"Animal Farm" is a novella written by George Orwell and published way back in 1945. It is an allegorical story reflecting the Russian Revolution of 1917, portrayed by the animals of a farm rebelling against the human farmer who ran it. Orwell originally pitched the story as "Animal Farm: A Fairy Story." I guess that makes this about as an appropriate book to review on this blog as ever.
I hate to be a downer, but this was a rough story to read. Then again... the Russian Revolution led to the dictatorship of Stalin. There was little chance that this story was going to be anything but depressing. I don't want to spoil the whole thing. I actually do recommend it. Socialist revolutions are just nasty things that only serve to inadvertently put corrupt people into power. This is a story about betrayal and broken dreams.
The story is mainly about how a pig named Napoleon manipulates the rest of the animals on a farm into becoming envious of their human owner. They rebel against the farmer and take over the farm. Everything after this is just a sad downward spiral of one terrible thing after another.
The worst thing about this book has to do with the poor ignorant animals who allow this pig to manipulate them. They put all of their hopes and dreams into him, and he proved that he never cared about them to begin with. It is a difficult story to soak up.
I agree with Orwell that it fits the criteria of a fairy story. This became very clear by the very end of it. There is something magical happening in this story with the talking animals. He made it clear that they were feral but somehow gained the ability to do human-like things. I've seen similar things occur in the Oz stories. I find the concept very entertaining.
Despite much of these fairy animal types being very amusing, for every enjoyable thing this story provides, it will pass along eight negatives to sully the good feelings. It is a heart breaking book, but one that I believe needs to be read. I do recommend it as a cleverly written cautionary tale. Things like this should never happen on Earth. We should do our very best to prevent it.
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It is a fairy tale, but one to take seriously. He told the history of the Stalinist regime in a manner usually reserved for children's literature. The only reason it isn't recommended for children is its utter sadness.
ReplyDeleteIt's basically a cautionary fairy tale. It is also based on a true story... but I'd go so far as to say many other fairy tales are as well.
DeleteIndeed the worst part is the animals who give it their all but end up in the grind. It's a tragic story and definitely a cautionary tale. The movie with Kelsey Grammer is good but as it is mostly true to the story it is depressing.
ReplyDeleteI wanna see that movie... when I am not as depressed.
DeleteAs human beings, we should be better than animals. A beast only knows what it wants and will do whatever it can to get it. Desire is a means to manipulate the masses.
ReplyDeletePeople want happiness without the work, but then they realize they have to work to get anything... and in this scenario, they end up working for someone else's happiness instead.
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