Are you a pig or a sheep? (Animal Farm - George Orwell)

Member Name: little devil

Product:	Animal Farm - George Orwell
Date:	01/07/01 (884 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: brilliant, easy to read, classic

Disadvantages: none

Animal Farm is one of the most widely read and known novels by George Orwell. It is studied by many, much to their dismay, as a text for English exams, or as an aid to the teaching of Russian history. It is a brilliant novel, which can be appreciated on many levels and by a variety of people.

The Story…
Animal Farm is primarily a satire of the Russian Communist revolution of 1917, and the subsequent rise of Stalin to power. This is done via the close connections and parallels to the key events in Russian history. However this is not the only correspondence to history, Animal Farm is, on a higher level, a representation of all dictatorships and attempts to explain why revolutions often fail.

Basically, for those of us unfamiliar with the book, or the events of Russia, the plot is as follows…

Manor Farm is owned by Mr. Jones, a drunk who cares more about drinking than he does his livestock, subsequently he fails to look after his animals and they suffer severely from neglect. Old Major, the oldest and wisest animal on the farm (a pig), stirs up a feeling of rebellion in the animals by explaining to them all how they are exploited and on his deathbed his speech rises all sorts of emotions. In essence he is preparing the animals for a revolution.

From then on the animals secretly prepare for the rebellion, although they anticipate it being many years away. The pigs are the natural leaders in the preparations. However the revolution occurs spontaneously when they are left starving by farmer Jones. He is then driven out of Manor Farm and the farm renamed animal Farm, rather appropriately.

The animals then take care of running the farm themselves and looking after each other. The book follows the events until the farm has gone ‘full circle’, and one poor ruler has been replaced by another. I could easily explain the whole book to you, having studied this time period very well, but I won
217;t. Part of the fun of the novel is watching the situations unfold, even if you know what is coming.

Characters and Parallels to Russian History…

Characters…
- Old Major = a wise old pig who has a lot of intelligence and a vague picture of utopia in his head. He dreams on the animals shaking off the shackles of mankind and running themselves. Just before his death he sets the revolution movement in motion.
In Russia – Karl Marx/Lenin

- Napoleon = a quite character who does not get involved in arguments and discussions, yet he does get is own way a lot.
In Russia – Stalin

- Snowball = a lively character who gets involved in all activities.
In Russia – Trotsky

- Squealer = he has a way of persuading the animals of anything and manipulates them into believing everything he says.
In Russia – Propaganda

- Boxer = a strong hard working horse who believes his leader without question.
In Russia – the workers

- Benjamin = a quiet and loyal friend of Boxer. He can read and write yet chooses not to. He believes nothing will change and is quick to point this out to the other animals.
In Russia = the cynical

- Clover = a mare who has a motherly instinct towards the other animals, she just stays to the sidelines and watches things unfold.
In Russia – the upper classes.

- Mollie = a young and lively mare who has a lust for all things aesthetically pleasing. She leaves the farm to go to another where she receives ribbons and sugar cubes.
In Russia – traitors who left the country and the comfort loving bourgeoisie (i.e. royalty).

- Muriel = a goat who reads well.
In Russia – the intelligent people who wanted to see the evolution fail and be proved right.

- Moses = a raven who does nothing but tell the animals tales of a place named ‘Sugarcandy Mountain’.
In Russi
a – religion.

- Napoleons Dogs = a group of dogs taken by Napoleon when they were puppies, they have a love of him and protect Napoleon.
In Russia – Secret police.

- Pigeons = they spread the word of the rebellion to other farms.
In Russia – permanent revolutionaries, and the cabinet of the Russian Gov. who was set up to fund other communist revolutions.

- Sheep = do what they are told, can be classed as stupid.
In Russia – Russian people/proletariat.

Other Comparisions…
Manor Farm – Russia
Mr. Jones – Czar Nicholas II
‘Beasts of England’ – the Internationale
Animalism – Communism
Man – Capitalists
Animal Farm – Soviet union
Farms of Pilkington and Foxwood – Western Allies
Farm of Pinchfield – Germany
Windmill – Industialistation and the 5 year plans

The Purpose of the Novel…
The purpos4e of Animal Farm is to raise political awareness and understanding. Orwell attempts to explain how and why revolutions will ultimately fail, and why the Russian Communist movement turned out the way it did. I.e. why one dictatorship was replaced by another.

To explain why all revolutions fail, the book exemplifies two famous quotations:

“All power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely”
The pigs let their leadership position go to their heads and they become like Mr. Jones.

“They came for the Communists and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for me … By that time there was no one to speak up for anyone”
The animals who had an inkling as to what was going on should have spoke up, but they didn’t.

I know that is going of track a little but when you next pick up this book thin
k about these quotations as you read, adds new dimensions to it. Orwell was a Communist himself and so the book is not an attack on the Communist belief or movement, just the way that power has a habit of getting to people.

The style of the novel…
The most striking thing about this story, considering what it is about, is the language Orwell uses. The tale is told in a very logical and straightforward way, you cannot get lost reading the book. The tone is very controlled and Orwell chooses not to go for language that makes an impact, or tone that does, he simply relies on what he is actually saying. He creates great atmosphere in the book, a few specific parts spring to mind, mainly the passages where the animals are on the hill looking down onto the farm, just after them getting rid of Jones and after the rebellion has been is practice, makes great comparison.

This makes it very easy to read and allows it to be appreciated on many levels by anyone and everyone. It is a fairy story, a satire and a fable as well as a political statement.

It is told from the view point of an animal on the farm which has the effect of drawing you into the story and sympathising with the situations they are in.

Why I like this novel…
I am extremely interested in the time period it satires and am a very politically opinionated little devil. I enjoy this book because it is so simplistic yet complex at the same time. Brilliantly told and well worth every little bit of my time. I must confess to making notes in my own copy, as I get a little drawn into it and am always picking up on new things. It takes subjects many people see as boring and puts them in a tale that is accessible and easy to read. This is a true classic, what more can I say, everyone should read this at least once.


Basically this is a fantastic novel and is one of my favourites. No matter how many times I read it I love it to pieces. You do not
have to be very intelligent or have knowledge of what it is about to read it, the book is self explanatory really. It can be read and pleasured by anyone. I have read it and appreciated the story on more than one level, the first time I read it I was young and took it as a fairy story, but I learned.

A final note is don’t think about opting for the video as a substitute, it simply isn’t. It is adapted for a capitalist audience, with a nice ending, not the one in the book. Oh and definitely don’t get the porn version, totally unrelated!

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