ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell

           ANIMAL FARM   BOOK REVIEW

Animal Farm is an allegorical novella that follows the story of the oppressed animals of Manor Farm defeating and overthrowing their master Mr Jones, and taking over the farm for themselves. They envisage it to be the beginning of independence and abundance. However, when a heartless and devious elite among the animals starts to take control, the animals find themselves helplessly trapped as one form of dictatorship is replaced by another.

The story starts off with the animals of Manor Farm getting ready and settling down for a meeting as soon as Mr Jones is done locking the hen houses, pens, etc. and retires for the night. Apparently, Old Major Prize Middle White Boar has had a strange dream and wishes to communicate it to the animals. 

Old Major begins by telling the animals how they are exploited and made to toil, while the humans sit back and reap the maximum benefits. Not just that, the animals are given the bare minimum they need to survive. He then tells the animals about his dream where there are no humans involved and the animals work and produce for themselves and live on their own. He concludes by singing "The Beasts of England", an old song that he had known in his infancy.

 

    After a few weeks, the animals carry out the rebellion and succeed in overthrowing Mr Jones. In the beginning, all the animals are humble and devoted and even the leaders are seen actually striving for the betterment of their lot. But eventually, the animals start to grow a little dishonest and even enter into various conspiracies. The leaders too start to take too much control, and the animals find themselves helplessly trapped. 

   You can read this book merely as a fable and enjoy it if you want to... But if you are someone who really likes the subject of history and the topic of the Russian Revolution is something that interests you, then I suggest you read it the way it was written. i.e., keeping the Russian Revolution in mind. The fable reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917, and then on to the Stalinist era. As you read, the comparisons and metaphors written keeping the Russian Revolution in mind become very clear and obvious. It is all metaphorised and compared wonderfully. Okay, before we go more into how this book is connected to the Russian revolution, let us take a look at the characters.... So, we have...

Mr Jones: Owner of Manor Farm

Mr Pilkington and Mr Frederick: Neighbours of Mr Jones

Mr Wimper: Appears a little later in the book; acts as a medium for                the animals  to communicate with the outside world

These are the only important humans we see in the book... Taking a look at the animals in the book:

  -Old Major: The Prize Middle White Boar

  -Snowball, Napoleon and Squealer: The other boars in the story...               Snowball is quick, clever and inventive, Napoleon is a fierce-             looking berkshire boar and Squealer is a very good talker. 

  -Boxer and Clover: The two horses... The former is an enormous                 beast with a white stripe down his nose and the latter is a                     motherly stout mare

  -Muriel: A white goat

  -Benjamin: A donkey... He is also the oldest on the farm and also               the worst-tempered. Towards the end of the book, I found                   myself  developing lots of respect for him.

  -Molly: A foolish, pretty white mare

  -Moses: A tame raven who believes that there exists a sugar candy             land and that is where all the animals go after their death

Coming back... Like I was saying, this book is connected to the Russian Revolution and it shows how the Russian Revolution resulted in a government more oppressive, totalitarian and deadly than the one it overthrew. Many of the characters and events parallel those of the Russian Revolution. 

    Mr Jones is modelled on Tsar Nicholas II, the last emperor of Russia during whose rule the people experienced terrible poverty and upheaval. Old Major is the animal version of Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik party. One of Lenin's allies was Leon Trotsky, another Marxist thinker and he is represented through Snowball. Eventually, Trotsky was exiled from the USSR and later killed by the agents of Joseph Stalin, just the way Snowball is chased off by Napoleon- Orwell's stand-in for Stalin. Just like Napoleon, Stalin valued power for its own sake and took complete control of the Communist Party through acts of terror and brutality. Napoleon's dogs are like Stalin's KGB- the secret police force which he used to eliminate all opposition. And we have Squealer, who is supposed to represent the propaganda that Stalin used in order to justify all his actions in his own way.

   Just like this, there is a lot of depth and intention behind almost every character and event being based on the Russian Revolution. Even the ending of the book was highly commendable. The card game at the end of the book parallels  the Tehran conference- The conference where Winston Churchill, Frederick Roosevelt and of course, Joseph Stalin met to discuss lasting peace- a peace that Orwell mocks in his book.

   The language and writing style is simple, to-the-point and the book is also really small, so would be very good for beginners. 

I've also come across a lot of people who found the book to be boring... I honestly don't understand why. I personally didn't find the book to be boring at any point. Especially if you are someone who knows to appreciate the world's history, this book should be too good for you! 

I gave the book a full five-star rating and this is one of those books I shall always look back on and cherish. 

Title: Animal Farm

Original Title: Animal Farm: A Fairy Story

Author: George Orwell

Publisher: Secker and Warburg, London, England

Published: 17 August 1945

Genre: Political satire

Pages: 112