“Animal Farm” (1945) by George Orwell is the story of animals who overthrew their human masters and took over a farm. It is a Trotskyite allegory about Stalin and how he undid the communist revolution in Russia. It is also an excellent study of the nature of power.
Catchphrase: All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
The story: Animals take over a farm and throw out the humans. Without humans running it to suit their own interests, the animals will be able to work less and eat better. But bit by bit the pigs take more power and assume more privileges for themselves. In the end the pigs prove to be worse than the humans, working the animals harder and feeding them less.
The twists and turns in the story match the history of Russia from 1917 to 1945. So closely, in fact, that no one in Britain would print the book while Stalin was fighting with Britain against Hitler. But later when Stalin became the great enemy of the West, the book became a hit – without a single word being changed. It was not openly printed in much of Eastern Europe till 1989 with the fall of communism.
Who the chief pigs in the book are based on:
- Old Major – Marx/Lenin
- Snowball – Trotsky/Lenin
- Napoleon – Stalin
- Squealer – Molotov
Snowball believed in the Rebellion and wanted to make Animal Farm a great place for all the animals. But before long he was driven out by Napoleon.
Napoleon only cared about himself and (possibly) his fellow pigs, using power to suit his own interests. He did not care about right and wrong: he killed and lied when he had to. He turned the loyalty and pride the animals had for the Rebellion to his own ends. He used dogs to frighten them to do his will, he used Squealer to persuade them with speeches and he used the mindless sheep to end debate by endlessly repeating “Four legs good, two legs bad!”
Many on the left did not like Orwell in his own time because he did not turn a blind eye to what Stalin was doing.
Like in Orwell’s “1984”, those in power lie to fool the masses. They tell everyone that life is better now than in the old days when in fact it is worse. They rewrite history to support their lies and get others to doubt their own memory and judgement (gaslighting).
The book is good at showing how power, when it is not held accountable, will tend to serve its own interests and cannot be trusted, how freedom and justice are not at all natural outcomes.
Although many in America see it as “a book about Stalin”, it is in fact a wonderful story written against a belief many of them seem to hold: just world doctrine, the idea that the world is more or less just.
See also:
I’ve wanted to read Animal Farm for some time. It isn’t a very long book, so one should be able to finish it quickly.
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I need to read that.
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I think Animal Farm is only 20-30 pages long.
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My edition is about 97 pages long.
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Great classic and personally I think everybody should read it! The allegory was about Russian revolution but also based on the experiences of Orwell in the Spanish civil war late 1930’s, where the marxist-leninist republican goverment started to purge their side (with the assistance of the NKVD, Stalins secret police) and left volunteers like Orwell, anarchists and others on their own, hoping that the fascists would kill them off in combat and if captured, execute them.
What makes this classic is that it is universal message. You can relate the story on so many situations, events, organisations etc. Really, really great classic in the world of litterature, just like 1984.
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Some aspects of Animal Farm seem to apply to America and most governments in general. Like the the nature of power’s ability to corrupt ideals.
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
This reminds me of how the founding fathers grappled with the existence of slavery in newly created America, and anything in American history to do with black people.
“All men are created equal.” this in the Declaration of Independence and their subsequent decisions about the question of slavery were so hypocritical, considering that 25% or the Continental army was slaves fighting for their freedom(the ones who were considerably less shrewd than the ones who fought for and left with the British). And their Native American Allies, particularly the Oneida who fought with them and then promptly were forced off of their land by greedy settlers directly violating the terms of the agreement they made with the colonial powers. That phrase in the book and many other parts can easily be applied to any government basically when you think about it.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
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Animal farm is a masterpiece.
I really like Orwell, but this one is a favourite of mine.
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Lenin was a murderous piece of shit too, though. The whitewashing of his legacy is one of the most propitious renderings of any leader’s legacy in a really long time.
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We just read that book in class. It was very good
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You just, inadvertently, pointed out out the hardwired tribalism acknowleged by Orwell. Pigs allied with pigs. I’m shocked. Shocked!
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high school reading material, brings back memories…
This book is bizarre but still one of my favorites along with Lord of the Flies, I might have to give it a re-read.
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I certainly do not believe in a completely just world. We are animals and the world is a brutal place because of that. However, if we so just we can affect justice because while we are base we can also be noble. I think that is the never ending struggle of mankind. The world is probably a little more just than it is terrible. I think people want to do the right things, but our animalistic nature prevents it. If the world were completely just there would be no war or hunger. Frankly, mankind is a bunch of azzholes.
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I wanted to check out Animal Farm for some time after watching television movies based on the story.
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For those of you that want to read the book but don’t have the time, you can check out the movie for free on google video. I think the movie is about two hours long (give or take) and it stays pretty true to the book.
I read this book in highschool and I really enjoyed. The way the main pig managed to manipulate everyone is fascinating.
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Something must be wrong with me because I cried when I watched the cartoon — so sad what happened to the horses!
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This week in my country (Trinidad and Tobago), there’s been much talk about ‘Animal Farm’ in comparison to the way certain government officials are treated when they make racist comments in parliment and expect to remain in office when the majority of the citizens who wants them to step down. However these individuals see themselves as higher than others and will not be subject to their wishes.
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i love the end of the book when you can’t tell the difference between the pigs and the human
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I HATED animal farm. it was too depressing.
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