Social Construction of Reality: Animal Farm

In looking at Orwell's novel, Animal Farm, it is easily recognized that through wit and craft he has outlined, through animals living on a farm, playing respective roles, a critique of Stalin's rebellion towards communism. The end result, after the trial and error sessions of democracy and equal division of labor, is a theme is revealed that prevails in so much of today's society. Animal Farm is the story of a revolution gone sour. Animalism, Communism, and Fascism are all illusions which are used by the pigs as a means of satisfying their greed and lust for power. As each animal, through his or her innate abilities attempts to find their role in the society, the final commandment of the original seven written for the government, is not quite our motto of "liberty and justice for all." More to the point, it is, "All Animals are Equal. But some animals are more equal than others." Of course, in our case, this refers to people, and this is the way that the majority of today's more "productive" societies are able to flourish. It is basically a facade that the rich live by, a way of life where everyone plays a role, and in essence, those in lower classes are the peasants, and it is they who help the rich get richer and the poor sink into inhumane levels of poverty.

Though the farm animals' original intention of overthrowing Mr. Jones is not inherently evil in itself, Napoleon's subsequent adoption of nearly all of Mr. Jones' principles and harsh mistreatment of the animals proves to the reader that indeed communism is not equality, but a form of inequality that from the outside can appear to be of value. The pigs and dogs take most of the power for themselves, thinking that they are the best administrators of government. Eventually the power corrupts them, and they turn on their fellow animals, eliminating competitors through propaganda and bloodshed. Orwell states, "Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer-- except, of course, for the pigs and the dogs." This is a reference to Stalin, who murdered many of his own people in order to maintain his dictatorship of Russia.

At first, the Animal Farm seems to prosper. The uneducated animals are taught to read, and Napoleon takes a group of young puppies to educate them in the principles of Animalism. When Mr. Jones reappears to take back his farm, the animals have the power to defeat him again, in what comes to be known as the Battle of the Cowshed. As the animals' ruling progresses, however, Napoleon and Snowball increasingly bicker over the future for the farm, and they begin to struggle with each other for power over the other animals. Snowball comes up with a scheme to build an electricity-generating windmill, but Napoleon objects solely on the basis that the idea was not his own. At the meeting to vote on whether or not to undertake the project, Snowball gives a heartfelt speech. Following the speech, Napoleon gives only a brief addition, followed by a strange signal. Suddenly, nine attack dogs rush into the barn and run Snowball out of the farm itself. So Napoleon nominates himself to be the leader of the of farm and declares that there will be no more meetings. He decides that the pigs alone will make all of the decisions--for the good of every animal. The remainder of Animal Farm, under Napoleon's rule, is a tale of the consolidation of Napoleon's power through clever politics, propaganda, and terror. On the third Sunday after Snowball's expulsion, the animals hear that Napoleon wants the windwill to be built after all:

"The evening Squealer explained privately to the other animals that Napoleon had never in reality been opposed to the windmill. On the contrary, it was he who had advocated it in the beginning, and the plan which Snowball had drawn on the floor of the incubator shed had actually been stolen from among Napoleon's papers... He had seemed to oppose the windmill, simply as a maneuver to get rid of Snowball, who was a dangerous character and a bad influence."

The animals are not sure of Squealer's explanation but a few of Napoleon's dogs growl so threateningly that the animals accept it without question. This developing state of tyranny and oppression will ultimately transform the "unalterable" Seven Commandments into Napoleon's own laws.

The windmill soon becomes the means by which Napoleon uses all of his control. He uses this power to direct the animals' attention away from the growing shortages and problems within the farm, and the animals obliviously obey, concentrating all of their into the windmill's construction. However, one day, after a storm, the animals find the windmill toppled. The human farmers in the area judge that the animals made the walls too thin, but Napoleon claims that Snowball returned to the farm to destroy the windmill. He begins a great abuse of his power during which various animals who have allegedly participated in Snowball's great conspiracy, meaning any animal who opposes Napoleon's uncontested leadership, meets instant death at the teeth of the attack dogs. With his leadership unable to be questioned, Napoleon begins expanding his powers, rewriting history, in a sense to create Snowball into a total villain. Napoleon also starts to act more like a human, engaging in such activities as drinking, sleeping in a regular bed, and engaging in trade with neighbors. Activities such as these were out of the question under the original Animalist rule but Squealer, Napoleon's supporter, justifies his every action to the others, convincing them that Napoleon is a true leader and is looking to the best for everyone--despite the fact that all of the "common" animals are exhausted and starving.Squealer consoles the animals, saying, "Do not imagine, comrades, that leadership is a pleasure. On the contrary, it is a deep and heavy responsibility. No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?"

Mr. Frederick, a neighboring farmer, cheats Napoleon into the purchase of some wood, proceeding to attack the farm and set dynamite to the windmill, which had clearly been rebuilt at a great expense. After the demolition of the windmill, a battle begins in which Boxer is pretty severely wounded. Boxer's injuries weaken him for the long term. When he later collapses while working on the reconstruction of the windmill, his time seems imminent. Boxer soon disappears from the farm. According to Squealer, Boxer has died in peace after having been taken to the hospital. The truth is, Napoleon has sold his most loyal withstanding worker to a glue factory in his scheme to get money for whisky.

As the years pass on Animal Farm, the pigs become more and more like human beings--walking upright, carrying whips, and wearing clothes. Eventually the seven commandments of Animalism inscribed on the side of the barn are abridged for the last time, simply reading, "All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others." Napoleon entertains a human farmer named Mr. Pilkington at a dinner and declares his intent to ally himself with the human farmers against the laboring classes of both the human and animal communities. He also changes the name of Animal Farm back to the Manor Farm, claiming that this title is the "correct" one. Looking in at the party of elites through the farmhouse window, the common animals can no longer tell the difference between the pigs and which are the human beings.

This reverse and falsification of equality and rights of power serves to portray the immense hypocrisy of ruling that bases itself on ideologies of liberation and equality. The gradual disintegration of the Seven Commandments illustrates, as does Squealer's elaborate explanations for the pigs' unjustified actions. This is a clear representation of Communism's violence against the usage of language, human instinct, morals, and ideals in the sense of truth.

Animal Farm looks at the development of class tyranny and the human tendency to maintain and reestablish class structures even in societies that allegedly stand for total equality. It is illustrated how classes that are initially unified in the face of a common enemy, as the animals are against the humans, may become internally divided when that enemy is eliminated. The eradication of Mr. Jones creates an immediate loss, and the need arises for a new ruler to overlap and become the next oppressor to assume totalitarian control. The natural division between intellectual and physical labor quickly comes to express itself as a new set of class divisions, with the pigs "superior intelligence" to manipulate society to their own benefit. It is the force of this tendency toward class division in many communities that threatens democracy and freedom.

In this book , I found it incredible how well the oppressed were able to be portrayed through the animals. As in any society, the lowest class truly has no other choice but to be loyal, hard-working. and in many cases, gullible in order to endure such physical and emotional manipulation. It is interesting to see how situations of oppression arise not only from the motives and tactics of the oppressors but also from the naivete and ineducation (often miseducation) of the oppressed, who are rarely in a position to be informed. In many ways, I see a connection with this on a broader sense between relations of the U.S. to developing countries. In terms of manufactured goods brought into the U.S. by millions, it is unthinkable to realize howdifficult and strenuous the labor is for impoverished workers to create our everyday goods. It is so rare for us, as Americans, to step back and think that imported goods from developing nations are created by people not earning enough to feed their children. Instead, we complain about prices, that many of us can, in fact, afford. It is time that we step back and gain a little perspective on some issues, or at least crack into that consciouness that exists because we are fortunate enough to learn about what goes on behind the scenes.