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Animal Farm

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File:Animalfarm2.jpg
Animal Farm book cover

Animal Farm is a satirical novel (which can also be understood as a modern fable or allegory) by George Orwell, ostensibly about a group of animals who oust the humans from the farm they live on and run it themselves, only to have it corrupted into a brutal tyranny on its own. It was written during World War II and published in 1945, although it was not widely recognized until the late 1950s.

Animal Farm is a thinly veiled critique and satire of Communist totalitarianism. Many events in the book are based on ones from the Soviet Union during the Stalin era. (For example, the character Snowball, who is expelled from the Farm by Napoleon, is clearly modeled on Trotsky.) George Orwell, though a left-winger - he was for many years a member of the Independent Labour Party - was a critic of Stalin, and suspicious of Moscow-directed communism after his experiences in the Spanish Civil War.

Plot

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The local prize-winning pig, Old Major, calls a meeting of all the animals of Manor Farm. He tells them that he has had a dream where mankind is gone, and animals are free to live in peace and harmony. He then proceeds to teach them a revolutionary song, "Beasts of England". The other animals begin to hope and dream for the revolution of such a day. When Old Major dies a mere three days later, three pigs, Snowball (who teaches the animals to read, though how he learned to read is not clear), Napoleon, and Squealer assume command, and turn his dream into a full-fledged philosophy. The philosophy of Animalism has Seven Commandments, the first of which is that "all animals are equal", and which are written on the wall of a barn for all to see. One night, the starved animals suddenly revolt and drive Mr. Jones, his wife, and his pet raven off the farm and take control. The farm is renamed "Animal Farm" as the animals work towards a future utopia, to which the workhorse Boxer does more than his fair share and adopts a maxim of his own - "I will work harder."

It seems, at first, that Animal Farm is off to a great start. Snowball was teaching all of the animals to read and write, food was plentiful due to a good harvest, and the entire Farm was organized and running smoothly. Even when Mr. Jones tries his last-ditch effort to retake control of the farm, the animals are easily able to defeat him at the later called the "Battle of the Cowshed". Soon, however, things begin to unravel as Napoleon and Snowball begin an epic power struggle over the farm. When Snowball announces his idea for a windmill, Napoleon quickly opposes it. A meeting is held, and when Snowball makes his passionate and articulate speech in favour of the windmill, Napoleon only makes a brief retort and then a strange noise (like a whistle). This noise signals the arrival of the nine puppies Napoleon had "educated", who had grown into vicious attack dogs. They burst in and chase Snowball off of the farm. In his absence, Napoleon declares himself the leader of the farm and makes instant changes. He announces that meetings will no longer be held as before, and a committee of pigs alone would decide what happened with the farm.

Napoleon changes his mind about the windmill, claiming (through Squealer) that Snowball had stolen the idea, and the animals begin to work. After a violent storm, the animals wake to find the fruit of their labour utterly annihilated. Though neighbouring farmers scoff at the thin walls, Napoleon and Squealer convince everyone that Snowball destroyed it. Napoleon begins to purge the farm, killing many animals accused of consorting with Snowball. In the meantime, Boxer has taken a second mantra, "Napoleon is always right".

Napoleon begins to abuse his powers even more and life on the farm becomes harder and harder for the rest of the animals. The pigs impose more and more controls on them while reserving privileges for themselves. History is rewritten to villainise Snowball and glorify Napoleon even further. Each step of this development is justified by the pig Squealer, who on several occasions alters the Seven Commandments on the barn in the dead of night to justify the deeds until ultimately all that remains of the "Principles of Animalism" is that "all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others". The song "Beasts of England" is banned as inappropriate now that the dream of Animal Farm has been realised, and is replaced by an anthem glorifying Napoleon who begins to live more and more like a human. The animals, though cold, starving, and overworked, remain convinced that they are still better off than when they were ruled by Jones.

Mr. Frederick, one of the two neighbouring farmers, swindles Napoleon by paying with forged banknotes (counterfeits), and then attacks the farm and uses dynamite to blow up the recently restored windmill. Though the animals of Animal Farm eventually win the battle, it comes at a great cost, as many of the animals, including Boxer, are wounded. However, Boxer continues to work harder and harder, until he finally collapses while working on the windmill. Napoleon sends for a van to come and take Boxer to the veterinarian, but, as Boxer is loaded up and the van drives away, the animals read what is written on the side of the van: "Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughterer and Glue Boiler." Squealer quickly reports that the van with the old writing had been purchased by the hospital, and that Boxer died in the hospital, in spite of the best medical care.

Many years pass, and the pigs have learned to walk upright, carry whips, and wear clothes. The Seven Commandments have been reduced to a single phrase: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." Napoleon holds a dinner party for the pigs, and the humans of the area (in the adjacent Foxwood Farm run by Mr. Pilkington). He announces his alliance with the humans against the labouring classes of both worlds.

The animals discover this out by overhearing Napoleon's conversations and finally realize that a change had come over the ruling pigs. An argument breaks out between Napoleon and Mr. Pilkington over the simultaneous play of an Ace of Spades, and the animals realise how they cannot tell the difference between the pigs and the humans.

Plot References to Real Events

  • Ousting of the Humans after the farmers forget to feed the animals – Russian Revolution of 1917 led to the removal of the Czars after a series of famine and poverty.
  • Mr. Jones’ last ditch effort to re-take the farm – Russian Civil War in which the western capitalist governments sent soldiers to try to remove the Bolsheviks from power.
  • During the rise of Napoleon, he ordered the collection of all the hens' eggs. In an act of defiance, the Hens destroyed their eggs rather than give them to Napoleon - During Stalin's collectivization period in the early 1930s, many Ukrainian peasants burned their crops and farms rather than handing them over to the government.
  • Napoleon’s mass executions, of which many were unfair for the alleged crimes - Stalin executed his political enemies for various crimes after they were tortured and forced to falsely confess.
  • Napoleon’s replacement of the farm anthem “Beasts of England” with “Comrade Napoleon”, which glorified him heavily – In 1943, Stalin replaced the old national anthem “the Internationale” with “the Hymn of the Soviet Union”. The old internationale glorified the revolution and "the people." The original version of the Hymn of the Soviet Union glorified Stalin so heavily that after his death in 1953, entire sections of the anthem had to be replaced or removed.
  • Napoleon’s dealing with Mr. Frederick, who eventually betrays Animal Farm and destroys the windmill. Though Animal Farm repels the human attack, many animals are wounded and killed – Stalin’s Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany in 1939, which was later betrayed in 1941 when Hitler invaded the Soviet Union. Though the Soviet Union won the war, it came at a tremendous price of roughly 20 million Soviet soldiers and civilians, as well as the utter destruction of the Western Soviet Union and its prized collective farms which Stalin had created in the 1930s.
  • Napoleon's later alliance with the humans – Stalin’s non-aggression pact with Hitler in the early years of WWII.
  • Napoleon's changing Animal Farm back to Manor – The Red Army’s name was changed from the "Workers' and Peasants' Red Army" to the "Soviet Army" to appear as a more appealing and professional organization rather than an army of the common people.
  • Napoleon and Mr. Pilkington playing the Ace of Spades (note that the Ace of Spades is typically known as the highest card in a card deck) - The cold war ignited between the US and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies, which never actually resulted in a battle, but kept the world frightened for quite a while.
  • After Old Major dies, his skull is placed on display on a tree stump much like how Lenin's (whom Old Major is based on along with Karl Marx) embalmed body was put on display in Lenin's Tomb in Red Square postmortem.

Characters

The events and characters in Animal Farm are all carefully drawn to represent the history of the Soviet Union; Orwell makes this explicit in the case of Napoleon, whom he directly connects to Stalin in a letter of 17 March 1945 to the publisher.

..when the windmill is blown up, I wrote 'all the animals including Napoleon flung themselves on their faces'. I would like to alter it to 'all the animals except Napoleon'. If that has been printed it's not worth bothering about, but I just thought the alteration would be fair to J[oseph] S[talin], as he did stay in Moscow during the German advance.

The other characters have their analogies in the real world, but care should be taken with these comparisons as they do not always match history exactly and often simply represent generalised concepts.

The Pigs

  • Napoleon - The pig who becomes the leader of Animal Farm post-Rebellion. Created based on the actions of Joseph Stalin, he uses his military (of nine attack dogs) to cement his power through fear. Napoleon craftily dispatches his opponent, Snowball.
  • Snowball - The pig who fights Napoleon for control post-Rebellion. Inspired by Leon Trotsky, Snowball is a passionate intellectual and is far more upfront about his motives than Napoleon. Snowball easily wins the loyalty of most of the animals.
  • Squealer - The pig who serves as public speaker. Inspired by Vyacheslav Molotov, Squealer twists and abuses the language to excuse, justify and extol Napoleon's actions, no matter how egregious. All his life, George Orwell made it a point to show how politicians used language. Squealer limits the debate by complicating it, and he confuses and disorients, making claims that the pigs need the extra luxury they are taking in order to function properly. To squeal is to betray, something Squealer does often to his fellow animals.
  • Minimus - A poet pig who writes a song about Napoleon, representing admirers of Stalin both inside and outside the USSR such as Maxim Gorky.
  • Old Major - As a fellow socialist, Orwell agreed with Karl Marx's politics, and even respected Vladimir Lenin. In fact, the satire in Animal Farm is not of Marxism, or Lenin's revolution, but of the corruption that occurred later. Major, who is based upon both Lenin and Marx, is the inspiration which fuels the rest of the book. Though it is a positive image, Orwell does slip some flaws in Old Major, such as how during his complaints about the abuse of animals he admits that he has been largely free from those terrors.

The Humans

The Other Animals

  • Boxer - Possibly one of the more popular characters, Boxer is the avatar of the working class: Loyal, dedicated, and strong. His major flaw, however, is his blind trust of the leaders and his inability to see corruption. He is used and abused by the pigs as much or more than he was by Jones. His death serves to show just how far the pigs are willing to go. It is worth noting that prior to his death, Boxer played a huge part in keeping the Farm together. Boxer could also represent a Stakhanovite.
  • Clover - Boxer's close friend. She blames herself for forgetting the complete Seven Commandments when Squealer revises them. She represents the common people who acquiesce to the subversion of principles by the powerful.
  • Mollie - A horse who likes wearing ribbons (which represent luxury) and being pampered by humans. She represents upper-class people, the Bourgeoisie who fled from the U.S.S.R after the Russian Revolution.
  • Benjamin - A donkey who is cynical about the revolution. He is said to be inspired by Orwell himself.
  • Moses - A tame raven who spreads stories of Sugarcandy Mountain, the "animal heaven". These beliefs are denounced by the pigs. Moses represents religion, which has always been in conflict with communism.
  • Muriel - A goat who reads the edited commandments. She may represent intelligent labour.
  • Jesse and Bluebell - Two dogs who give birth in Chapter III. Their puppies are nurtured by Napoleon to inspire fear, without doubt representing the formation of the NKVD/KGB.
  • The Hens - Represent the Kulaks, landed peasants persecuted by Stalin.

Significance

The book is an allegory about the events following the revolution in the Soviet Union, and in particular the rise of Stalinism and the betrayal of the revolution which basically replaced one dictatorship for another. Many of the characters in the book are identifiable as historical figures. Napoleon and Snowball are direct representations of Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky respectively. Their disagreement about the direction the farm should take is meant to represent the ideological power struggle between Trotsky and Stalin. Boxer, the ever-loyal cart horse, portrays the ill-educated and unskilled proletariat. Boxer and the other cart-horse, Clover, are manipulated by the persuasive arguments of the pigs but are ultimately taken for granted and fail to reap the benefits of the "Revolution". Comparisons can be drawn between Boxer and Aleksei Grigorievich Stakhanov, after whom the Stakhanovite movement was named.

Orwell wrote the book following his experiences during the Spanish Civil War which are described in another of his books, Homage to Catalonia. He intended it to be a strong condemnation of what he saw as the Stalinist corruption of the original socialist ideals, in which he believed and continued to believe after he saw a revolution betrayed, as in Spain. For the preface of a Ukrainian edition he prepared in 1947, Orwell describes what gave him the idea of setting the book on a farm[1].

..I saw a little boy, perhaps ten years old, driving a huge cart-horse along a narrow path, whipping it whenever it tried to turn. It struck me that if only such animals became aware of their strength we should have no power over them, and that men exploit animals in much the same way as the rich exploit the proletariat.

This Ukrainian edition was an early propaganda use of the book. It was printed to be distributed among the soviet citizens of Ukraine who were just some of the many millions of displaced persons throughout Europe at the end of the Second World War. The American occupation forces did not appreciate these illegal presses, printing propaganda, and confiscated 1,500 copies of Animal Farm, handing them to the Soviet authorities. The politics in the book also affected Britain, with Orwell reporting that Ernest Bevin was "terrified"[2] that it may cause embarrassment if published before the 1945 general election.

In recent years the book has been used to compare new movements that overthrow heads of a corrupt and undemocratic government or organization, only to become corrupt and oppressive themselves over time as they succumb to the trappings of power and begin using violent and dictatorial methods to keep it. Such analogies have been used for many former African colonies such as Zimbabwe and Democratic Republic of Congo, whose succeeding African-born rulers were thought to be as corrupt as the European colonists they supplanted.

References and post-publication views of the book

In the post-War years, apparently anti-Russian literature was not something which most major publishing houses would touch - including his regular publisher Gollancz. One publisher he sought to sell his book to rejected it on the grounds of government advice - although it was later found that the civil servant who gave the order was a Soviet spy.
(Source: Orwell: The Life, D.J. Taylor, 2003, ISBN 0-8050-7473-2)

Orwell originally prepared a preface on freedom of the press for the book which noted "The sinister fact about literary censorship in England is that it is largely voluntary. ... [Things are] kept right out of the British press, not because the Government intervened but because of a general tacit agreement that ‘it wouldn’t do’ to mention that particular fact." Somewhat ironically, the preface itself was censored and is not published with most copies of the book.

The book was the basis of an animated feature film in 1955 (Britain's first full-length animated movie), directed by John Halas and Joy Batchelor and quietly commissioned by the American CIA, which softened the theme of the story slightly by reducing the role of Moses, the character representing religion, and adding an epilogue where the other animals successfully revolt against the pigs. There was also a 1999 live action film directed by John Stephenson, with voices by Kelsey Grammer as Snowball, Patrick Stewart as Napoleon, and Ian Holm as Squealer. Despite a few differences (such as completely different songs and Jesse being the first to question the pigs), much of the plot is loyal to the book. The film diverges from the book with an additional epilogue in which Jesse and several animals escape and return years later to a post-Napoleon era Animal Farm. In addition, radical socialist rappers Dead Prez released a song called "Animal in Man" off their debut LP, Let's Get Free, re-telling the story.

Pink Floyd's 1977 album Animals was partially inspired by Animal Farm. It categorises people as either pigs, dogs or sheep.


See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to Animal Farm.

Songs

Albums

Battles

Characters

The Seven Commandments

ISBN numbers

  • ISBN 9966472487 (paperback, 1988, Swahili translation)
  • ISBN 0582021731 (paper text, 1989)
  • ISBN 0151072558 (hardcover, 1990)
  • ISBN 0582060109 (paper text, 1991)
  • ISBN 0679420398 (hardcover, 1993)
  • ISBN 0606001026 (prebound, 1996)
  • ISBN 0151002177 (hardcover, 1996, Anniversary Edition)
  • ISBN 0452277507 (paperback, 1996, Anniversary Edition)
  • ISBN 0451526341 (mass market paperback, 1996, Anniversary Edition)
  • ISBN 0582530083 (1996)
  • ISBN 1560005203 (cloth text, 1998, Large Type Edition)
  • ISBN 0791047741 (hardcover, 1999)
  • ISBN 0451525361 (paperback, 1999)
  • ISBN 0764108190 (paperback, 1999)
  • ISBN 082207009X (e-book, 1999)
  • ISBN 0758778430 (hardcover, 2002)
  • ISBN 0151010269 (hardcover, 2003, with Nineteen Eighty-Four)
  • ISBN 0452284244 (paperback, 2003, Centennial Edition)
  • ISBN 0848801202 (hardcover)

Notes

  1. ^ Letter to Herbert Read, 18 August, 1945.
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