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Most of us are aware that the Merton Classic
Novel Awards or the MCNAs are coming up. For
those that are not familiar with this comparatively
young award, it was established in 1950 and is an
annual award which acknowledges modern classics
within the Merton Hall community. Each year,
there is a panel of ten judges, who nominate a list
of books which they think meet the criteria for a
modern classic. The award is based on the author͛s
ability to appeal to readers through the author͛s
use of five elements: plot, character, structure,
themes, and language.
Every day for the following two weeks, this section
will be dedicated to a review of one of the books
on the nomination list.
But first of all, what is a modern classic? Let us first
examine the term ͚classic͛. A literary work which is
described as a classic expresses some artistic
quality, be it life, truth, or beauty. It stands the
test of time and contains universal messages that
are still relevant a substantially long period of time
after original publication. Great works such as
these touch on themes which define humanity at
our core values, and are understood by a wide
variety of readers. Themes like life and death, love
and hate, faith, freedom, hope that make
connections to the reader no matter how long
after publication the book is read. Add the word
͞modern͟ to that, and a modern classic comes out
as a book which has the above qualities written
during or after the 1920s.
The book that I have nominated for this award is
Animal Farm by George Orwell. It is surely one of
the most important and controversial fictional
political satire of the twentieth century. It can
definitely be regarded as the most significant post-
war novel to be written. The novel was first
published in 1945, after being rejected several
times by publishers because of its attack on Russia,
Britain͛s ally in the war.
Animal farm is set on Manor farm, and at the
beginning of the novel, Old Major, an old wise pig
on the farm, gathers all the animals together for a
meeting. He
announces that he is
dying, and wishes to
pass on his wisdom to
the animals. Old
Major tells them that
humans have
oppressed animals for
too long, and that the
time has come for
them to rebel against
Mr Jones, the owner
of the farm, take
control of the farm, and liberate all animals from
human tyranny. Shortly after Old Major͛s death,
the animals, motivated by Old Major͛s speech and
frustrated by Mr Jones͛ drunken antics, rise up
against Jones and his men. They successfully drive
him out of the farm and soon after, attempt to set
up a society of their own.
The name of the farm is changed to ͞Animal Farm͟
and the pigs, assuming themselves as most
intelligent, take over the manning of the farm.
They come up with Seven Commandments which
form the basis of ͞Animalism͟. Among these pigs
are Snowball, the leader of the pigs, Napoleon, a
fierce, bad-tempered boar, and Squealer, a small,
eloquent porker.
All goes smoothly for a while but before long,
trouble arises. Napoleon, unsatisfied with
Snowball͛s new plan to build a windmill to sustain
the farm, releases his pack of trained-from-birth
dogs to attack and drive Snowball away.
From this point onwards, Napoleon and the
remaining pigs slowly become corrupted by the
absolute power which they hold over the other
animals. The dogs terrorise any animal that refuses
to comply. The pigs begin to adopt human
behaviours and begin to forget their original goals
that they set out to achieve.
The characters in this novel are very clear cut and
well defined. As well as that, most of the
characters in the book are a metaphor for a person

or group of people in real life in the events of the
Russian Revolution, of which Animal Farm is a
satire.
Old Major is a wise old pig who makes a brief
appearance at the beginning of the novel. He
provides inspiration for the animals to lead an
uprising against the humans. Despite his death
early in the book, he is very important as his ideals
provide a basis for the animals to build upon.
Snowball, the original leader of the farm after the
uprising against Mr Jones, is an effective, fair, and
encouraging leader. He lays the foundation of
Animalism and forms the basis of the morals and
values which the other animals are to follow.
Snowball works genuinely for the benefit of the
farm to help the animals achieve their dream
before he is driven out by Napoleon. After this
event, Snowball becomes a very interesting
character. Although he makes no further physical
appearance in the novel, Napoleon and Squealer
spread rumours about him to make Snowball seem
evil and wicked. Every time something goes wrong
on the farm, it is blamed on Snowball. At first, the
animals do not believe Squealer, but after a while
they succumb to his lies.
Napoleon is a bad tempered, fierce boar who
doesn͛t do much talking, but has a reputation for
getting his way. He is the villain of this novel, and
is the first of the pigs to become corrupt.
Napoleon is a fascinating character, because, like
Snowball even though he does not make many
physical appearances in the novel, all of the other
animals are terrified of him and his pack of dogs
even though they do not see him physically often.
He has an overbearing presence over the animals
after his rise to power.
Squealer, after Snowball is driven away, emerges
as Napoleon͛s right hand...er͙pig, and Napoleon
uses him as a mouthpiece for his propaganda.
Squealer is eloquent, persuasive, and cunning, and
confuses the animals with long words and
complicated expressions, leading them to believe
things contrary to the truth.
Boxer is a strong, determined, and dedicated horse.
However, he is very easily influenced, and devours
Squealer͛s words without hesitation. In addition to
this, he adopts two mottos throughout the course
of the novel: ͞I will work harder͟, and ͞Napoleon is
always right͟. One almost feels sorry for Boxer and
his dedication to something that is all a deception.
He serves the purpose of the main victim of the
pigs and the revolution, because he believes so
whole-heartedly in the pigs and Napoleon.
Other animals on the farm include the sheep, who
constantly bleat in unison, unintentionally creating
a distraction from Squealer͛s lies, the cynical
donkey Benjamin, who is the only farm animal
who realises what is unfolding. He sits in the
background, observing but never disclosing
anything to the animals. There are hens, cows, a
cat, a goat, and a raven, all of which play minor
roles in the novel.
Animal Farm is told not from the perspective of
one character, but rather from the perspective of
the animals as a whole. It is written in a formal
style, but is still simple enough for the reader to
understand easily.
The book can basically be divided into two sections:
the first, in which the animals rise up against Mr
Jones, and Snowball leads the animals successfully
through the first harvest of the crop. The turning
point in the novel is when Napoleon, unsatisfied
with Snowball,
chases him out
of the farm.
The second
half of the
book, after the
riddance of
Snowball,
basically
consists of one
͞breach͟ of
the laws of
Animalism
after another
by the pigs.
Following this
is Squealer
͞covering up͟
the pig͛s
actions by
deceiving the
other animals.
The animals always have their first doubts about
Squealer͛s words, but in the end are always
convinced.
Also, the more devious and deceiving the pigs
become, the more the ͞narrator͟ exaggerates the
reactions of the other animals when being tricked
by Squealer. This gives the reader a feeling that
something is terribly wrong and then a feeling of
helplessness for the animals that are unknowingly
succumbing to the pig͛s deception.
Animal Farm is something of an ironic parody on
the events of and following the Russian Revolution.
The characters and ideals mirror the figures and
events in real life, and Orwell used this novel to
serve the purpose of attacking the Revolution and
became of it. To explain the events of the
Revolution in whole would make this article too
lengthy to fit in this column, so in short, Animal
Farm is a critique of the violent manner of Stalin͛s
regime and the oppression of the human beings
that were under it. It also highlights the Soviet
communist system against human logic, rights,
language, ideals, and values. So, most of the
themes in Animal Farm relate to the Soviet Union
and Stalin͛s regime in some way.
One of the major themes in this book is the
corruption of what was intended as a
beneficial idea, but was transformed into
something vile and clearly unacceptable.
This is ongoing throughout the novel, and
is illustrated by how Old Major had a
dream of an animal utopia where all
animals were equal and human oppressors
had been wiped from the face of the
planet. Snowball took up these ideas and
helped the animals take the first step in
achieving their goal. But as soon as
Napoleon took complete control,
everything began to go wrong. In the end,
the animals were at a point where they
had contradicted their original goal of an
egalitarian utopia and were in a
totalitarian nightmare.
Leading on from this, another theme is the
tendency towards the division of ͞classes͟
in society and the effects this has on the
freedom and rights of the people. Before the
revolution, the animals were all on an equal stand,
but after the elimination of Mr Jones, the division
of the animals into the ͞intelligentsia͟, namely the
pigs, and the ͞working class͟, the other animals,
took place. This was the act which essentially
destroyed the animals͛ chances of ever achieving a
state in which ͞all animals are equal͟.
The final, but possibly one of the most significant
and impacting theme that I have chosen is the
manipulation of language as power. This is
illustrated repeatedly, particularly in the second
half of the novel. The pigs twist and distort the
original rules of Animalism to suit their own needs;
for example, one of the original rules was ͞No
animal shall drink alcohol͟, which was then altered
by to ͞No animal shall drink alcohol 
͟,
allowing the pigs to drink alcohol. When suspicions
are raised amongst the animals, Squealer assures
them that the latter rule was in fact the original
and the animals must be muddled. Another
instance is the rule, ͞No animal shall kill any other
animal, to which is added on ͞without reason͟, so
that the pigs can always ͞justify͟ their actions of
killing animals. One of the final rules, and probably
the most noteworthy, to be changed was ͞All
animals are equal͟. In the end, all the rules of
Animalism are replaced by Squealer with ͞All
animals are equal, but some are more equal than
others.͟ This points to the terrible hypocrisy of the
pigs, who end up contradicting themselves in a
ridiculous manner.
Also, Squealer is an expert at concocting long or
ambiguous words, phrases, and expressions to
confuse the animals.
For instance, when
Napoleon is forced to
reduce food rations for
the winter, Squealer
announces it as a
͞readjustment͟ in food
rations, rather than a
͞reduction͟.
Animal Farm was a captivating book that I could
not put down. Surprising, because most people
would think that ͞classics͟ are tough to read and
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contain outdated expressions that are a pain to
understand. On the contrary, Animal Farm was
easy to understand, and there is an ominous feel
throughout the book which steadily grows as the
story progresses. After having finished the book,
the reader is left with the images of the novel
dangling in their mind, and I certainly was
contemplating the themes in the book for almost a
day afterwards. Orwell has done a fantastic job in
creating a short, succinct, and to-the-point novel.
Animal Farm has definitely stood the test of time;
it has been reprinted 22 times, and today is still
one of the most influential books in Western
literature. It is included in
many school curriculums as a
text, which goes to show just
how long lasting its impact has
been. And it absolutely
deserves to win the Merton
Classic Novel Award, because
of the fact that it has stood the
test of time so well, because of
the ingenious method in which
Orwell has allegories the
shortcomings of Soviet communism, and because
of the novel͛s ability to captivate the reader and
leave them reflecting about its themes and ideals.


 


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