GEORGE ORWELL'S ANIMAL
FARM: A REVIEW
FARAHNAZ YOUSSOFI
TECODH ANALYSIS
STANDARD ID. No. 2519-2-2016
15 May 2016
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Title: George Orwell's Animal Farm: A Review
Author: Farahnaz Yousefi
Standard ID. No. 2519-2-2016
Submission Date: 11 December 2015
Acceptance Date: 02 May 2016
Online Publication Date: 15 May 2016
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GEORGE ORWELL'S ANIMAL FARM: A REVIEW
FARAHNAZ YOUSSOFI 1
George Orwell (1903)2 born in India and died at the age of forty seven. His original name
was Eric Arthur Blair. The controversial content of his novels based on political events
perhaps forced him to write under a pseudonym. Animal Farm is a brilliant and allegorical
work that depicts the misuse of power by the powerful. He began to write Animal Farm at the
end of 1943. The book was based on the Russian Revolution between 1917 and 1944.
After the first appearance of industrialization in Britain, industrialization spread
in Germany, France, Russia, and the United States. However, soon critics
attacked the capitalists' exploitation, particularly the use of child labor. Under
capitalism, working class was exploited by the capitalists. The workers though
had a share in the production, they did not receive the benefit of their work they
produced. Marx criticized capitalism as a system which creates two conflicting
classes in the society: working class who did not own production and capitalist
class who owned production and exploited the working class. It was then that
Marxism erupted as a vigorous and hostile competitor to overthrow capitalism.
Marx believed in communism, a political system that [in theory] abolishes
classes i.e. means of production will be owned by all.
Communism as a social and political system made its first appearance in the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Two revolutions occurred in Russia in
1917.3 These revolutions created the world’s first communist state. The Russian
1
Farahnaz Yousefi is a Faculty Member at the Department of English, Islamic Azad University, Zahedan
Branch.
2
George Orwell, Animal Farm (1946).
3
In 1917, two revolutions completely changed the fabric of Russia. First, the February Russian Revolution
toppled the Russian monarchy and established a Provisional Government. Then in October, a second Russian
Farahnaz Yousefi
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empire transformed into what became known as the USSR. The goal of those
who carried out the second revolution was the creation of social equality and
economic democracy in Russia. The principle figure in the genesis of Russian
communism was the radical socialist Lenin who believed in the necessity of
political revolution to achieve communism. Thus, revolution of 1917 brought
about the communists under Lenin to power. The communists won the civil war
aided by Trotsky.
Subsequently, Lenin’s death resulted in the struggle for power between Trotsky
and Stalin. Stalin eventually seized power. But, these events led to the gradual
perversion of Marx’s socialist ideas. Marx believed that change in the methods
of production also required change in economic structure, ideas, laws, and
politics. Lenin accepted this theory as a dogma and warned that, it was not to be
applied without thought. He appreciated the essence of its truth, but was aware
also of its inherent weaknesses. In any case, Marxist philosophy gave way to
communism.
Most communists were idealistic, but in the process of spreading ideals of the
communism they became used to the monopolistic power and authoritarian
methods. Most communists came into the arena for personal good and
advancement. They spread the canard that "if they relax their grip on political
power, the forces of counter-revolution will drown them." The USSR became a
world power, yet the Stalin's regime gave communism a bad name. It came to
be associated with undemocratic connotations of state ownership and control of
the economy. Millions, including many communists, suffered and died after
Revolution placed the Bolsheviks as the leaders of Russia, resulting in the creation of the world's first
communist country. For more information, see, The Russian Revolution of 1917 at:
http://history1900s.about.com/od/Russian-Revolution/a/Russian-Revolution.htm
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Stalin and his supporters consolidated their dictatorship. Some social scientists
argue that dictatorship was an inherent quality of the ideas of Marx and Lenin.
After the World Wars the colonies in Europe and Asia were divided between
the USA and the USSR. Both were proponents of two different ideologies. The
USA trumpeted the freedom of individual, while the USSR boasted communal
fraternity where each gave according to his capacity but each received
according to his needs. However, finally, the failure of working class revolution
and impact of capitalistic pressures led to the fall of USSR in 1991. Though
communism met its death, democracy in its truest spirit does not exist anywhere
on the earth.
The guiding principle is that cost and risks are social but profit is private. This
almost gives credence to George Orwell’s words: ‘all are born equal, but some
are more equal than others.’ This idea becomes the theme of Animal Farm.
Orwell intended to criticize the communist regime he saw sweeping through
Russia and spreading to Europe and even to the United States. Though, Orwell
agreed with many Marxist principles, he was unable to accept the communist
interpretation of socialism, because he saw many similarities between the
communist government and the previous Tsarist regimes in old Russia.
Communism, which appears in the novel as ‘animalism’ was based on the ideas
of Karl Marx, who believed that workers or the proletariat did not enjoy the
rewards of their labor, and predicted that they would one day turn against their
employers and would create equality. These ideas became part of the
communist manifesto and they provided the basis for Major’s speech, a speech
that inspired the animals to overthrow their cruel owner and bring about justice.
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The Tsars rule was seen as corrupt and oppressive and the revolution of 1917
brought about the communists under Lenin to power. The communists won the
civil war aided by Trotsky’s leadership of the red army. A clear parallel is made
with Orwell reference to Jones’ invasion and the battle of the cowshed. The
animals win the battle as a result of Snowball’s brilliant planning.
Lenin’s death resulted in the struggle for power between Trotsky and Stalin,
reflected in this novel in the disagreement between Snowball and Napoleon.
Stalin eventually seized power and Trotsky was exiled in 1924. Just like
Snowball who was chased off the farm. So, daily life in the Soviet Union was
harsh but this became worse when Stalin began to punish anyone who could
possibly challenge his authority. Here, we see the link with Napoleon who
suppressed those disagreed with him. His executions are directly associated
with Stalin’s purges. The seven commandments4 are gradually destroyed as the
novel progresses. This represents the gradual perversion of Marx’s original
socialist ideas by Stalin. Stalin adopted the phrase “socialism in one country” as
the basis for his regime, but instead it turned into a dictatorship, as Napoleon
becomes a dictator in Animal Farm.
The animals in Animal Farm are representative of those under communist
ideology. We see the author making a parody of the ideals of communist
manifesto put forth by Marx. The quarrels and fights between Napoleon and
Snowball are identical to the clash between Stalin and Trotsky who was also
exiled like Snowball. In the novel, the sheep were the blind working class, who
followed the edicts of socialism. The hens were representatives of the nasty
4
1) Whoever goes upon two legs is an enemy. 2) Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend. 3) No
animals shall wear clothes. 4) No animal shall sleep in a bed. 5) No animal shall bring alcohol. 6) No animal
shall kill any other animal. 7) All animals are equal.
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elements of socialism out only to destroy. The cows were the numerous workers
of socialism, who would not lift a finger to help themselves. The pigeons were
symbolic of the spy network that was set up to keep an eye on every soul. The
most common phrase of those days was "Big brother is watching."
Of the human characters, Mr. Jones can be likened to Churchill who sleeps with
the gun besides him, but is not active at the right time. Mr. Fredrick and Mr.
Pilkington are the hoarders and black marketers who become rich, while
keeping the society poor. This, according to the author, is the biggest warning to
the future generation. The author derides the concepts of equality. He confirms
the Vedic idea that each individual is unique and any attempts to bring in
equality would not only be foolish, but high ranking stupidity. Orwell upholds
the spiritual duty of a litterateur, to warn his society about the evils of
totalitarianism. In Animal Farm we see the author deeply wounded by the
failure of socialist ideology, almost warning future generations not to be taken
for a ride by any ideologies. In the end of Animal Farm, we see the end of
communism. The author was disgusted with the methods of socialism.
Most critics look at Animal Farm as a political satire on communism. George
Orwell almost predicts the fall of communism and the Soviet Union years
before. He was able to visualize the inherent contradictions in community and
social welfare work. He realized that, while it was important to give the less
fortunate an opportunity to better themselves, it was a bad idea to give them the
key to governance. He proposes that small minds in positions of power tend to
turn into authoritarian figure heads. This is because they lack the vision to look
at life in its broadest sense. We must also take into account that while the author
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runs down socialism, he does not make in any part of the book, a case in favor
of democracy.
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