Week of December 23, 2012 - Animal Farm Book Review

By Joan Whetzel

Merry Christmas!

Animal Farm, by George Orwell, is a classic 20^th century “fairy tale” that, like all fairy tales, uses fictional techniques to retell what’s going on in the political world. It’s a fast-paced little book that packs in a lot tale in just over 100 pages.

Background Story

George Orwell considered himself a socialist, but he hated Stalinism. He wrote Animal Farm as his take on the communist revolution that overtook Russia and the surrounding countries that formed the Soviet Union and his statement against the Stalinist version of Communism. His later book, “1984” continued his theory of communist politics by predicting what would happen if communism, particularly the Stalinist version, were to continue unchecked.

The Story

 Animal Farms begins with Mr. Jones and his farm, which he called Manor Farm. Mr. Jones’s life had been going downhill for a while, and the animals were growing restless. One day, the oldest pig tells the story of his dream about a revolution where the animals took over the farm and ran it themselves. In his dream the animals would share in the work and share in the benefits of whatever they reaped. Over the next few days, the animals had a plan in place for how they would govern themselves (the pigs would rule since they were obviously the smartest) once their revolution took place and list of 7 commandments (a constitution of sorts) that made up the basis of their government. The only thing left was to plan the revolution.

The revolution took place much quicker than anticipated. One day, Mr. Jones had drunk to excess and was so wasted he didn’t do anything to make sure the farm was taken care of. Even the farm hands had become so negligent that they had forgotten to feed the animals that day, and the next. The revolt was the culmination of their dissatisfaction with Mr. Jones’s rule. And so all the humans were driven off Manor Farm, and the animals took over, renaming it Animal Farm.

Animal Farm began its socialist existence equitably enough, with everyone doing their share of the work, each according to his abilities and size, and each sharing in the food. They produced They had even planned how they would make it through the winter by saving some food aside.

One of the pigs, Snowball, drew up plans for  a windmill which was supposed to produce heat and lighting for the barnyard stalls and painting the 7 commandments on the side of the barn for everyone to see. Of course, not all the animals learned to read. But they trusted that the pigs, in all their wisdom, had their best interests at heart. One day, Mr. Jones and some of his friends from the village and neighboring farms, came to Animal Farm to try and take it back and return Mr. Jones to power. But, remembering how terrible things had become under Mr. Jones’s rule, the animals fought back valiantly and retained possession of the farm in a battle which became known as the Battle of the Cowshed. Snowball was recognized as having been a leader and the main hero of the battle.

But soon things begin to change, ever so subtly. The 7 commandments are slightly altered, in secret apparently, so that they reflect the changes the pigs are making in their social order. Along with the changes in the commandments and the social order, a series of little lies are told to alter the reality of everyone’s memories and their beliefs. Along with these changes, a growing tension between Snowball and Napoleon, another pig vying for the top power, leads to the ousting Snowball from Animal Farm. From then on, whenever anything goes wrong, the now absent Snowball is blamed. Eventually even the reality of Snowball’s contributions to the revolution and the Battle of the Cowshed are altered to reflect the new reality.

At first the animals question some of the new realities because they remember things differently. But they are reassured that the :”new” reality, Napoleon's reality, is the only truth. To question the “truth” is to believe that things were better in the days of Jones.  And surely they didn’t want Mr. Jones to return.  Then one day, to keep the animals from questioning Napoleon's truth, a mass killing occurs to rid their society of the objectors, the sinners who would cause trouble with their questions. From then on, the changes become less subtle and penalties for asking questions or remembering differently grow stronger.

This story is about communism, more specifically the Stalinist version, on its surface. It’s also about the people we allow to control our lives; the lies we believe from others, the lies we tell ourselves, about sticking up for what we believe, and about committing a revolution to make our lives more in tune with what we truly believe. As one of Sean Connery’s characters (Captain Ramius in “The Hunt for Red October”) once said, “A little revolution, now and then, is a good thing.