Animal Farm (original) (raw)

Animal Farm is a satirical novel by George Orwell, ostensibly about a group of animals who oust the humans from the farm they live on and endeavour to run it themselves. It was written during World War II and published in 1945, although it was not widely recognized until the late 1950s.

Plot

Warning: Spoilers follow

After a revolution on Manor Farm (duly renamed Animal Farm), the pigs, who have developed the doctrine of Animalism and lead the revolution, gradually take over. The two boars, Napoleon and Snowball, engage in a power struggle culminating in the expulsion of Snowball. Life on the farm becomes harder and harder for the rest of the animals. The pigs impose more and more controls on them while reserving privileges for themselves, all of which is justified by the pig Squealer, effectively the farm's propaganda minister. With a pack of vicious dogs as enforcers, Napoleon conducts show trials and executions, grants himself glorious titles, and progressively annuls all the principles of Animalism. The pigs finally take to walking on two legs and carrying whips, treating the animals more or less as they were treated when humans had dominion. In the last scene of the book, the animals observe the pigs and men talking together but can see no difference between them.

Significance

The book was an allegory about the events following the revolution in the Soviet Union, and in particular the rise of Stalinism. Many of the characters in the book are identifiable as historical figures. Napoleon and Snowball are direct representations of Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky respectively. Their disagreement about the direction the farm should take is meant to represent the ideological disagreement between Trotsky (whose theory of "Permanent Revolution" would have sought to advance the revolution across the world) and Stalin (whose theory was to consolidate the revolution in Russia, commonly referred to as "Socialism in One Country"). Boxer, the ever-loyal cart horse, portrays the ill-educated and unskilled proletariat. Boxer, and the other cart-horse Clover, are manipulated by the persuasive arguments of the pigs but are ultimately taken for granted and fail to reap the benefits of the "Revolution". Comparisons can be drawn between Boxer and Stakhanov, after whom the Stakhanovite movement was named.

Orwell wrote the book following his experiences during the Spanish Civil War which are described in another of his books, Homage to Catalonia. He intended it to be a strong condemnation of what he saw as the Stalinist corruption of the original socialist ideals, in which he believed and continued to believe after he saw a revolution betrayed, as in Spain.

References

The book was the basis of an animated feature film in 1955 (Britain's first full-length animated movie), directed by John Halas and Joy Bachelor and quietly commissioned by the American CIA, which softened the theme of the story slightly by adding an epilogue where the other animals successfully revolt against the pigs. There was also a 1999 live action film directed by John Stephenson. In addition, radical socialist rappers Dead Prez released a song called "Animal in Man" off their debut LP, Let's Get Free, re-telling the story.

In 2002, the American author John Reed published Snowball's Chance. This book adopts Orwell's allegory in order to conduct a parallel critique of capitalism. This decision reflects a long standing resentment among socialists at what they see as propagandistic exploitation of Orwell's novel by their political opponents.

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