This is why I love literature.
George Orwell demonstrated the negative effects of a revolution when the revolutionaries become the monsters they fought against.
Except in this story the revolutionaries are farm animals… Who knew there were such a thing as corrupt pigs! 🐷
The Historical Backdrop 🇷🇺
Orwell’s aim in this famous political allegory was to critique the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the rise of Stalinsim.
It began with widespread protests over food shortages and the staggering losses of World War I, forcing Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate. Eventually the Bolsheviks, a radical communist faction led by Vladimir Lenin, seized power from the weak government, promising "Peace, Land, and Bread." This transition sparked a brutal civil war and ultimately transformed Russia into the world’s first socialist state, shifting the global political landscape for the rest of the 20th century.
The Cast of Characters 🎭
Orwell also created the characters to represent real figures from that era:
Old Major (The Visionary): Vladimir Lenin 🎤
Napoleon (The Tyrant): Joseph Stalin 🎖️
Snowball (The Intellectual): Leon Trotsky ❄️
Boxer (The Loyal Laborer): The Working Class 🐴
The Rise and Fall of Animal Farm 🚜
In the beginning of the book the farm is called Manor Farm, run by cruel Farmer Jones. Then an ancient pig, Old Major, inspires the animals to revolt by speaking of a world without humans where equality, prosperity, and happiness rule. The animals fought and overthrew the human farmer. ⚔️
At first their new society is exactly as they hoped. The work was hard but the rewards were so sweet. It was a new farm… Animal Farm.
The animals were happy.
They had commandments to guide them, no true leader, and they ran the farm efficiently with no human aid, trade, or involvement. 🐾
But eventually the plot shifts and Orwell’s point becomes more clear. Napoleon the pig grows more greedy and violent. He begins to manipulate and control the other animals for the pigs benefit. He becomes the self appointed leader and alters the commandments. 📜
He uses the animals illiteracy to convince them of the lies he tells. He uses the pig Squealer who represents propaganda to speech his false rhetoric and to keep the “working class” docile and obedient. He also begins working and trading with the humans which was one of the biggest betrayals. 🤝💰
Orwell depicts the lies, slaughter, fear, and brutal conditions that grow so silently until all the sudden they are suffocating and inescapable.
Orwell ends this horrifying tale with the haunting line;
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."
Good intentions and a righteous fire are not enough for a lasting revolution.🔥 It seems that Orwell’s message is the inevitable collapse of good into the hands of those who are strong enough or smart enough to feed their greed. In the depths of a “perfect” society there is always someone with enough hate, revenge, or greed in their heart to corrupt any noble vision.
So many tragedies occurred in the pursuit of such a pure, hopeful dream; The animals like Boxer and Clover never let go of their loyalty despite all the pain they endured. All animals eventually forgot what life was like before the pig’s totalitarianism, accepting their fate of oppression. And the pigs lust for power cost the lives of so many brothers and sisters at the farm.
Endless evils were committed all in the search for a better, more equal life. Is this truly an inescapable prophecy for every revolution?
Orwell’s novel presents a convincing argument in favor of this conclusion but maybe you should read it and decide for yourself. 😉
Happy Reading!!! 📖✨