled after a historical figure. Napoleon is Stalin, Snowball is Trotsky, Squealer is Molotov, Boxer is the proletariat man, the dogs are the secret police, and so on. Instead of a rich character study concerning the types of people who become the Stalins or Molotovs, Orwell merely slaps his satire onto a cardboard cast. Because the premise was so creative, I predicted that the rest of the book would contain the same spice and excitement. I was wrong.
I'm not saying Orwell doesn't describe animals like Squealer vividly; we see his persuasive mannerisms and speeches, just nothing deeper. In fact, Orwell grinds the reader against the pitfalls of Communist societies. I'm willing to accept the tale as a method of displaying this inevitability, I just can't tolerate repetitiveness. As others have pointed out, Animal Farm might have been better as a short story or lecture series. His idea doesn't sustain impact for long, as short as the book is.
A page on socialism could sum it all up. If you've already read such a page, you'll trudge through Animal Farm mouthing, "yeah, I get it already." However, if you're still in middle school, this book might just be what you need to imprint the idea into your brain.
Things were going good. In fact, things were going great. The animals made their own anthem, their own flag, and their own commandments that every other animal had to live by. Among these were: All Animals are Equal, Animals Must Not Sleep in Beds or Wear Clothes, Never Drink Alcohol, and Never Kill Other Animals. This was a start to a great unity that will seemingly last forever.
If only that’s what happened. Things start to go…wrong. Traitors are among the animals, the leaders start to get too powerful, and somehow the commandments are changing, but they still seem the same. For some reason, this “perfect” society that Major predicted doesn’t seem so good…
I loved this book. It’s so much better than [1984] which I gave Four and a Half Stars. If I could go higher than Five Stars, I would give it an 8 ½. This may be a story a story about political confliction mirroring real life, but to me, it’s so much more than that. To me, it’s about the dystopian books I love so much: societies going bad. Real bad. Let me tell you why I loved it so much
*****WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS*****
This kept reminding me of [The Lord of the Flies]. Now what Golding did is use innocent boys symbolizing pure humans and using that to symbolize why we are so evil. Orwell may or may not have had that in mind when he used animals, but that’s how I interpreted it. There’s a dream of freedom that the animals have, and the revolt and succeed. And because of all the evil in the world, the society collapses, but at the same time…survives and thrives.
The first thing that went wrong is that there is a rule in the commandments that no animals shall sleep in beds. But the pigs do. Now since the pigs are so much smarter than all the other animals, they convinced them that the rule has always been: No Animals Shall Sleep in Beds With Sheets. Since all animals have beds of some sort, but not sheets, it’s alright to sleep in beds then. Nothing major, right?
Another thing that happened is that towards the end of the book where the book is even more face paced than the previously, the pigs start drinking alcohol. Wait, was that against the commandments? No, the rule is that No Animals Shall Drink to an Excess. You see the pattern? And since all the other animals are so stupid, of course, they just forgot it or missed it.
Backing up a little bit, there were to possible leaders: Napoleon and Snowball, both pigs. Snowball lost and Napoleon declared him a traitor and was a spy to their previous owner. Well, there was a slaughtering of animals, because so many things were going wrong, and a myriad of animals confessed that they did something horrible to the farm suggested by Snowball. Actually, most of them were pretty harmless, but if it was any way bad at all, they are dead. Even the dumbest of animals suddenly thought that there was a commandment that said no animal shall kill another. But no, they proved their stupidity, because the commandment actually said: No Animal Shall Kill Another Without a Reason. You see how Napoleon is changing the rules their supposed to live by?
And then, at the very end, everything changes. The pigs wear clothes and walk on two legs, and those are both against the commandments. There’s no way the other animal can possibly miss that, because the sheep constantly chant, “Two legs good, Four legs bad.” But strangely they now say, “Two legs good, Four legs Better”. And all those commandments, it just gets replaced by one single commandment: All Animals are Equal, but Some Animals are More Equal than Others. Do you see the flaw in that? You can’t be equal and no equal at the same time. The society just went bad. And at the end, the pigs and humans looked exactly alike.
*****END OF SPOILERS*****
And for you how read the long spoilers, that’s why I love this book. I love flaws in characters and other things. You know why? Because it’s very natural to have flaws. Very Highly Recommended. You can learn a thing or two just like I did.
Rating: Five Stars *****
1. Whoever goes on two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes of 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 another animal.
7. All animals are equal.
This story is a metaphor for the Russian Revolution, and, in fact, for most revolutions, worldwide. As the story progresses, the pigs corrupt the fundamental aspects of Animalism, and brutally enforce their regime. In fact, the book makes a point of saying that life was better for the animals when Mr Jones was their master. The story ends with the animals looking through the windows of the farmhouse and seeing the pigs standing upright in their fine waistcoats, drinking whisky and playing cards with some humans. And in the firelight, the animals look from man to pig, and pig to man, and realise that it is impossible to tell them apart.
Though generally known as a satire on the Russian revolution and the
One need not know the history of the Russian revolution and its aftermath to understand the implications in the book and the basic foundation of the book is something we can all relate to, relate to what Kafka said about revolutions that all revolutions come and leave a bureaucracy behind. Even if the reader does not know who “Major” or “Snowball” is portrayed on, they can relate to them easily, as they can relate easily to “Boxer”, the unknown idealistic man or woman who is ultimately sacrificed as a pawn by leaders who ultimately begin to become the men they have overthrown.
In the end perhaps, it’s a dark book but in a vein that is humorous even when it’s immensely ironic.
It’s a timeless book because it deals with an idea that is inherent with human nature and that is something that has little changed in all of human history.
Orwell
They were held together by democracy but be honest, how long would that last with a pig leader named Napolean?
I recommend this amazing work to anybody, a fan of political power or just animals in general !
Is it about the tragedy inevitably brought by revolution? Or the tragedy of revolution betrayed? I think both interpretations are valid, though it would be an odd reader who concluded that the animals were wrong to rebel against Mr Jones. Despite his socialism there were strong elements of fatalism and pessimism in Orwell and they find clear expression here. It is also a book which could only have been written by someone with a profound, almost anarchistic, scepticism towards authority and ideology in all their forms.
Animal Farm was conceived as a book with a specific polemical purpose. Orwell wrote it to ‘explode the Soviet myth’: not to make the world safe for capitalism but to clear the way for genuine socialism. His timely intervention produced a work of timeless and universal relevance. Ultimately it isn’t about Soviet Russia. It speaks to our eternal need for liberation and how it is betrayed, not just by mendacious pigs, but our own misplaced faith in those who profess to lead us.
The different kinds of animals represent the types of people in society, there are the corrupt leaders that are in control, the people that work hard for the benefit of everyone but when it comes down to it they find that nobody is thankful for what they did, the people that are happy to follow, or kiss ass, in hopes that one day they too will be at the top, and the gullible that believe that what the leaders do is in their best interest. Every once in a while the people at the bottom decide that they had enough and a revolution takes place, but eventually it ends up just where it started from, someone needs to lead and the rest have to follow. It's scary how true it is. Read it.
Well, what did I think about the book. It's great. Often books like this one, allegories, fables and such leave me cold since theory and philosophy take over and the characters remain flat and little more that mouthpieces for a philosophy. This was not the case with this book. The characterization is rich, the flashes of humor, brilliant. I think at one point I actually cried.
Animals rebel, collaborate.
Leaders betray cause.
Weak forever powerless.
Domestic animals wanted the ideal society, and banished the farmer.But when the strong animal started to rule others, and only fear still remained.
This oppressive control cause weak animals pain.
"Animal Farm" is the perfect setup for a discussion of literary devices like "allegory," "irony," and "personification." The novel can also aid students in their understanding of complex political philosophies (such as Communism) and can spark debate over such interesting issues.
It was super cool! I really liked the donkey. The pigs and the sheep reminded me of several people who work for the city that I work for. ha ha! I sure hope that I don't fit any of the stereotypes in the book. I'd hate to be the one taking advantage of everybody else, but I'd also hate to follow along blindly as someone else screwed me and all my friends over as well.
Orwell manages, behind the mask of animals, to give better descriptions of human beings than most authors manage directly. It is through these depictions of human nature that Orwell shows the impractibility of "communism".
I wonder what prompted Orwell to write such a book. I know he spent time in India although he died here in England, but I would be interested to know what his catalyst was. Perhaps the stories of what was happening at the time simply prompted his creativity or was there more to it?