Introduction
Animal Farm is by novel by George Orwell. He wrote 1984,
Down and Out in Paris and London, and many others (they can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/george-orwell).
1984 is about a "negative utopia" in which it seems it's illegal to
record your own thoughts and is punishable by death. Animal Farm and 1984 are
both somewhat about utopia's that don't work end up working out. Animal
Farm is, in its entirety, satire on the Russia's civil war and the uprising of
the USSR. The novel's theme is leadership and power can eventually get to your
head and corrupt your thoughts and emotions.
Summary
At night, all of the farm animals met in the barn at Manor
Farm and were discussing their cruel owner, Mr. Jones. Old Major told them his
philosophy on Animalism that night by describing his dream of animals having
freedom. A few days after his speech, he died. The remaining animals plotted a
rebellion, the two major planners being pigs Napoleon and Snowball. Mr.
Jones forgot to feed all of them one night after getting drunk; this is what
sprung their plan into action. The animals successfully chased Mr. Jones and
his men off of the farm. They renamed the Manor Farm as Animal Farm and created
the 7 commandments of Animalism. The two pigs Snowball and Napoleon fought for
leadership until Napoleon took a step forward and drove Snowball off of the
farm and banned him from ever returning. Napoleon ruled the farm with an iron
fist; does he lead the farm they worked so hard to obtain to success or to its
downfall?
Analysis/Review
I recommend this book to anyone who is mature enough to
enjoy a book with a deeper meaning. If you know anything about Russia’s Civil
War, or the uprising of Communism in the USSR, this book would probably make a
lot more sense to you than someone with no knowledge of these things; the
characters are comparable to important figures and topics during those
historical events. This book has a lot of mature and political ideology in it
from the time period it was written in (1940’s) and has a powerful ending.
Book Review by Hailey O.
I would read this book...again because I like how it uses animals instead of people. one thing that makes me want to read this is when they take over the farm and they think they can run a farm by themselves as animals.
ReplyDeleteThis book looks like it has a lot of interesting symbolism, but it's not one I would usually read. Although I am interested in Russia's civil war - I just did a report on it for history- I typically prefer books that are in the fantasy genre, that are a little more action-packed, and that are a little less serious. The plot and symbolism are intriguing though so I might read this book if I get the opportunity. While reading this report I thought of a book I read for school last year, Lord of the Flies; both books are about smaller societies that symbolize larger ones.
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