Terrier
by Tamora PierceBeka is a young guard in the lower city and works with Goodwin and Tunstall. When the Shadow Sn
Read ReviewAnimal Farm
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In this controversial classic fairy tale, a farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals. With flaming idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality.
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Reviews
Mar 21,2013
Animal Farm, by George Orwell, is a great book because it bears a strong metaphoric resemblance to real life.
Set in a world where animals can talk, the animals of Manor Farm are treated badly by their owner, Mr Jones.
The old boar, Old Major teaches the other animals a revolutionary song, 'Beast of England', and compares the humans that rule them to parasites.
The animals revolt, and are led afterwards by two young pigs, Napoleon and Snowball.
It is what happens after the animals become settled into this new way of life, and start to develop human traits, that really shows why this book is such an important classic that will be relevant for decades to come.
Oct 06,2012
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Animal Farm, written by the historical author George Orwell, is a short, simplistic and yet complex novel displaying the after effects of years of oppression through the use of animals on a farm who overthrow their human master. The animals on Manor Farm were sick of the way their master, Mr Jones was treating them and decided to rebel against him. He was evicted from the farm and thereafter, the farm was run by the animals themselves. At first, it seemed to be a Utopia in which there was an egalitarian society where the benefits of having no humans around were visible in terms of more leisure time and more food. The animal empowering motto “Four legs good, two legs bad” established by all, gave hope and positivity, however, as the novel progresses, it becomes clear that one minor group within the animals takes more power than the rest, and happiness and equality begins to diminish. This group were the pigs. These highly intelligent animals managed to furtively give themselves authority over the other animals and eventually gave themselves enough control to decide independently on major issues affecting the farm. They established a flag and anthem representing Animalism and seven basic commandments which every animal had to abide by, and yet not even the pigs could do so. They secretly amended these several times whenever it suited them along with adjusting other such things include animals’ meal portions, work load and retirements. As many other animals could not read, or had a memory that could assemble what the original amendments had stated, the pigs power was never taken away from them. (The next sentence is a big spoiler for those who have not read the novel, however as you near the end of the book it becomes clear that this will occur due to resemblance between pigs and humans and having grown up with the analogy that humans can be pigs...) At the end of the novel, the pigs had finally taken on the ways of that of their former master, Mr Jones. They had turned into everything they had originally hated, as they were blinded by their own greed and selfishness and ignored the suffering of those around them.
Whilst this may sound like a straight forward novel, to any educated on the communist rulers of the early 1900’s, they would recognise that the events that occurred on the farm were extremely similar to that of Joseph Stalin’s rule. In fact, the novel is a metaphor/analogy for that of his rule and the Russian revolution, making the novel exceedingly controversial.
I would recommend the novel to teenagers and adults who have special interest in political history and anyone looking for an intriguing read. I found myself shaking my head whist I was reading the novel, at how totally unfair some of the proceedings were, as it displays clearly all the deceit, brain washing, conspiracies and tyranny that occur behind communism.
Oct 01,2012
This review is a spoiler. View anyway?
Animal farm is a revolutionary tale about a group of farm animals that struggle to free themselves of the authority and control executed by their owner Mr.Jones. The content of the book largely reflects the events around the time of the Stalin era which the author George Orwell expresses very clearly.
The story itself is set in the English countryside at ‘The Manor Farm’ which is initially owned by Mr.Jones, a cruel, drunken and irresponsible farm owner whom the animals regard with utmost resentment. The story that unfolds is something that is very real and can be compared in depth to many key events in human history. The story all starts with a dream. This dream as expressed by Old Major, the prize Middle White boar, quickly becomes an idea that sparks a revolution. After Old Major’s death, two young pigs called Snowball and Napoleon assume leadership and begin to turn the dream into a philosophy. Plans are devised as spontaneously as the idea itself and the day they will take charge quickly approaches. After a violent battle, the animals manage to drive Mr.Jones from the farm, proudly renaming it “Animal Farm”. From that day onwards, the animals decide to hold regular ceremonies in which they sing their anthem; “Beasts of England” in order to commemorate the lives lost in the battle and to teach future generations of the triumphant future that “Animal Farm” will bring. A green flag with a white horn and a hoof was also designed which is similar to the Soviet flag in honour of Old Major’s legacy and the special day in which the farm became independent. The flag would fly after the singing of the anthem to serve as a constant reminder of how lucky each animal was to be part of the first farm to be owned and run entirely by animals. The philosophy in which all animals are equal, have the right to the benefits of their hard work and most importantly, have an entitlement to freedom was something that unlocked the supressed sense of pride in every animal. They called this new found idea “Animalism” and hoped that it would spread throughout England, inspiring animals everywhere to liberate themselves from the control of their human owners. Promises of green pastures, a 3 day working week, electric lights and hot water were soon made, suggesting that the idea of an ‘Animal Farm’ was idealistically perfect. However, in every story there is always evil and so a vicious rivalry began to take shape. Napoleon began to sabotage Snowball’s plans, framing him for the collapse of the farm’s wind-mill and eventually sending his trained dogs to drive Snowball away from the farm. Napoleon began strictly teaching the animals to blame Snowball for everything that ever went wrong on the farm. Napoleon had no one to answer to and so he began rationing the food, keeping a large proportion for himself and the other pigs and indulging in alcohol left by Mr.Jones. In the end, Snowball was merely a ‘scapegoat’ to be blamed for anything that went wrong on the farm and soon all that Snowball had worked for has disappeared. However, as time went past and news spread of the expulsion of Mr.Jones, bordering farm owners were growing angry and suspicious, concerned that their animals would do the same. They began to doubt the efficiency and ethics behind “Animal Farm” and rumours began to spread. Soon after Snowball had left, the animals were working harder and longer, receiving less food with no sign of anything that had first been promised. The problem was that as a group the animals were largely illiterate, making them vulnerable to the will of more intelligent animals in the group such as Napoleon and the other pigs and so struggled to understand what was going on. Years went past and the corrupt motives of the pigs were beginning to emerge as the foundations of ‘Animalism’ which were clear at the start began to crumble. Years passed and the pigs learn to walk upright, drink alcohol, carry whips and wear clothes. To account for their new human behaviour, Napoleon decides to reduce the Seven Commandments to one simple phrase; “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others". The few animals left that remembered how things were at the very beginning still wondered whether life was just the same as it always had been back when Mr.Jones was around. Finally, Napoleon decides to invite the neighbouring farm owners to a dinner party, announcing his offer of friendship and offering a tour of the farm. In exchange they congratulate him on having the hardest-working and least fed animals in the whole country, announcing that they will adopt certain methods on their own farms. Napoleon then gives a toast to his alliance with the humans and changes the farms name to what he believes it should always have been; “The Manor Farm”.
The whole story as described by the author was very much a parallel between Russia and the Soviet Union during the time that they were under Communist Party rule. In a more general sense, I think that Animal Farm can represent any human society and serves as a reminder of the irrepressible spirit that lies in all of us and how there will always be people with a corrupt hunger for power in human society. There are so many lessons that can be taken from the simple story of Animal Farm and it is one of the most truthful and valuable stories that I have ever read. I would definitely recommend “Animal Farm” to anyone interested in politics and history or people who enjoy a good read and like to take a meaningful message away from a book.
I have given this book 5/5 stars
Apr 20,2012
ANIMAL FARM - George Orwell
The intriguingly written novella ‘Animal Farm’ represents in the form of an analogy the era of Stalin’s ruling in Russia. George Orwell tells of a historical era in the past that was a time of great uncertainty and angst in one of the world’s most influential nations of the world.
The animals live however naively to the fact that their leaders are forcing them to think a certain way about fellow animals and act on what they have heard believing it to be the truth. This original tale of a group of talented and wise animals taking over what they believe should’ve been rightfully theirs soon turns into a story of scandals and mistrust. The events of miscommunication and dishonesty lead to an injustice of power on Animal Farm.
The story begins with a group of animals that are unhappy with the way their master Mr Jones, is treating them. They feel they do not have an adequate amount of food to sustain their hardworking lifestyles. With the animals confessing their lives are “miserable, laborious and short” they realise themselves that they should be treated more respectively. With this in mind Snowball and Napolean, the two main animal leaders of the farm, devise a plan to remove Mr Jones and the other human accompanists off the farm. This plan is executed perfectly and the farm is renamed ‘Animal Farm’. The animals discuss their needs and wants openly as the animal community begin to set laws and rules regarding human interaction, the equal treatment of all animals and work ethics. The animals work toward gaining a greater level of education as they begin to learn how to read and write.
Initially the running of the farm is efficient and the farm thrives however when an injustice of power comes into play the dynamic of animal relationships changes. The pigs place themselves higher than the other animals and this causes tension to rise. Napolean and Snowball begin to argue over what’s best for the future of the farm including the choice of whether to build a windmill on the farm to help with the production of food. The working animals are torn between which leader they would like running their farm. Napolean convinces the others he is a greater leader with good intentions however this is questioned when the animals become increasingly hungry and tired. As the year passes, the leaders become more and more like humans breaking the original commandments of animalism. They begin to sleep in the humans’ old beds, wear their clothes and walk on two legs just like them. The story soon becomes a confusing account of the past.
This book was a simple read on the surface but had an underlying complicated storyline. Parallel to Russian revolution Napolean adapts principles of communism to rule his farm. The animals, like the general Russian community had no democratic say in the ruling of their own environment. Reading this book is not enough to gain a true understanding of the historical events in relation to what happened in the Russian revolution. Although based on an historical era, the book gives no exact dates or names of actual people to back up the general purpose of the storyline. The issues in the social structure of animals in this novella are obvious to the readers however not to the naïve animals suffering. The animals – paralleled to the working class in Russia – are oblivious to the fact their leaders are feeding them lies and corrupt information to gain power for themselves.
As an historical fiction novella, Orwell achieves to subtley inform readers of a historical occurrence that had a global affect on humanity. The simplicity of language in the novella is effective in making the reader really think about what Orwell is trying to convey. This is a read for someone who is interested in historical politics not for someone who is looking for a light read for leisure.
Oct 09,2011
One of two masterpieces by the great 20th Century author, George Orwell. This book, though I did not enjoy it quite as much as Orwell's authoritarian vision of the future in 1984, is among the most moving books I have ever read, showing that imperfections can grow even in the seemingly, at first, most perfect societies, for the benefit of a small minority. This book pokes childish fairytale themes at a rather dark subject, the manipulation of the Russian population during the Stalinist era following the, as described by Orwell, 'revolution gone wrong', the Russian revolution of 1917.
This book is simply a must-read for older readers.
Sep 12,2011
This book is a metaphor for the russian reveloution. The book is perfect book for anyone interested in that subject. Although the book may not be appropriate for YOUNG (13+) since they might not understand it. It is gripping and brings right up close to the apparent monarchy of comarade Napaolean and the symbolism of the russian reveloution.
4 stars
Cheers
P.F.C.L.F (panfried cheese L.F.)
