George Orwell’s Animal Farm And Its Main Themes

George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm tells the story of Joseph Stalin’s rule over the Soviet Union. His writing was controversial because he narrated the story in real life. Animal Farm still holds true today, despite modern events that mirror the story. The conflict and resolutions of the story are directly representative of what happens to a country when communism takes root.

Animal Farm takes place in an imaginary farm between 1917 and 1945. Animal Farm was once managed by humans. However, Mr. Jones, the farmer, failed to feed the animals for several consecutive days, and the animals revolted. The animals were initially happy to live together. All worked together towards a common goal. They didn’t want people to return to their farm. Even the farm animals had a commandment that the animals were to remember, “four legs good, and two legs bad.” They held on to the farm to withstand any attempt by humans to take it back. Everything was going well until an argument broke out. The farm’s smartest animals were the pigs. Two pigs (Napoleon, Snowball) were always at the farm meetings and chose to oppose any controversial topic. After one of their fiercer debates Napoleon whistled as the dogs he had privately trained chased Snowball from the farm. The reign of Napoleon was established at this point. Napoleon gradually took control of his farm. He began to change the commands that were in place at the start of the animal takeover. Most animals didn’t see the change or were too distracted to notice. Napoleon established rules that pigs could sleep in their houses, they got more food than the rest of the animals, and they don’t have to work in fields like the rest of the animals. Napoleon took full control of the farm as time passed. Napoleon convinced everyone that Snowball had been a traitor. He would be executed if caught. The Animal Farm was home to many important conflicts. Many of these were due to issues with the farm’s leadership. The first was caused by Mr. Jones’ inability to care for his animals. The animals responded and took control of the farm. Napoleon was able to chase Snowball away from the farm, after Napoleon and Snowball had heated arguments at town meetings. A few decades later, several animals claimed they saw visions from Snowball encouraging them to rebel to Napoleon. This led to the execution of many animals. The humans were the main conflict. The humans attempted to take back the farm several times. The humans attempted to seize the farm back once more, but one animal died. After that, they were successful in chasing the humans away. The humans then destroyed the windmill, which the animals had built for more than a year. However, the animals managed to run away. The animals decided it was worth rebuilding the windmill. Animal Farm was founded as an act of rebellion against humans. To live well, the animals created their own rules. The story ended with pigs walking on two legs. They invited humans to join them for cards. They all consumed alcohol. It was one of Napoleon’s orders that they had modified for their enjoyment. Napoleon stated that Napoleon desired normal relations and trade with humans. Napoleon’s exploit of weak-minded animals is just one example from the novel.

The novel dealt with many themes. The theme of corruption and extreme power is one of the most prominent. Napoleon took the farm under his control and all of his words were accepted as morally right. Even when the truth was obvious, no one challenged Napoleon’s leader. Similar situations are common in our society today. This usually begins with total anarchy. There is no one in control. One person or group eventually takes control of the country. These people often create their own rules. These people tend to blindly follow their leaders. Control of intellectually inferior people is another theme. The farm’s smartest animals were the pigs. This allowed the pigs to do almost anything they wanted. You can see an example of this: They slept in people’s houses. They started to consume alcohol. The pigs saw an increase in their rations after everyone’s winter was harsh. The pigs were able to wake up about an hour faster than the rest and did not even have the need to work at the farm. This is a common occurrence in modern times. In order to control intellectually less intelligent people, they can deceive them into believing that their way of thinking is the best. Violence is another important theme. Violence is the central theme of the entire story. The story’s main violence points were the animal takeover of the farm, the fights to get it back, and the execution of animals for thoughts of the “evil” Snowball. George Orwell, the author of Animal Farm used these themes as a way to show what was happening in the Soviet Union at this crucial time.

George Orwell was conceived in Motihari, India on June 25, 1903. His parents gave him the name Eric Arthur Blaire at birth. Later, he used George Orwell’s pen name to write his first book. This was to avoid embarrassment for his family because he lived in poverty. George Orwell was also his choice of name to express his love for English landscapes and tradition. George Orwell was born to a civil servant. His childhood was spent in India with his father. Around one year after George’s birth, Orwell and his mother moved to England. His father was still in India, and Orwell never visited him. Orwell never had a close relationship to his father. He found him dull and unlikable. Orwell was a gifted writer from an early age. His first poem was written at four years of age. One of his poems was published in the newspaper before he turned eleven. Orwell was a gifted student who received scholarships to several colleges. Orwell was a college graduate and joined the police force. Orwell did not find success with his first writing career. He worked on several writing assignments in order to make ends meet. He became a BBC producer, and was a progandist during World War II. George Orwell married Eileen O’Slaughnessy on June 26, 1936. Eileen supported Orwell’s dream to become a writer. In 1944, Richard Horatio was adopted by the couple. George Orwell died from tuberculosis on January 21, 1950 in London. His brilliant perspectives, ideas and opinions were preserved through his work, even though he was 46 years old.

Animal Farm by George Orwell is a story that demonstrates how Stalinism shattered the ideals and revolution taking place within the Soviet Union. Stalinism refers the ideology and policies of Joseph Stalin. They are based in centralization, totalitarianism as well as the pursuit for communism. George Orwell said, “I wanted to expose the Soviet myth in an easy to understand story that could possibly be translated into other language” Despite Orwell being well-known, Orwell has managed to offend both left and right. Socialists were upset by Orwell even though his political affiliation was with the Democratic Socialist Party. People of the right resented him as a socialist. Orwell described the revolution in its true form. Orwell, as many intellectuals on the left, was appalled by Stalin’s actions. Although most people will not be able recognize the connection between Animal Farm, the Soviet Union and each other, this is still a good example of how a rebellion leading into tyranny could look. Animal Farm is not limited to communism in Soviet Union.

Animal Farm, while clearly symbolizing the Soviet Union’s under Joseph Stalin’s rule, can still have connections to other countries of the present. This novel is relevant because there are still examples of this tyranny today. Egypt is the greatest example of such relativity. Hosni Musbarak’s rule in Egypt saw freedoms being withheld and rights taken away. False imprisonments were common. The Egyptian people were at their lowest point in 2011, just before 2011. They had grown tired of living in such harsh conditions. They rebelled. The Egyptian people seized control of government. In June 2012, the Egyptian people elected a leader. Within months of being elected, the leader was removed from power and was held responsible for all the negative events that occurred. Animal Farm experienced this exact same thing. Animal Farm was a place where animals were tired of being treated harshly and rebelled against their farmer. Napoleon was soon able to capture Snowball and blame him for every farm struggle. Animal Farm and Egypt were both overthrown by corrupt leaders. Everything was restored to its original state before the rebellion. Animal Farm’s relevance today is due to modern examples that show the same corrupt leaders. People need to learn from past events. People will keep making the same mistakes over and over again if people don’t take responsibility for past events. Animal Farm tells a simpler story about Stalin’s Soviet Union. It teaches people how to look back at past events and can help them learn from their mistakes.

George Orwell represented Joseph Stalin’s rule as the Soviet Union’s leader when he wrote Animal Farm. The novel shows the consequences of communism being implemented in a country. Orwell’s story conveyed themes like violence and control over intellectual inferiors. Animal Farm, which tells of the horror that followed Stalin’s death, is an important novel. It describes the steps that led to dictatorship. This story will open up the eyes to the reality of communism. Everyone can then work together to prevent other mistakes.