Animal Farm is a satirical novella written by George Orwell and was published in 1945.

Summary

The novella is about anthropomorphic farm animals who live under an oppressive human master, Mr. Jones. The farm animals grow aware of this very unfair treatment and decide to do something about it.

One night, they successfully rebel against Mr. Jones and kick him out of Manor Farm. All the animals celebrate the newly gained freedom and rename the farm to Animal Farm.

Snowball, an intellectual white pig, and Napoleon, a fierce-looking boar, come up with a new system called Animalism and create the following commandments:

1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal.

Humans try to recapture the farm but fail. All animals feel excited and are happy with the new system that is in their favor.

Alas, this situation doesn’t last for long. Snowball and Napoleon end up arguing about everything and are unable to find any common ground. Napoleon then orders his guard dogs to chase Snowball out of the farm.

Napoleon becomes the all-powerful animal on the farm. He uses scare tactics, propaganda, and manipulations to grow his power and suppress any potential protests.

Indeed, he slaughters multiple animals for protesting – but what happened to the 6th amendment? It was secretly modified by Squealer, Napoleon’s chief pig propagandist, to state: No animal shall kill any other animal without cause.

Napoleon and his pig comrades become more powerful and more corrupt. They start using Mr. Jones’s house to sleep on beds and drink. They even begin to wear his clothes and attempt to walk on two legs to imitate humans.

To maintain creditability and justify their actions, Squealer manages to modify the amendments:

1. No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets.
2. No animal shall drink alcohol to excess.
3. No animal shall kill any other animal without cause.
4. All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

Slowly but surely, the rest of the animals become abused. They work far more for far less but fail to object because they are uneducated, scared, and manipulated by Squealer’s propaganda.

Eventually, all the commandments are replaced by the following statement: All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

The condition of animals in Animal Farm ends up being worse than before. Since they don’t know what life on other farms is like, they are fooled to believe that their life is good – even though it is much worse in reality.

In the end, Napoleon, his pig circle, and humans meet on the farm. The animals look at their pig masters and humans and cannot tell the difference.

Allegory

This novella is supposed to be a satire on the Russian Revolution and the Soviet Union. The leaders in the farm represent some of the Russian leaders during the time of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and beyond.

The poor animals seem to represent the labor class and how they were manipulated.

Themes

Some of the main themes of Animal Farm are similar to George Orwell’s 1984 novel.

1. Totalitarianism and corruption: The pigs, who were in favor of equality, become powerful and corrupt. Then resort to totalitarian means to maintain their power.
2. Propaganda and manipulation: This is embodied in Squealer’s efforts to maintain credibility through the manipulation of facts and how history is remembered – especially the manipulation of the commandments.
3. Betrayal and loyalty: Napoleon’s betrayal of the other animals to maintain and grow his power through his dealings with humans.

The themes I listed above are only some. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section.