Animal Farm: a Fairy Story with Farmyard Creatures

“A fairy story with farmyard creatures has nothing to teach a modern audience” Discuss.

Over the time frame of sixty- six years ago, today many people are keener on reading books from a wider variety of genres, when referring to George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”. It is as important today as it was when first published as we can experience the lives of people and animals during that period of time. This can be portrayed in many ways such, as how a history of a revolution that went wrong, how the seven commandments gradually changed to match the lives of the greedy pigs, how a hierarchy was created due to communism, how rules could be easily broken that led to harsh consequences, how propaganda was used to persuade people to join WW1 and WW2 and how this relates to “Animal Farm”,

When Old major delivered his speech before he died he had spread very valuable and inspiring message to all the animals on the farm giving a new outlook on life. This statement is referring to communism, however the work of teaching and organising the others fell naturally upon the pigs, who were generally recognised as being the cleverest of the animals. This clearly represents the formation of communism, as communism means to have shared wealth and living in a society where everyone is equal and basically there is not meant to be a leader, but logically there has to be. In this case the pigs are the leaders.

Eventually the pigs succeeded in reducing the principles of Animalism to seven commandments. The purpose of these set of rules was created to form a revolution. As usual the pigs refused to participate in any form of work, but directed and supervised the others. With their superior knowledge it was natural that they should assume the leadership. This is what happened during the beginning of the novel however towards the end of the novel these pigs slowly began to change their way of living for example they had a connection to humans in the form of trade, they also started to wear clothes and sleep in a bed with sheets. Due to this they changed the commandments to suit them. To prevent the animals from suspecting the pigs, Squealer preys on the animals' stupidity and alters the Commandments from time to time as the need arises.

In many situations being educated can lead to many advantages that can lead to being treated with respect. In the novel “Animal Farm” this can be evidently seen as a hierarchy is formed due to communism. The pigs were at the top of the pyramid and below them were the dogs and then everyone else was below them. It was found that the stupider the animals such as the sheep, hens and ducks, the harder they found it to read and learn the seven commandments by heart. This is unmistakably verified as none of the other animals on the farm could get further than the letter A. The animals who had grasped the seven commandments would be safe from human influences. Therefore Snowball simplified the seven commandments into a simple and catchy phrase. “FOUR LEGS GOOD, TWO LEGS BAD”.

Later on in the novel many rules were broken, this is ironic as the pigs who created the rules in the beginning broke them and don’t get punished as they are known as “superior leaders”. Their guards the dogs are not punished either. Animals other than the pigs and dogs were treated differently. The other animals were forcibly made to confess and if they broke a rule they would be punished, which would mean that they would be eaten and killed by the monstrous guard dogs. Within the pigs there was a leader. He was Napoleon, he was very jealous of Snowball and refused to follow any of his ideas, Snowball decide to build a windmill to benefit life in the future. Napoleon and Snowball never agreed on anything. One day Napoleon was so furious at Snowball for not agreeing with him so he ordered the dogs to chase Snowball out of the farm. Once Snowball left the farm Napoleon ordered the animals to continue Snowballs incomplete windmill, as usual Napoleon refused to help in the making of the windmill, but he and his dogs came down to inspect the completed work, he personally congratulated the animals on their achievement, and announcement that the mill would be named Napoleon Mill. During this time of the novel Napoleon was formally known as The animals Leader, Comrade napoleon, and the pigs liked to invent titles as father of All Animals to praise Napoleon. The general feeling on the farm was expressed in a poem entitled ‘Comrade Napoleon’. In “Animal Farm”, the pigs are identified as Soviet leaders of the time. Napoleon symbolises Stalin and Snowball symbolises Trotsky. George Orwell often used propaganda to scare the animals into following the opinions presented by Napoleon.

During WW1 and WW2, propaganda took a huge part to persuade people into thinking into a particular way. This account is expressed in “Animal Farm”, Squealer represents propaganda in general, as he was the key spokesman for the pigs. The use of persuasive language of facts illustrates the power of propaganda. From the beginning of the novel, Napoleon and the other pigs, used propaganda techniques to twist the rules so that they can live a more relaxing life. Most of the propaganda techniques are used by Squealer and Napoleon to trick the animals into believing, as well as undertaking, all the commands and statements they made to outclass and willingly control all the other animals. As simple lies turn to complex lies, Napoleon's "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." After Clover finds out that the rule on the barn wall “No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets”, Squealer makes a instant entry and convinces them that there is nothing.
As can be seen in the essay above, “Animal Farm” has portrayed a strong and varied response to communism. The use of propaganda and scare tactics are used throughout the entire novel. Therefore George Orwell’s book “Animal farm”, was not only a great significance in its time but continues to stand as relevant information of the tyrannical and often brutal nature of human kind represented in the form of pigs in the novel. Due to this important material that is available to everyone present, everyone can learn something valuable form “Animal Farm”.

By: Aishwarya Shivagurunathan