In English - George Orwell - Animal Farm

   First of all, I really like George Orwell. I read 1984 of course, and loved it. I also read A Clergyman's Daughter, and I definetely fell in love with this author. This is why I read one week ago one of Orwell's most well-known novels, Animal Farm. I knew the theme because we read an extract during an English class last year, and I thought it was time for me to read it...

Title: Animal Farm

Author: George Orwell

Genre: apologue

Year: 1945

Country: Great Britain

Summary

   The farmer from Mannor Farm, Mr. Jones, is alcoholic and treats poorly the animals. This is why they one day decide to rebel and stand against humans. They expel the farmer's family and have to organize the govenment of the farm. The pigs decide to rule the farm, because they are considered as the most intelligent species. Amongst them, Snowball becomes the main leader, and creates a new theory, Animalism, which principes are:

1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an ennemy.

2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.

3. No animal shall wear clothes.

4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.

5. No animal shall drink alcohol.

6. No animal shall kill any other animal.

7. All animals are equal.

He then establish a kind of democracy in the farm. But this system won't last long, because Napoleon, another pig, will expel him and make turn the democracy into a totalitarian regime.

My opinion

   Obviously, the most interesting thing about Animal Farm is that the novel is a critic of totalitarism, and more specifically stalinism. Napoleon seems to represent a dictator, the pigs the members of the Party, the other animals the population, the horse Boxer a stakhanovist worker, the hens the rebel, the raven Moses religion and the priests, tolerated by Napoleon (this made me think of Marx' quotation "Religion is the opium of the people"), and you can easily imagine who the sheep, who are ridiculed by the narrator, represent... Snowball may represent Trotsky. I thought what was really interesting in this novel, was that the transition from a generous idea, but a not very well-organized system to a total denial of this idea with the horrors of a totalitarian system. The subtle transformation of the Animalism principes and the fact that Snowball is regarded as the public ennemy number one, made me think of 1984, because Winston's job at the Verity Ministery is to manipulate History, and the Traitor Emmanuel Goldstein is regarded exactly the same way that Snowball is in this novel.

   So the book is not at all childish, like the theme, the farm animals, could make you think, but really interesting, as far as History and politics are concerned. I personnally think that trying to discover who represents who is a kind of mental challenge I really like. Let's add that Orwell's writing is excellent, and you will guess I loved this book. However, I was a bit disappointed by the ending, just like as in A Clergyman's Daughter.

To conclude

   5/5, a fascinating political analysis of stalinism