From animals to men

It is often said that greed will make a man turn evil. In these times, a greedy man is the worst kind of man. People always preach about equality and kindness. It's almost expected that people always take others into consideration. Well, in Animal Farm by George Orwell, this is not the case. Near the middle of the novel, a priority shift occurs that changes the farm for the worse. The smarter animals choose to only care about themselves, and decide things that only benefit themselves. Orwell's twist of several characters creates a sense of struggle between greed and morals throughout the novel. Greed plays a role in Animal Farm, during the 1950s, and in society today. Greed has been and will forever be a player in the lives of animals and men.

The theme of greed plays a central role in Animal farm in several important areas. One of the first instances that emerges is right before the rebellion takes place. The animals are together discussing the problems with man and how greedy they are, "' man is the only creature that consumes without producing . . . Yet he is lord of all the animals. He sets them to work, he gives them back the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving, and the rest he keeps for himself '" (Orwell 7-8). This quote infers that the animals are disgusted with the way they are treated, and how well the humans live. Because of this instance of selfishness and greed, the animals are forced to rebel against Jones. This rebellion is the most important part of the novel as it sets up the rest of the plot and theme of greed. The second instance take place just after the rebellion. Jones is run off of his property and seeks help to retake it with his neighboring farmers, " the farmers sympathized in princi...

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...ture, in these times, greed is only the act of following the thoughts that all people have.

It is certain that there will always be people who give in to personal interests. It is whether these interests harm other people that truly dictates if it is good or bad. It could be said that the outcome is harmful more often than beneficial. Such is the case in Animal Farm as one pig is able to kill and degrade the lives of so many other beings. This directly reflects the time in society at which the book was printed. One single man and country was able to destroy the lives of so many people. However, it is times like today that show that maybe greed isn't exactly the cause of so much distress. Maybe the real issue is the people and ideals that they take on after losing themselves to this feeling of need. Only time will tell if greed plays a central role in the future.