Animal Farm Book Report

ANIMAL FARM

        For my book report, I chose the classical short novel Animal Farm by George Orwell. His real name was actually Eric Blair (George Orwell being his pseudonym) and a few of his works are, or have been, controversial enough to have been banned or censored in many countries, including this book. This book is a political satire based on Joseph Stalin's dictatorship in the Russian Revolution. It uses many direct references and representations of the real people during that time.

        This book is set in a farm in England, and being an allegory for the events leading up to and during the Russian Revolution, is implied to be set in the 1930s-1940s. The main characters of this book include Napoleon and Snowball, two farm pigs rivaling each other for the position of power and leadership in the farm. Napoleon is the main antagonist; he is modeled after Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Although he is renowned on the farm for his intelligence, Napoleon is corrupt, narcissistic, and controlling from the very start, not afraid to lie and cheat his way around to the top. By the end of the book, he is the spitting image of Mr. Jones, the human man he had overthrown from the farm. On the other side, Snowball is Napoleon's opposition. He is a representation of Leon Trotsky, who led against Stalin and his tyranny. A single-minded pig bent on carrying Old Major's legacy, he devotes himself to improving the lives of animals in farms across England and spreading the word of “Animalism” and driving the humans out. Being an intelligent thinker, he possesses a great talent for scheming and creating, shown in his plans for a windmill in the farm. Snowball also displays a great amount of bravery and dedication to the farm animals when he attacks the humans without fear of death. The two are complete opposites, and are fitting rivals.

        In the Old Manor Farm, the farm animals are gathered together for a meeting by Old Major, a prize-winning pig near death. He gives a speech, urging them to rebel and overthrow the humans (namely, Mr. Jones and his wife, who run the farm) that control their lives and make them miserable. After his death, his dreams of a rebellion are finally achieved under the leadership of the pigs: Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer, who are elected as leaders based on their intelligence. With a plan, the animals successfully drive Mr. Jones out of the farm. The pigs also come up with the idea of “Animalism,” a philosophy created out of Old Major's principles, and Snowball creates and writes up the Seven Commandments, which form the basis of Animalism. The commandments include:

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.

They rename the Old Manor as “Animal Farm” and pledge to follow Old Major's words. The animals set to working together immediately, growing and harvesting even more efficiently than Mr. Jones previously did, especially with the help of Boxer, a loyal and extremely strong, hardworking horse (who was admittedly a bit dim). Conditions are vastly different from before, and the animals are finally pleased with how they're treated, having meetings every Sunday to vote on matters fairly. Intelligent farm animals are taught the read and write with the help of Snowball, although most animals cannot get the hang of it. Nine newborn puppies are born, but quickly whisked away by Napoleon, where no one can see them.  The animals forget about them. After a while, Mr. Jones appears again, this time with his friends, to take back control of the farm. A ferocious battle results; several animals are killed and many are injured including Snowball, who bravely risks his life to end the fight. The humans are scared away, and the conflict is celebrated as 'The Battle of the Cowshed.'

        However, as time passes on, Snowball and Napoleon fight over the matter of Snowball's designs to build a windmill on the farm to make farm work easy and efficient. While the animals of the farm agree wholeheartedly with his plans, Napoleon disagrees and summons the nine puppies (now full grown attack dogs, trained by Napoleon to obey only himself) to drive Snowball away from the farm, never to be seen again. Napoleon and the pigs declare complete control over the animals, abolishing the Sunday meetings and votes in the process. He also quickly brings back the plans of the windmill, claiming it was his own idea. Animals accused of working with Snowball are executed monstrously by his attack dogs. Work on the windmill begins, and the animals are subjected to longer work days and less food than before the rebellion, but cannot remember thanks to Squealer the pig who spreads propaganda of how “life has gotten so much better than when Mr. Jones was here.” Napoleon also rewrites history, spotlighting Snowball as a villain instead of the noble hero he had been, and takes all of his achievements and writes them off as his own. He even starts trading successfully with the humans, who had been their enemy only a few short months ago.