Animal Farm - George Orwell Essay -- Animal Farm Essays

Animal Farm George Orwell 128 Pages George Orwell, the pen name of Eric Blair, was born in Bengal in 1903. He was educated at Eton School in England, and then served with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma. He returned to Europe and became a writer of novels and essays. Much of his work was political, and although he had a hatred of Communism, he was a socialist. Orwell died at the age of forty-seven of a lung problem, leaving behind several unfinished works. Animal Farm is a parody of the Communist revolution in Russia, and as a result its themes are the evils of totalitarianism and selfishness, and also the importance of hard work. Animal Farm tells the story of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, but from a viewpoint slightly more comical: that of a farm in England. The story begins in a barn, where a boar on the farm named Old Major has gathered the other animals to tell them of a dream he had, a dream of a world in which humans do not rule over other animals. Old Major encourag es the animals of the farm to revolt against Mr. Jones, the owner of the farm. Not long after, he dies, but the animals keep his ideas of Animalism (which is essentially Communism) alive and the pigs, who are the most clever animals on the farm, begin to plan a revolution. One day, the workers on the farm forget to feed the animals, and so some of the more powerful horses break down the door to the barn where the feed is stored, and the animals enjoy a feast. When Mr. Jones learns of this, however, he immediately orders all of the animals to be punished appropriately. As they are being whipped and beaten, the animals suddenly turn on the workers. The humans, who had no way of anticipating such an attack, are scared off of the farm. When the animals realize what has happened, they go back to the main barn to discuss the recent events. Two pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, assume control of the farm, and the animals immediately declare the farmhouse to be a sort of museum, in which no anim al should enter. The pigs then reveal that they had been learning how to read and write for the entire time in which the revolution was being planned, and the animals agree on seven basic rules, which they called the Seven Commandments. The Seven Commandments consist of the following: ? Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. ? Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend. ? No animal sha... ...t day, while the animals are working, Clover comes rushing into the fields telling the other animals to follow her. When they do, they see Squealer walking on his hind legs. Then, the door to the farmhouse swings open and Napoleon comes out, also on his hind legs and with a whip in his hand. Afterwards, the animals do not find it strange that they are being whipped while working, except for Clover, who again looks at the Commandments. She finds that the seventh reads “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.'; That evening, some carts approach the farmhouse, and the animals see a procession of humans entering. Fearful but curious, they look into the window and see the humans and pigs sitting at a large table, with Napoleon at the head. Mr. Pilkington makes a toast to the prosperity of Animal Farm, and as the animals are walking away, a loud shout comes from the farmhouse, and they go back to see what happened. There they find that Napoleon and Pilkington had both played an ace of spades in a game of poker. It is at this point that “The creatures outside look from pig to man and man to pig; but already it is impossible to say which is which.';