Animal Farm by George Orwell

673 Words2 Pages

Animal Farm satirizes the Russian revolution and magnifies the flaws of communism and totalitarianism in the composition of a fairy tale. The book “Animal Farm,” was published in 1945, by George Orwell. Orwell writes to show the result of all people being equal…”but some are more equal than others.” Through a third person perspective Orwell clearly depicts the naïve loyalty of the individuals to the leaders, and the deceptive manipulation by the leading positions. Orwell puts communism and totalitarianism under a microscope and exposes the realistic outcomes these society’s produce, while satirizing with a fairy-tale story of talking animals and tyrannical pigs.

Animal Farm can be categorized as a fairy tale, or a satire. The story tells the tale of the Manor Farm that is overrun by the animals and renamed Animal Farm. The animals founded their new farm on equality, free from human control or oppression. However, the pigs take leadership of the farm and quickly become controlling, and more and more similar to humans. By the end of the book the pigs declare their intentions of allying with the humans against all the laboring classes of both the human and animal groups. And their decree of equality that stated: “all animals are equal,” was distorted by the pigs to say: “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” Animal farm is said to be a fairy tale due to its surreal qualities such as talking animals. Although, it can also be called a satire as Orwell uses humor to encourage reform and maximize the faults of communism and totalitarianism.

Communism and totalitarianism are poor forms of government and as the book animal farm displays very flawed. Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines communism as “a way...

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...re expelled by their successor Stalin (Napoleon.) Another symbol Orwell used was through the faithful horse, Boxer. He possesses all of the qualities of the exploited working class, such as hard work, determination and loyalty. He also was exorbitantly naive fully trusting his authorities to have honorable intentions completely blind to the corruption in leadership. He represents the unseen labor of individuals during political drama being carried out by the elite politicians.

Animal Farm is a fairy-tale with a much deeper topic of the Russian Revolution hidden in satires. It presents the unjust “equality” promised through communism. The book satirizes the dictatorship manipulation, and the citizen’s blatant innocent trust in their leaders. Orwell tells of communism and totalitarianism through the outside perspective, revealing the many faults of such societies.

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