Animal Farm by George Orwell

Animal Farm is constructed on a circular basis to illustrate the futility of the

revolution. The novel is a series of dramatic repudiations of the Seven
Commandments, and a return to the tyranny and irresponsibility of the beginning.
I chose this topic to highlight the major theme of the novel. That is the sad
triumph of evil over good. The animals try to create a utopia who is derived from
the Greek meaning good place, a paradise where society brings out and develops
the best in a being. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely and
broadly speaking, Animal Farm satirizes politicians, specifically their rhetoric, ability
to manipulate others, and insatiable lust for power.
Despite his seemingly altruistic motives, from my point of view Napoleon is
presented as the epitome of a power-hungry individual who masks all of his actions
with the excuse that they are done for the betterment of the farm. His stealing the
milk and apples, for example, is explained by the lie that these foods have nutrients
essential to pigs, who need these nutrients to carry on their managerial work. His
running Snowball off the farm is explained by the lie that Snowball was actually a
traitor, working for Jones and that the farm will fare better without him. On the
other way each time that Napoleon and the other pigs wish to break one of the
Seven Commandments, they legitimize their transgressions by changing the
Commandment's original language. Whenever the farm suffers a setback, Napoleon
blames Snowball's treachery which the reader, of course, knows is untrue.
Napoleon's walking on two legs, wearing a derby hat, and toasting Pilkington reflect
the degree to which he (and the other pigs) completely disregard the plights of the
other animals in favor of satisfying their own cravings for power.
Unfortunately, the animals that gain control of Animal Farm begin to act in a
manner similar to the humans that they had kicked off the farm. At the end of the
novel, the pigs cannot be distinguished from the humans. . When the animals
seize control of the farm, the leaders are corrupted by their power.
In conclusion Animal Farm is the story of a revolution gone sour. Animalism,
Communism, and Fascism are all illusions which are used by the pigs as a means of
satisfying their greed and lust for power. As Lord Acton wrote: "Power tends to
corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely." So long as the animals cannot
remember the past, because it is being continually altered, they will have no control
over the present and hence over the future.












ALLEGORY
An allegory is a series of metaphors or symbols continued throughout an entire story so as to
represent or describe one series of facts by using another that is analogous to its main features.
'Animal Farm' is intended to be an allegory of Russian history from 1917-1943, including the
period of World War I, the Economic Policy Plan, and the first Five Year Plan

Animal Farm = History of Russia
Old Majors philosophy = The philosophies of Marx and Lenin

Animalism = Communism
Other Animals = Bolsheviks (common people )
Mr. Jones = Czar of Russia
Seven Commandments = Communist Manifesto
Skull of Old Major = Lenin's body
Old Major's death = Lenin's death followed by struggle for power
Windmill Construction = Russian construction of steel mills and electric plants
Napoleon's sale of timber to Frederick = Stalin entered into a non-aggression pact with
Hitler's Germany
Frederick's declaration of war on = Hitler's declaration of war on Russia
Animal Farm
Windmill destroyed, animals died = Stalingrad destroyed
Sugarcandy = In 1944 Stalin wrote letters to Pope to conduct services
Napoleon's entertaining of humans in the farmhouse = Different meetings between Stalin and
Churchill in Russia