thesis in animal farm

A Summary and Analysis of George Orwell’s Animal Farm

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Animal Farm is, after Nineteen Eighty-Four , George Orwell’s most famous book. Published in 1945, the novella (at under 100 pages, it’s too short to be called a full-blown ‘novel’) tells the story of how a group of animals on a farm overthrow the farmer who puts them to work, and set up an equal society where all animals work and share the fruits of their labours.

However, as time goes on, it becomes clear that the society the animals have constructed is not equal at all. It’s well-known that the novella is an allegory for Communist Russia under Josef Stalin, who was leader of the Soviet Union when Orwell wrote the book. Before we dig deeper into the context and meaning of Animal Farm with some words of analysis, it might be worth refreshing our memories with a brief summary of the novella’s plot.

Animal Farm: plot summary

The novella opens with an old pig, named Major, addressing his fellow animals on Manor Farm. Major criticises Mr Jones, the farmer who owns Manor Farm, because he controls the animals, takes their produce (the hens’ eggs, the cows’ milk), but gives them little in return. Major tells the other animals that man, who walks on two feet unlike the animals who walk on four, is their enemy.

They sing a rousing song in favour of animals, ‘Beasts of England’. Old Major dies a few days later, but the other animals have been inspired by his message.

Two pigs in particular, Snowball and Napoleon, rouse the other animals to take action against Mr Jones and seize the farm for themselves. They draw up seven commandments which all animals should abide by: among other things, these commandments forbid an animal to kill another animal, and include the mantra ‘four legs good, two legs bad’, because animals (who walk on four legs) are their friends while their two-legged human overlords are evil. (We have analysed this famous slogan here .)

The animals lead a rebellion against Mr Jones, whom they drive from the farm. They rename Manor Farm ‘Animal Farm’, and set about running things themselves, along the lines laid out in their seven commandments, where every animal is equal. But before long, it becomes clear that the pigs – especially Napoleon and Snowball – consider themselves special, requiring special treatment, as the leaders of the animals.

Nevertheless, when Mr Jones and some of the other farmers lead a raid to try to reclaim the farm, the animals work together to defend the farm and see off the men. A young farmhand is knocked unconscious, and initially feared dead.

Things begin to fall apart: Napoleon’s windmill, which he has instructed the animals to build, is vandalised and he accuses Snowball of sabotaging it. Snowball is banished from the farm. During winter, many of the animals are on the brink of starvation.

Napoleon engineers it so that when Mr Whymper, a man from a neighbouring farm with whom the pigs have started to trade (so the animals can acquire the materials they need to build the windmill), visits the farm, he overhears the animals giving a positive account of life on Animal Farm.

Without consulting the hens first, Napoleon organises a deal with Mr Whymper which involves giving him many of the hens’ eggs. They rebel against him, but he starves them into submission, although not before nine hens have died. Napoleon then announces that Snowball has been visiting the farm at night and destroying things.

Napoleon also claims that Snowball has been in league with Mr Jones all the time, and that even at the Battle of the Cowshed (as the animals are now referring to the farmers’ unsuccessful raid on the farm) Snowball was trying to sabotage the fight so that Jones won.

The animals are sceptical about this, because they all saw Snowball bravely fighting alongside them. Napoleon declares he has discovered ‘secret documents’ which prove Snowball was in league with their enemy.

Life on Animal Farm becomes harder for the animals, and Boxer, while labouring hard to complete the windmill, falls and injures his lung. The pigs arrange for him to be taken away and treated, but when the van arrives and takes him away, they realise too late that the van belongs to a man who slaughters horses, and that Napoleon has arranged for Boxer to be taken away to the knacker’s yard and killed.

Squealer lies to the animals, though, and when he announces Boxer’s death two days later, he pretends that the van had been bought by a veterinary surgeon who hadn’t yet painted over the old sign on the side of the van. The pigs take to wearing green ribbons and order in another crate of whisky for them to drink; they don’t share this with the other animals.

A few years pass, and some of the animals die, Napoleon and Squealer get fatter, and none of the animals is allowed to retire, as previously promised. The farm gets bigger and richer, but the luxuries the animals had been promised never materialised: they are told that the real pleasure is derived from hard work and frugal living.

Then, one day, the animals see Squealer up on his hind legs, walking on two legs like a human instead of on four like an animal.

The other pigs follow; and Clover and Benjamin discover that the seven commandments written on the barn wall have been rubbed off, to be replace by one single commandment: ‘All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.’ The pigs start installing radio and a telephone in the farmhouse, and subscribe to newspapers.

Finally, the pigs invite humans into the farm to drink with them, and announce a new partnership between the pigs and humans. Napoleon announces to his human guests that the name of the farm is reverting from Animal Farm to the original name, Manor Farm.

The other animals from the farm, observing this through the window, can no longer tell which are the pigs and which are the men, because Napoleon and the other pigs are behaving so much like men now.

Things have gone full circle: the pigs are no different from Mr Jones (indeed, are worse).

Animal Farm: analysis

First, a very brief history lesson, by way of context for Animal Farm . In 1917, the Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, was overthrown by Communist revolutionaries.

These revolutionaries replaced the aristocratic rule which had been a feature of Russian society for centuries with a new political system: Communism, whereby everyone was equal. Everyone works, but everyone benefits equally from the results of that work. Josef Stalin became leader of Communist Russia, or the Soviet Union, in the early 1920s.

However, it soon became apparent that Stalin’s Communist regime wasn’t working: huge swathes of the population were working hard, but didn’t have enough food to survive. They were starving to death.

But Stalin and his politicians, who themselves were well-off, did nothing to combat this problem, and indeed actively contributed to it. But they told the people that things were much better since the Russian Revolution and the overthrow of the Tsar, than things had been before, under Nicholas II. The parallels with Orwell’s Animal Farm are crystal-clear.

Animal Farm is an allegory for the Russian Revolution and the formation of a Communist regime in Russia (as the Soviet Union). We offer a fuller definition of allegory in a separate post, but the key thing is that, although it was subtitled A Fairy Story , Orwell’s novella is far from being a straightforward tale for children. It’s also political allegory, and even satire.

The cleverness of Orwell’s approach is that he manages to infuse his story with this political meaning while also telling an engaging tale about greed, corruption, and ‘society’ in a more general sense.

One of the commonest techniques used in both Stalinist Russia and in Animal Farm is what’s known as ‘gaslighting’ (meaning to manipulate someone by psychological means so they begin to doubt their own sanity; the term is derived from the film adaptation of Gaslight , a play by Patrick Hamilton).

For instance, when Napoleon and the other pigs take to eating their meals and sleeping in the beds in the house at Animal Farm, Clover is convinced this goes against one of the seven commandments the animals drew up at the beginning of their revolution.

But one of the pigs has altered the commandment (‘No animal shall sleep in a bed’), adding the words ‘ with sheets ’ to the end of it. Napoleon and the other pigs have rewritten history, but they then convince Clover that she is the one who is mistaken, and that she’s misremembered what the wording of the commandment was.

Another example of this technique – which is a prominent feature of many totalitarian regimes, namely keep the masses ignorant as they’re easier to manipulate that way – is when Napoleon claims that Snowball has been in league with Mr Jones all along. When the animals question this, based on all of the evidence to the contrary, Napoleon and Squealer declare they have ‘secret documents’ which prove it.

But the other animals can’t read them, so they have to take his word for it. Squealer’s lie about the van that comes to take Boxer away (he claims it’s going to the vet, but it’s clear that Boxer is really being taken away to be slaughtered) is another such example.

Communist propaganda

Much as Stalin did in Communist Russia, Napoleon actively rewrites history , and manages to convince the animals that certain things never happened or that they are mistaken about something. This is a feature that has become more and more prominent in political society, even in non-totalitarian ones: witness our modern era of ‘fake news’ and media spin where it becomes difficult to ascertain what is true any more.

The pigs also convince the other animals that they deserve to eat the apples themselves because they work so hard to keep things running, and that they will have an extra hour in bed in the mornings. In other words, they begin to become the very thing they sought to overthrow: they become like man.

They also undo the mantra that ‘all animals are equal’, since the pigs clearly think they’re not like the other animals and deserve special treatment. Whenever the other animals question them, one question always succeeds in putting an end to further questioning: do they want to see Jones back running the farm? As the obvious answer is ‘no’, the pigs continue to get away with doing what they want.

Squealer is Napoleon’s propagandist, ensuring that the decisions Napoleon makes are ‘spun’ so that the other animals will accept them and carry on working hard.

And we can draw a pretty clear line between many of the major characters in Animal Farm and key figures of the Russian Revolution and Stalinist Russia. Napoleon, the leader of the animals, is Joseph Stalin; Old Major , whose speech rouses the animals to revolution, partly represents Vladimir Lenin, who spearheaded the Russian Revolution of 1917 (although he is also a representative of Karl Marx , whose ideas inspired the Revolution); Snowball, who falls out with Napoleon and is banished from the farm, represents Leon Trotsky, who was involved in the Revolution but later went to live in exile in Mexico.

Squealer, meanwhile, is based on Molotov (after whom the Molotov cocktail was named); Molotov was Stalin’s protégé, much as Squealer is encouraged by Napoleon to serve as Napoleon’s right-hand (or right-hoof?) man (pig).

Publication

Animal Farm very nearly didn’t make it into print at all. First, not long after Orwell completed the first draft in February 1944, his flat on Mortimer Crescent in London was bombed in June, and he feared the typescript had been destroyed. Orwell later found it in the rubble.

Then, Orwell had difficulty finding a publisher. T. S. Eliot, at Faber and Faber, rejected it because he feared that it was the wrong sort of political message for the time.

The novella was eventually published the following year, in 1945, and its relevance – as political satire, as animal fable, and as one of Orwell’s two great works of fiction – shows no signs of abating.

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“Animal Farm” by George Orwell Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

The first thing that can be highlighted is that most of the literature pieces are not created just for the sake of entertainment and relaxation but also for meaningful reflections. A lot of novels and books are extremely thought-provoking and encourage readers to engage in discussions and conversations with others. What is important to mention is that different authors achieve this goal in different ways. For instance, some prefer to build their reading on metaphors, some on specific organizations and structures, and others establish their texts on satire. One of such literature prices is an allegorical novella Animal Farm written George Orwell. This reading is extremely interesting from that point of view and, for this reason, should be carefully analyzed. Therefore, the following paper will prove that Animal Farm is a satirical work by using the elements of satire.

Before discussing the elements of satire in the identified novella it seems essential to learn more about its plot and meaning. This reading is an allegory, which is a specific story where the chosen characters and situations represent other characters and situations for the purpose of making a point about them (“Animal Farm at a Glance”). In the story, a group of animals rebel against the human farmer, embrace the idea of Animalism, and organize a revolution in order to achieve justice and equality. However, everything ends with a totalitarian dictator becoming the head of the community and ruining its desire for progress and justice. Since the reading is an allegory, the readers should try looking at the vents from a different perspective. As it appears, Animalism stands for communism, farm stands for Russia, the farmer for the Russian Tzar, the pig for the revolutionary Trotsky, and Napoleon stands for the figure of Stalin (“Animal Farm at a Glance”). Therefore, even by analyzing what characters and situations represent in the story, it can already be stated that the reading is a satire because it represents real people and situations in an ironic way.

Satire and its elements are used in literature works in order to highlight some features of the situation or a person and make fun of them. It effectively represents stupidity of humans, especially those who are the members of the high society layers. One of the most obvious elements that the author of the Animal Farm uses in order to highlight the satire is irony. He uses animals and represents then as being able to talk, feel, and make decisions “in order to illustrate the abuse of one group of humans by another” (Boremyr 3). It can easily be noticed in the end of the story when it becomes almost impossible to tell the animals apart from the humans. Throughout the story, they became more human despite the commitment to the Animalism philosophy. By doing this, he achieves the goal of showing the brutality, corruption and incompetence of the Soviet Union not just like in a history book but in an entertaining and fun way.

Additionally, another way in which the author frames the story as a satirical work is the concept of defamiliarization. As suggested by Adhikari, this idea “tends to throw light on the special use of language in the works of art, unlike the use of language in the everyday life” (378). This concept generally suggests that that various forms of language used to present familiar things in unfamiliar ways for the purpose of persuading their readers and appealing to their emotions can encourage them to look at those things from a different perspective (Adhikari 378). For this reason, by using the concept of defamiliarization, the author increases the irony of the whole novella, makes the forms unfamiliar and difficult to understand, and increases the process of perception and decision-making. Orwell did not adopt the violent mode in order to represent and satirize communism (Adhikari 385). On the other hand, he satirized it and employed a more subtle way of representation (Adhikari 285). Therefore, Animal Farm can be called a satirical piece of literature because the author uses the concept of defamiliarization in order to present the readers with a different and more ironic perspective on a familiar issue.

To summarize, Animal Farm is an interesting and thought-provoking novella. It is very insightful not just from the point of its meaning but also the effective use of satire throughout the story. The author was able to incorporate the different elements of this concept in order to increase its satirical nature and encourage the readers to reflect on this more. Therefore, the presented paper proved that Animal Farm is a satirical novella.

Works Cited

Adhikari, Krishanu. “Animal Farm: A Satire on Communism Through ‘Defamilirization’.” An International Refereed e-Journal of Literary Explorations , vol. 1, no. 1, 2014, pp. 378-385.

“Animal Farm at a Glance.” CliffsNotes . Web.

Boremyr, Hanna. “Reading Orwell’s Animals: An animal-oriented study of George Orwell’s political satire Animal Farm.” 2016.

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IvyPanda. (2022, July 7). “Animal Farm” by George Orwell. https://ivypanda.com/essays/animal-farm-by-george-orwell/

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Themes and Analysis

Animal farm, by george orwell.

'Animal Farm' is a political allegory based on the events of the Russian revolution and the betrayal of the cause by Joseph Stalin.

Article written by Mizpah Albert

M.A. in English Literature and a Ph.D. in English Language Teaching.

The novel echoes the corrupting nature of power through the themes and symbols. It is a satire on totalitarianism and dictatorship.

Animal Farm Themes

Totalitarianism.

Orwell’s use of Totalitarianism as the theme demonstrates, without education and true empowerment of the lower classes, any revolution led would only be led into oppression and tyranny. Initially, the results of the revolution look promising, as the animals get the direct benefit of their labor. Soon, the pigs adopt human ways and make business deals with farmers that benefit them alone. But, only negative changes happen in the life of the other animals. Still, they continue to work as their leader Napoleon bid them. In the end, the revolutionary leaders become as corrupt and incompetent as the government they overthrew.

Power of Language

Language has the power to engage and disengage. In Animal form, Orwell excellently depicts the power of language through the pigs, only animals with a strong command of language. In the beginning, singing “Beasts of England,” taught by the Old Major, infuses the emotional response.

Also, Snowball compiles the philosophy of Animalism and with his eloquent speech persuades his fellow animals on the farm to follow it. Similarly, Squealer with his adept skill of oration controls the animals on the farm. At the same time, the animals’ adoption of slogans like “Napoleon is always right” or “Four legs good, two legs bad” underlines their lack of understanding and easy to be manipulated nature.

Class structures

From time immemorial class division seems to be a major issue of human society. George Orwell comments on the same through the class division in ‘ Animal Farm ‘ before and after the revolution. He ironically presents the human tendency to have class structures even though they speak of total equality. When the story begins, class division is evident with the human beings being on top of every animal as the rulers of Manor Farm.

During the revolution, they vow not to treat any animal inferior. Soon it all changes, when the pigs, so-called “brain workers”, assume the role of leader and superiors start to control other animals. Evidently, Orwell points out the threat the class division imposes on society when they aim to have democracy and freedom.

Power leading to corruption

“Power leading to corruption” is another major theme Orwell explores in ‘ Animal Farm ’. Many of the characters, predominantly the pigs after the humans demonstrate the theme in the novel. Initially, humans exploit their power over animals. Later following the revolt, the pigs start to fill in the gap created by the eviction of man. They manipulate their position of leadership to exploit other animals. Though Napoleon is presented as the villain of the novel, neither Snowball nor the Old Major is immune to corruption.

As brain workers, the pigs, including Snowball, take advantage of the animal and keeps milk and apple away for them. Even Old Major, who brings forth the idea “all animals are equal,” lecturing from a raised platform, symbolically presents an idea of him being above the other animals on the farm. Altogether, it is made clear that the desire for power, evidently corrupt people.

The Failure of Intellect

Orwell presents a sceptical view on intellect that doesn’t produce anything of importance. In the novel, the pigs, identified as the most intelligent animals, use their intelligence only to exploit other animals than making their life better. Similarly, Benjamin, who is good, acts indifferent towards using the knowledge and speaks philosophically of moral values. Also, the dogs, equally intelligent like the pigs, don’t use their knowledge except to read “the Seven Commandments”. Thus, intelligence is often being unused or ill-used.

The Exploitation of Working Class

‘ Animal Farm ‘ more than being an allegory of the ways humans exploit and oppress one another, throws light upon how they exploit and oppress animals. In the first chapter, through Old Major’s speech, we get a detailed picture of how humans exploit the animals and rob them of their productions.

Also, in the second chapter, when the animals break open the harness-room at the end of the stables, they see “the bits, the nose-rings, the dog-chains, the cruel knives” with which Mr Jones extracted cruelty on the animals. Much like this, during the conversation between Mr Pilkington and Napoleon in chapter 10, he loosely comments “If you have your lower animals to contend with […] we have our lower classes!” Ultimately, it gives a perspective that, in the views of the ruling class, animals and workers are the same.

Analysis of Key Moments in Animal Farm

• Old Major shares his dream of a life without humans. He also teaches the animals “Beasts of England” a song that inspires them.
• Few months after the Old Major’s death, the revolt breaks out when Mr Jones forgets to feed the animals and a fed-up cow pushes her way into the store-shed to look for food. The animals rejoice in their victory. They change the name of the farm to ‘Animal Farm’ and decide on seven commandments to live by.
• The animals are happy and they work well together more efficiently than Mr Jones ever did. Boxer, the horse, puts in a huge effort, with the motto ‘I will work harder!’.
• The Battle of the Cowshed establishes Snowball as a hero. He also sets up ‘committees’ focused on education, reading and writing.
• Napoleon, however, thinks educating the old animals is a waste of time. He focuses on the youngsters and removes the puppies of Jessie and Bluebell, to educate himself which foreshadows his guile nature.  
• At one point, Napoleon drives Snowball out of the Farm with the help of the puppies, who are now grown-up dogs. But, Squealer convinces the other animals that Snowball was a traitor.
• Napoleon announces himself to be the leader. And, he keeps making changes in the seven commandments. Finally, they have only one commandment that says, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
• Later, he announces that the farm will be trading with neighboring farms. This comes as a shock to the animals as it goes against their commandments of Animalism.
• In the final image, the animals in the Farms are confused and bewildered when they realize that they cannot tell the difference between man and pig. Both have been sublimated into each other.

Style, Tone, and Figurative Language

The style and language of  ‘ Animal Farm ‘ are simple as it involves Animal characters. The dialogues are delivered in short sentences, including the conclusion of the novel: “It was a pig walking on his hind legs […] He carried a whip in his trotter” (Chapter 10).  Further, Orwell has written the sentences in the passive voice, emphasizing the characters (animals) lack of control over the incidents that are happening.

To speak about the tone, it is playful and lighthearted in the beginning. It opens like any other fable where the animals could speak. Also, a tint of excitement could felt, as the animals win over their human suppressers and have hope for a beautiful future of their own. Soon, the tone turns bitter and monotonous in accordance with the story unfolds.

Two of the dominant figurative language use in ‘ Animal Farm ‘ is “onomatopoeia” and “Allusion”. Orwell employs animal sounds and movements to describe the actions. For example, while “stirring” and “fluttering” speaks of their movement, “cheeping feebly” and “grunting” explains their way of communications. 

‘ Animal Farm ,’ being an allegorical novel, alludes to Russian Revolution, through its settings and characters.  The character of the Old Major, Snowball, and Napoleon, alludes respectively to Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Stalin. Also, the events following the revolution: Battle of the Cowshed, Snowball being chased off the Farm, and the slaughter of the hens allude to Trotsky’s exile and the Moscow trials of 1936-38.  Though, the character of Napoleon is an allusion to Joseph Stalin, Russia’s totalitarian dictator, his name attributes to Napoleon Bonaparte, the French world conqueror.

Analysis of Symbols

‘ Animal Farm ’ uses symbols prevalently as it is more than a story of animals. From the Farm to the animals represent the People and events of the Russian Revolution. Unlike a narrative fiction in which the author decides on which events or characters to highlight, here he carefully standardized his plot to evoke the desired response from the readers. are not driven by the plot as in. Instead, his choices are carefully calibrated to evoke a desired response from the reader.

“Whiskey” symbolizes corruption in the novel. The changing perspective of the pigs over, consuming Whiskey delineates how steadily they fall prey to corruption. In the beginning, when Animalism is founded, one of the commandments read: ‛No animal shall drink alcohol.’ For the animals suffered in the hands of humans. But, when Napoleon and the other pigs come to enjoy whiskey, they change the commandment ‛No animal shall drink alcohol to excess’. Finally, when Napoleon uses the money received by selling Boxer, embodies his corrupted nature similar to that of human beings.

The Windmill

The windmill in the novel represents the attempt to modernize Russia. Initially, when Snowball proposes the idea of a Windmill, Napoleon protests against it. Later, he claims it as his own idea. Also, the product coming out inferior in quality refers to the general ineptitude of Stalin’s regime.

Boxer’s character in the novel symbolizes the Russian working class. With his strength, he does most of the work on the farm. Similarly, the working-class people of the Soviet Revolution were exploited for their energy. Like Boxer and the other animals betrayed by the pigs, the people were betrayed by the intellectuals. On the whole, communism was not as beneficial for the working class as it was originally intended to be.

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About Mizpah Albert

Mizpah Albert is an experienced educator and literature analyst. Building on years of teaching experience in India, she has contributed to the literary world with published analysis articles and evocative poems.

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George Orwell

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Animal Farm

Introduction to animal farm ‎, summary of animal farm, major themes in animal farm, major characters in animal farm, writing style of animal farm, analysis of literary devices in animal farm  .

Cows and horses, geese and turkeys, All must toil for freedom’s sake. Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland, Beasts of every land and clime, Hearken well and spread my tidings Of the golden future time. (Chapter-1)

No animal shall wear clothes. No animal shall sleep in a bed. No animal shall drink alcohol. No animal shall kill any other animal. (Chapter-II)

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Animal Farm — Themes Of Education And Ignorance In Animal Farm

Themes of Education and Ignorance in Animal Farm

• Categories: Animal Farm George Orwell

About this sample

Words: 1311 |

Published: Feb 8, 2022

Words: 1311 | Pages: 3 | 7 min read

Table of contents

Animal farm essay outline, animal farm essay example, introduction.

• Introduction to the theme of education and ignorance in "Animal Farm"
• Thesis statement

The Pigs' Recognition of the Power of Education

• The pigs' revelation of their ability to read and write
• The pigs' manipulation of knowledge for power

The Pigs' Manipulation and Silencing of the Animals

• Napoleon's consolidation of power
• Removal of debates and silencing of dissent
• Exploitation of the animals' ignorance

The Animals' Struggle to Advocate for Themselves

• Inability to find the right arguments
• Manipulation of the animals' lack of knowledge
• Subjugation of dissenting opinions

The Pigs' Use of Ignorance as a Means to an End

• The deceptive treatment of Boxer's retirement
• Exploitation of the animals' illiteracy
• Transformation of the pigs into human-like beings

The Transformation of Animal Farm and Its Downfall

• Abandonment of initial principles
• Abuse of education leading to societal failure
• Society becoming stratified and oppressive
• Recap of the central themes and messages in "Animal Farm"
• The consequences of abusing education for power
• The portrayal of human flaws in a society of animals

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Animal Farm

Animal Farm, by English author George Orwell, is a fable that uses a barnyard setting to represent the Russian Revolution and explores themes of class and power. Read the overview below to gain an understanding of the work and explore the previews of analysis and criticism that invite further interpretation.

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Animal farm topic overview.

"Animal Farm: An Overview." Gale Essential Overviews: Scholarly, Gale, 2015.

In his short novel Animal Farm (1945), English author George Orwell (1903–50) allegorizes the Russian Revolution of 1917, when the tsarist autocracy was pushed out and the Bolsheviks came into power, and the revolution's incremental betrayal of its supporters under dictator Joseph Stalin (1879–1953). Drawing on fable conventions, Orwell tells a farmyard story, casting revolutionary leaders Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924), Leon Trotsky (1879–1940), and Stalin as pigs, which—along with other common farm animals such as horses and hens—rebel against the tyranny of tsar-like farmer Mr. Jones. Set on a small English farm, the novel follows a collective of working animals that, as the pigs exploit them anew, toil pathetically day after day in the belief that they are remaking the farm as a republic.

Orwell wrote Animal Farm toward the end of World War II (1939–45), when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was being hailed by the Allied forces (including the British) for its decisive victories over Nazi Germany at Stalingrad (1942–43) and Kursk (1943). As such, he had difficulty finding a publisher prepared to offend Russian sensibilities. Gollancz and Faber and Faber, among other publishing houses, rejected the book outright. London publisher Jonathan Cape came close to printing it but was persuaded to reject the work by a Ministry of Information official later presumed to have been a Soviet spy. In spite of this reluctance, when it was finally released in England by Secker and Warburg in 1945, the novel was a runaway success, as it was the following year in the United States—no doubt helped by the dissolution of wartime alliances and the first rumblings of the Cold War. Regarded by many as Orwell's finest work, and certainly his first truly popular one, Animal Farm has long been ranked as among the best books of the twentieth century.

Historical and literary context

Following the revolution, the Russian Communist Party recast the former empire as a federation of republics with governments informed by the socialist principles of German philosopher Karl Marx (1818–83). Initially under the leadership of Lenin, Soviet Russia then entered an era of reconstruction, during which it privatized all aspects of the economy and attempted to control any forms of dissent to its Marxist-Leninist goals. After Lenin's death, Stalin effected a coup from within the Communist Party, and, although making a dogma of Marxist-Leninism, he turned the party into a properly totalitarian apparatus. During what is referred to as the Great Purge, millions of enemies of the state were executed or sent to forced-labor camps. Meanwhile, hasty attempts to modernize the peasant agriculture brought on deathly famines. Animal Farm retells this history metaphorically—in the sly maneuverings of the boar, Napoleon, to oust his rivals and take control of the farm; in his forcing the animals to build an electricity-generating windmill, which leaves no time for food production; and in his purges of alleged traitors to the animals' revolution against Mr. Jones.

The novel begins with Lenin (some say Marx or a Lenin-Marx composite), Trotsky, and Stalin figured in the characters of Old Major, Snowball, and Napoleon, respectively—pigs on a farm where animals are bred to produce (like the hens), to labor (like the cart horses), and to be fattened for slaughter (like the pigs). Old Major rouses the animals to rebel against the “tyranny of man,” and the Russian Revolution is satirized as a scrap between Mr. Jones and his animals. The animals, victorious, take over, and with a newfound sense of dignity set about everyday tasks such as harvesting hay. However, the pigs have only just posted the “seven commandments of Animalism,” including the tenet that “all animals are equal,” when they opt out of the hard labor and appropriate exclusively for themselves the comforts of the farmhouse. Here, what culminates in Napoleon's dictatorship tragically inflects the lives of the common animals, who continue to toil in the belief that they are forging Old Major's republic.

Bunt (1924) by Polish novelist Wladyslaw Stanislaw Reymont (1867–1925) bears a remarkable resemblance to Animal Farm , although it is not clear whether Orwell knew of the work. The novel allegorizes the same revolution with a story of farmyard animals rebelling against their human masters in a struggle for equality that ends in terror and oppression. Orwell's next novel after Animal Farm , Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), offers a comparably symbolic—if more realistic—vision of everyday life impoverished culturally and politically by a Stalinesque regime. The fearful preoccupation with Stalinism also informs Orwell's Homage to Catalonia (1938), a nonfiction account of his experience in the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) fighting for a leftist militia.

In addition to pleasing popular audiences, Animal Farm appealed to political conservatives who recognized its value as a propaganda tool for discouraging socialist affiliations. Thus the Central Intelligence Agency clandestinely funded the 1954 animated film adaptation by John Halas (1912–95) and Joy Batchelor (1914–91), which was also the first feature-length animated film in English cinema history. Critics in the early twenty-first century have been just as attentive to Orwell's politics, yet there has been a greater tendency to acknowledge the novel as a work of politically informed art rather than of mere propaganda.

Themes and style

The grand theme of Animal Farm has to do with the capacity for ordinary individuals to continue to believe in a revolution that has been utterly betrayed. Orwell attempts to reveal how those in power—Napoleon and his fellow pigs—pervert the democratic promise of the revolution. The emotional force of the novel comes from the author's depictions of those ordinary animals who unthinkingly give themselves in good faith to working for the very system by which they are ruthlessly exploited. A case in point is Boxer, one of two cart horses among the pigs' “most faithful disciples.” The horses “had great difficulty in thinking anything out for themselves, but having once accepted the pigs as their teachers, they absorbed everything that they were told, and passed it on to the other animals.” Whether harvesting hay or fetching stones from the quarry, Boxer works harder than any other animal, yet still he adopts the motto “I will work harder.” So selfless is he in his service, in fact, that he works himself close to death. At this point Napoleon, while purporting to send him to the hospital, sells him to the slaughterhouse, then spends the money from his corpse on whiskey for the pigs.

The novel develops according to a recognizable dramatic pattern that underscores the tragedy of what it means to never lose faith in a betrayed revolution. For example, when the animals participate in the so-called Battle of the Cowshed, they witness Snowball decorated as “Animal Hero, First Class” for distinguishing himself in battle against Jones. Napoleon later revises the history with contradictory details—announcing that Snowball actually fought alongside Jones against the animals. When the animals resist the new story, the pig Squealer (a master deceiver) convinces them that their memories are faulty. This pattern of firsthand experience superseded by revisionist propaganda underscores the tragedy, as Orwell sees it, of ordinary individuals who forego their better judgment in letting a totalitarian regime dictate a false reality.

Orwell chose a difficult genre—the fable, often equated with children's literature—to offer a complex critique of one of the most problematic regimes in modern history. He succeeds by capturing both realistically and amusingly the characteristics of many of the animals and by convincing the reader that these characteristics lend themselves, at least metaphorically, to understanding human life in the totalitarian context. Rather than simply mocking his subjects, Orwell suggests that there is indeed something beastly about them: that there is something sheep-like about those who learn dogma by rote (who bleat “two legs bad, four legs good!” or “four legs good, two legs better!” interchangeably), something dog-like about secret police trained to attack on command, and something horse-like about those who unthinkingly give themselves body and soul to the bankrupt cause.

Critical discussion

Animal Farm was released to critical acclaim. Writing for the New York Times , historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. hailed it as “a simple story perhaps, but a story of deadly simplicity … [a] superbly controlled and brilliantly sustained satire.” Not everyone agreed with Schlesinger, however. Writer and critic W. J. Turner, for instance, thought the novel was marred by “pessimism” and accused Orwell of being “grossly unfair to Stalin in his account of him as ‘Napoleon.’” Still, the fact that the novel has been a staple in classrooms for generations suggests that critics like Turner did not have the last say.

Writing in 1989, activist-scholar John Molyneux (1948–) summed up Animal Farm as “probably the most popular and influential piece of literary propaganda produced in English, perhaps in any language, this century.” Molyneux claimed it was “likely that far more people have learned what they know of the fate of the Russian Revolution from here than from any other source.” In his introduction to a 2003 edition of the novel (with Nineteen Eighty-Four ), essayist and critic Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) confirmed Animal Farm 's distinction as “the twentieth century's most successful satire.” As Hitchens and Molyneux both make clear, although the novel has long appealed to younger readers with scant knowledge of Soviet history, the book's legacy rests on its political force.

Indeed, Orwell scholars continue to read the novel for its political insights. Discussing The Rule of the Pigs , Oleg Minich's 2005 cartoon adaptation of Animal Farm , Olena Nikolayenko insisted in her 2007 essay in PS: Political Science and Politics that the book speaks profoundly to contemporary crises in and for democracy—in Minich's case, in the former Soviet Republic of Belarus. Other twenty-first-century scholars similarly return to Animal Farm to think through enduring political issues. David Dwan, for instance, in an ELH ( English Literary History ) article, considered Orwell's treatment of equality as a means of probing contemporary practices under Western democracy that do not always live up to prevailing ideals. Meanwhile, scholars such as Paul Kirschner have tried to reclaim the text as not only a political but also a literary work, reminding readers of Orwell's own declared intention “to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole.”

• Dwan, David. “Orwell's Paradox: Equality in ‘ Animal Farm .’” ELH: English Literary History 79.3 (2012): 655–83.
• Kirschner, Paul. “The Dual Purpose of ‘ Animal Farm .’” Review of English Studies 55.222 (2004): 759–86.
• Molyneux, John. “ Animal Farm Revisited.” International Socialism Journal 2.44 (1989): 99–112. Print.
• Nikolayenko, Olena. “Web Cartoons in a Closed Society: Animal Farm as an Allegory of Post-Communist Belarus.” PS: Political Science and Politics 40.2 (2007): 307–10.
• Orwell, George. Animal Farm and 1984. Introduction by Christopher Hitchens. New York: Harcourt, 2003. Print.
• Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. “Mr. Orwell and the Communists: His ‘ Animal Farm ’ Is a Compassionate and Illuminating Fable for Our Times.” New York Times 25 Aug. 1946: 124+.
• Turner, W. J. “How It Happened.” Rev. of Animal Farm , by George Orwell. Spectator 17 Aug. 1945: 156–57.

Further Reading

• Cohen, Karl. “The Cartoon That Came in from the Cold.” Guardian . Guardian News and Media , 6 Mar. 2003. Web. 1 July 2014.
• Fadaee, Elaheh. “Symbols, Metaphors, and Similes in Literature: A Case Study of Animal Farm .” International Journal of English and Literature 2.2 (2011): 19–27.
• Leab, Daniel J. Orwell Subverted: The CIA and the Filming of Animal Farm . Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State UP, 2007. Print.
• Letemendia, V. C. “Revolution on Animal Farm : Orwell's Neglected Commentary.” Journal of Modern Literature 18.1 (1992): 127–37.
• Orwell, George. “The Freedom of the Press.” Times Literary Supplement 15 Sept. 1972. Print.
• ———. “Why I Write.” Essays. 1946.London: Penguin, 2007.Print.
• Rodden, John. “Appreciating Animal Farm in the New Millennium.” Modern Age 45.1 (2003): 67–76
• Snyder, C. R. “Hope and the Other Strengths: Lessons from Animal Farm .” Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 23.5 (2004): 624–27.

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Animal Farm: a Thesis

Thesis: Napoleon is not a democratic leader, he is a dictator. George Orwell, the author of Animal Farm, wrote this novel to discuss the role of a non-democratic leader. In the novel, Napoleon, a pig, is the leader. However, Napoleon uses his power to frighten and to control the animals. For this reason he creates lies, uses propoganda and violence to keep his authority. Therefore Napoleon is not a democratic leader, he is a dictator. Firstly, Napoleon creates lies and abuse the ideology,Animalism, with his lies.

For instance; at the Battle of the Windmill, Boxer fought bravely but got injured. His injuriy started to get worse and after a while it started to affect his work. One day a slaughter house car came by to Animal Farm and took Boxer. Animals shocked when they saw Boxer was sent to death, not to heal. After a while Napoleon explained that Boxer was sent to a hospital, not to a slaughter house. He stated that the car was belonged to a slaughter house but now it belongs to hospital and Boxer died at hospital peacefully. After a couple of days a barrel of whisky came to Animal Farm.

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This shows that Napoleon had sent Boxer to a slaughter house and bought whisky with Boxer’s meat. Napoleon abuse his power for his own profit and creates lies to abuse his power. Another example can be the milk and apple story. Napoleon tells animals that pigs are the brain of the farm and because of that, thay have to drink milk and eat apples for just themselves. He told that pigs actually doesn’t like yo eat apples but they have to eat for their health. This shows that pigs are not democratic enough to share the product.

Pigs only consume the products that they had never work for it, but keep telling lies about their heath and the importance of their role in the farm. Secondly, Napoleon uses fear to control and frighten animals. Napoleon knows that animals are afraid of Jones. Old Major’s speech was based on evil humans and how they made animals to work as slaves. Therefore animals in the farm are frighten of Jones to come back. For example; when animals does not believe a lie that pigs made up, Napoleon says “Do you want Jones to come back comrades? directly and animals stop talking because of their fear. Moreover Napoleon does not allow people to discuss his orders or lies. He states that pis know everything and if they do not obey their orders Jones might come back. Napoleon uses “Jones” to keep his authority and control the animals. Also he does not allow people to vote. This shows that he is not a democratic leader and he frighten animals to control. Thirdly. Napoleon violence to keep his authority. He never likes animals to question him or disobey his statements.

For instance; Napoleon wanted hens to give their eggs to pigs and he wanted 60 eggs per a week. He told that the need to sell eggs to get enough food for the farm. At first hens didn’t wanted to give their eggs but Napoleon threatten hens to cut off their meal. He also stated that if another animal shares their meal with hens, they will punish to death. Besides that Napoleon killes 4 pigs because of the opposition that they did t Napoleon. Napoleon made them confess the truth that they actually had never done.

Moreover a couple of animals confessed that they had a dream about not to follow Napoleon and Napoleon also killed them too. These examples shows that Napoleon is a curiel leader, a dictator, and he kills animals because of no reason. Animals can not control their dreams and it is so unkind to kill them. This shows he does not care about animals that’s why he is not a good leader. To conclude, Napoleon is not a good leader for the farm. He abuse power to keep his authority and control the animals, he creates lies for his own benefits, he frighten animals to control them and to make them believe in his lies.

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