Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 19:44, 31 January 2006

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 successful until the late 1950s.

Animal Farm is a thinly veiled critique and satire of Soviet totalitarianism. Many events in the book are based on events 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 leftist – 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

Template:Spoiler When the farm's 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 compares the humans to parasites, and 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), Napoleon, and Squealer assume command, and turn his dream into a full-fledged philosophy. One night, the starved animals suddenly revolt and drive the farmer 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. The Seven Commandments of the new philosophy of Animalism are written on the wall of a barn for all to read, the seventh and most important of which is that "all animals are equal". All animals work, but the workhorse Boxer does more than his fair share and adopts a maxim of his own - "I will work harder."

Animal Farm was off to a great start. Snowball teaches the other animals to read and write (though few animals besides the pigs can read well), 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 what they 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 makes a strange noise to call in nine attack dogs (Napoleon had previously taken 9 puppies from their mothers and "educated" them himself to become 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 from him, and the animals begin to work. After a violent storm, the animals wake to find the fruit of their months of 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. 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, 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. During a pokermatch, 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

• The ousting of the Humans after the farmers forget to feed the animals – Russian Revolution of 1917 led to the removal of the Tsars after a series of famine and poverty.

• The refusal of the Humans to refer to Animal Farm by its new name (still called Manor Farm) may be indicative of the diplomatic limbo the Soviets existed in following their early history.

• Mr. Jones' last ditch effort to re-take the farm (The Battle of the Cowshed) – Russian Civil War in which the western capitalist governments sent soldiers to try to remove the Bolsheviks from power.

• Napoleon's removal of Snowball – Stalin’s removal of Leon Trotsky from power in 1927 and his subsequent expulsion.

• Napoleon stealing Snowball’s idea for a windmill – Stalin later shifted away from "World Socialism" to "Socialism in one country" which Trotsky had originally promoted. The windmill can also be considered a symbol of the Soviet Five-Year Plans, a concept developed by Trotsky and adopted by Stalin, who claimed them to be his idea.

• Moses the raven leaving the farm for a while and then returning - Similar to the Russian Orthodox Church going underground and then being brought back to give the workers hope.

• Boxer's motto, "Napoleon is always right" is strikingly similar to "Mussolini is always right" a chant used to hail Benito Mussolini during his rule of Italy from 1922 to 1943.

• 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.

• The 4 pigs that go against Napoleon's will represent the White movement.
• Napoleon's replacement of the farm anthem "Beasts of England" with an inane composition by the pig poet Minimus ("Animal Farm, Animal Farm / Never through me / Will you come to harm") – 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. Orwell could have also been referring to Napoleon Bonaparte's banning of the French national hymn, La Marseillaise in 1799.

• 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 8.5-15 million Soviet soldiers (unconfirmed) and many civilians, coming to an incredible estimated 20 million dead, 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. Also, there's an inner pun (likely intentional, but unconfirmed): Manor Farm to Animal Farm (Man to Animal), and then Animal Farm back to Manor Farm (as with the pigs--animals turning into men). Even further, it can be read as a simple question which really sums up the book: Manor Animal? (Man or Animal?)

• 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.

• Squealer constantly changing the commandments is said to be a reference to a perversion in Russian religious history, as observed by Leo Tolstoy when the essential precepts of the Sermon on the Mount were altered by Russian Orthodox Church.

• When Boxer was injured, the pigs sold him to the glue factory, the knackers, while claiming to it was the vet. This demonstrates the communists' taking advantage of the hardships of the people.

• Napoleon and Mr. Pilkington simultaneously played the Ace of Spades (note that the Ace of Spades is typically known as the highest card in a card deck) possibly relates to the early onset of the cold war that was 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. (However the book was written well before the main buildup to this, when the USSR was still formally an ally).

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 JS , 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 and the Russian paper Pravda, 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 some of 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.
• Pinkeye - A small piglet who tastes Napoleon's food for poisoning.
• Piglets - While not truly noted in the novel, these piglets are hinted to be the children of Napoleon, and are the first generation of animals to actually be subjugated to his idea of animal inequality.

The humans

• Mr. Jones - The original owner of Manor Farm. He is probably based on Tsar Nicholas II.
• Mr. Frederick- The tough owner of Pinchfield, a well-kept neighbouring farm. He is probably based on Germany and/or Adolf Hitler.
• Mr. Pilkington - The easy-going but crafty owner of Foxwood, a neighbouring farm. He represents Britain and/or Winston Churchill.
• Mr. Whymper - A human whom Napoleon hires to represent Animal Farm in human society. He is loosely based on George Bernard Shaw who visited the USSR in 1931 and praised what he found.

The other animals

• Boxer — Possibly one of the more popular characters, Boxer is the tragic avatar of the working class, or proletariat: 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. A strong and loyal draft horse, Boxer played a huge part in keeping the Farm together prior to his death. Boxer could also represent a Stakhanovite. His name is a reference to the Boxer Rebellion
• Clover — Boxer's close friend, and also a draft horse. She blames herself for forgetting the original Seven Commandments when Squealer revises them. She represents the middle class educated 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. He represented the skeptical people in and out of Russia who believed that communism would not help the people of Russia
• Moses — A tame raven who spreads stories of Sugarcandy Mountain, the "animal heaven". These beliefs are denounced by the pigs. Moses represents religion (specifically the Russian Orthodox Church), which has always been in conflict with communism. It is interesting to note that, while Moses initially leaves the farm after the rebellion, he later returns and is supported by the pigs. This represents the cynical use of religion by the state to anaesthetise the minds of the masses.
• Muriel — A goat who reads the edited commandments. She may represent intelligent labour.
• Jessie 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.
• The Dogs — Napoleon's secret police and bodyguards (inspired by Cheka, NKVD, OGPU, MVD)
• The Sheep - The sheep show the dumb, animal following of the proletariats in the midst of the Russian Civil War (“Four legs good, two legs bad!”).

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.

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.

..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" 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.

Post-publication views of the book

In the post-War years it became apparent to Orwell that 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.

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. ... 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, that occurs immediately after the novel's iconic concluding imagery is depicted, 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

Songs

• Beasts of England
• Comrade Napoleon

Albums

• Animals by Pink Floyd

Battles

• Battle of the Cowshed
• Battle of the Windmill

Characters

• Old Major
• Napoleon
• Snowball
• Squealer
• Frederick
• Pilkington
• Jones
• Boxer

The Seven Commandments

• Seven Commandments

References

1. Preface to the Ukrainian Edition of Animal Farm
2. Letter to Herbert Read, 18 August, 1945.
3. Orwell: The Life, D.J. Taylor, 2003, ISBN 0-8050-7473-2)
4. The Freedom of the Press

External links

• Animal Farm CliffsNotes
• Animal Farm - Searchable, indexed etext.
• Animal Farm - Complete Novel - Includes publication data and search feature.
• Excerpts from Orwell's letters to his agent concerning Animal Farm
• George Orwell Web Ring
• IMDB - Animal Farm (1954 animated film)
• IMDB - Animal Farm (1999 TV film)

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)

• Animal Farm
• George Orwell books
• Twentieth century British novels
• Satirical books
• Modern Library 100 best novels
• 1945 books
• Dystopian novels
• English novels
• Time Magazine 100 best novels