There sometimes comes along a book that influences people’s perspectives, that makes its mark politically and in society. Rare is it that one author has two books, but the great writer George Orwell, author of 1984 and Animal Farm. The latter is what I will be reviewing today.
Animal Farm is a small book, but tells a full story of revolution and corruption, patterned after the story of the Soviet Revolution. The animals in the farm are unhappy with how their owner is treating them, and thus, inspired by a vision of a wise horse called Old Major, start a revolution. Animals starting a revolution? But banding together, they manage to drive their owners out, taking control of the farm for themselves.
They have to do hard work, but it’s great now because they are free, enjoying the fruit of their own work, not doing it for any humans. The pigs assume the leadership, but Napoleon and his adversary Snowball always disagree on everything and it can only be decided on by a majority vote. Everyone lives in harmony and happiness. The old owner of the farm attempts to reclaim it, but the animals are dedicated, and heroic acts manage to drive them out.
A big fight breaks out about the building of a tower. One of the pigs says it will be good and will reduce the work to 3 days a week. Naturally, the other pig opposes it – citing as a reason that they have the upcoming harvest and need to work on that. Snowball, the one in favor of the tower wins out among the populace, but he is not as crafty as Napoleon, who trains several puppies into vicious dogs and sicks them on Snowball, driving out of the farm.
After that, Napoleon becomes more and more corrupt. The majority of the animals are illiterate, stupid, and trust Napoleon. Originally there had been a list of commandments in the barn, and Napoleon continually changes them (such as allowing animals to drink, sleep in beds, and, eventually, stand on two legs). When anyone questions it, the change is attributed merely to their bad memory. Everything that goes wrong is blamed on Snowball.
Napoleon decides that the building of the tower is a good idea after all, explaining his change by saying that it was his idea in the first place and Snowball had stolen it from it. It keeps getting knocked down and is never completed, however. Napoleon has them work harder and harder and get less and less food. They do not believe conditions are getting worse because of the lies Napoleon’s spokesman, Whymper, who claims that productions of all food is going up and they just don’t remember what it used to be like. At the end of the book it is revealed the animals on Animal Farm do more work and get less food than any other farm in the country.
They also kill many animals, claiming them to be Snowball’s accomplices. Before long, what was established as a free civilization after a revolution against humans leds to a leadership that is worst than the first. Near the end of the book, the pigs come out standing on two legs. The sheep have always bleated: “Four legs good, two legs bad,” but as the pigs come out, they now sing: “Four legs good, two legs better.” The pigs have quickly turned into semi-human, even sitting down with humans and playing card games with them.
What the book is supposed to represent is how corruption grows and relies on a stupid populace and manipulates them. This happened in many socialist societies at the time the book was first published, and serves as a warning. Although of course humans are smarter than the animals and would not be fooled so easily, the pigs (or the leaders) would also be smarter too. This book is based off the Soviet revolution and the consequent slavery that occurred among the people.
I think the book is a little bit of a stretch, but it is still intriguing. Although people like to draw parallel’s to today’s society, I do not support such views, but it rather serves more as a warning. My mind was a little messed up after reading it, but not too bad. It’s a fun book to read. One thing is that in animal nature their animal instinct for food would probably trump anything Napoleon told them, but it’s really an allegory.
At 97 pages, it’s a small book, but it contains a lot of ideas and actions and cannot really be described as short. His writing style is good and factual, which is why it’s called a fairy tale (as explained in the Introduction). It is definitely a book written for its time and a time that could come again. One of the reasons we don’t have to worry about such things today is because of books like this.
Overall, it’s a good book to read and I’d recommend taking a look at it, for the entertainment value but mainly for the educational information about socialism.
Thank you for reading this review and if you’d like to purchase the book you can do so through this link. You can also join my FaceBook Fan Page get email updates for more book reviews below.
What a wonderfully detailed review! I confess I haven’t read Orwell’s Animal Farm yet, perhaps this year I’d get to a few more classic novels. 🙂 Thanks for sharing this. Enjoy your reading week!
Yeah, there are always so many classics you want to read but just don’t have the time for. Currently I’m reading The Great Gatsby, and enjoying it. But there’s always that guy who comes over and says, “Have you read this?” And you’re like, “Dang it I haven’t!” So annoying! 🙂 Thanks for commenting!
What a wonderfully detailed review! I confess I haven’t read Orwell’s Animal Farm yet, perhaps this year I’d get to a few more classic novels. Thanks for sharing this.