Examples Of Utopia In Animal Farm

A utopia by definition is a society or community that is perfect in every way. Conversely, a dystopia is a society or community that is extremely unpleasant or imperfect in every way. A utopian farm is what Old Major dreams of, and he relays his ideas to the other animals on the farm before he dies. In teaching them the Beasts of England song, which foretells a great life without the man, Old Major introduces the thought of getting rid of Mr. Jones and gets the animals all riled up and excited for an easier happier life on the farm. Shortly after the death of Old Major, the animals revolt, removing Mr. Jones from the farm. The life of utopia begins as “the animals [are] happy as they [have] never conceived it possible to be”(24). Instantly, their lives are filled with joy; they are finally able to keep all of their harvest and profits for themselves. Under the leadership of the pigs, specifically Snowball and Napoleon, rules are established called The Seven Commandments with the last one being “All animals are equal”(21). It is quickly realized that they are actually not equal in intelligence, ability or
The farm seems to be running very well and all the animals are happy until one animal with flawed character and selfish intentions puts himself in charge. More than one leader making decisions allows for the working of a check and balance governing society. Without checks and balances, an arrogant dictator can easily gain full power. Furthermore, if the other animals stand up for themselves and do not tolerate the injustices inflicted on them by Napoleon things on the farm may be different. They are told by Squealer, “sometimes you might make the wrong decisions”(34). and so they relinquish all decisions to Napoleon. The animals did not have a chance to reach utopia because of Napoleon’s way of government and they did not question his