Animal Farm                                   
George Orwell                                             4-19-02

Book Review #

Plot Summary

     George Orwell’s Animal Farm is a political satire of a totalitarian society ruled by a mighty dictatorship, in all probability a fable for the events surrounding the Russian Revolution of 1917. The animals of “Manor Farm” overthrow their human master after a long history of mistreatment. Led by the pigs, the farm animals continue to do their work, only with more pride, knowing that they are working for themselves, as opposed to working for humans. Little by little, the pigs become dominant, gaining more power and advantage over the other animals, so much so that they become as corrupt and power-hungry as their predecessors, the humans.
Characterization
     Major is a white boar, he is old and wise. He was the driving force that made all the other animals want to rebel against their humans. The elderly boar tells the animals that they must remove man from their midst to abolish tyranny and hunger. He treated the other animals with respect and they did the same to him. Just days after Major tells everyone what they must do he dies. He is almost like an orator to all the other animals and his character is believable.
     When Major dies the animals’ end up rebelling against their human master managing to overthrow him. After the rebellion the most outspoken pig, Napoleon, manages to become the leader along with Snowball, who is the most eloquent pig. Napoleon figures out a way to get Snowball kicked out of the farm so he can be the leader himself. Napoleon is a back-stabbing traitor. He becomes just like the humans and dominates over the other animals. Napoleon breaks the laws but since he has the other animals in such a strong hold they do not seem to care. Napoleon is the evil character in this novel. He is almost like an animal version of Adolph Hitler because he is doing wrong behind everyone’s back and all the animals still love him but only because they have no idea what Napoleon is really about.
Theme
     In every society there are leaders who, if given the opportunity, will likely abuse their power. Napoleon takes over the farm but in the process he becomes exactly like the humans by mistreating the other animals and actually becoming friends with a human that owns a farm nearby. He breaks the laws that the animals made for everyone. When the animals overthrow their owner, Mr. Jones, they developed rules that all the animals shall follow. With Napoleon becoming the leader he feels that he is superior to the other animals which draws him into breaking the rules and abusing his power in the animals society.
Symbolism
     Once the animals have taken over they change the farms name from Manor Farm to Animal Farm. Mr. Jones tries to reclaim his power but the animals prevent him from doing so in what they call “The battle of the cowshed.” This symbolizes how much the animals dislike the humans and it also symbolizes why the animals want independence. They had enough mistreatment so the animals decided to take action. They remain successful at the end of the battle and the animals have full control over the farm. The animals want independence because their human or master is always treating them like they do not matter as much as they should and they also want revenge for how they are treated.
     At th4e end of the story the pigs are sitting at a table eating with the humans. This symbolizes how the pigs abused their powers and broke their own laws. While the other animals look on, they, the lowly creatures according to the pigs and humans, look from pig to man and man to pig, unable to differentiate between the species.
     This book is great and anyone who has not read it should look into reading it. It is fiction but anyone who reads it can see the bit of nonfiction that Orwell throws in there. The story line in the novel just gives off a feeling that says whether or not something like this can really happen.