Animal Farm
Back in the 1970s George Orwell's Animal Farm was regarded as an important volume in the library of freedom. At
the time I regarded it as such. But upon re-reading it recently, I was surprised to discover that Animal Farm is not
about freedom at all. As a satire of the Soviet state it is apt. But to be against totalitarianism is not necessarily to be
for freedom. And while Orwell rejects tyranny, he nonetheless continues to embrace the ideology that leads to
tyranny.
Animal Farm is a fable that tells the story of a farm where the animals overthrow their oppressor, Man, and establish
their own collectivist state. The revolt of the animals is motivated by the teachings of a boar, Old Major (who
represents Karl Marx). Old Major urges the animals to overthrow the rule of Man (which represents capitalism) and
to establish a collectivist utopia, but he dies before the revolution occurs. After the revolution does occur there is a
period when the animals adhere to his teachings, but gradually his ideology gets corrupted by the pigs, who use their
superior intelligence to seize power over the other animals in order to enrich themselves.
During the period that the animals live by Old Major's Marxist ideology, they are shown to be prosperous and happy.
They become impoverished only after the pigs subvert the revolution and steal the wealth for themselves. Orwell
does not argue that the eventual degeneration of Animal Farm into tyranny is a consequence of this Marxist
ideology. Rather he portrays it as due to the greed and selfishness of the pigs, who, in the end, become just like
capitalists.
So what does Orwell really uphold? The collectivism advocated by socialism is presented as a moral ideal which, if
realised, brings everyone happiness, dignity, and prosperity. But it can be achieved only if every member of society
voluntarily agrees to subordinate his own good to the greater good. When the most intelligent members of society
choose to put their own self-interest first, society degenerates into a capitalist, oligarchic tyranny. The ideal society
is altruist, collectivist, and socialist. Its enemy is individual selfishness.
How does this relate to the issue of freedom? Freedom exists when the individual is free to pursue his own goals for
his own sake, regardless of the desires or good of the collective. Freedom is inherently selfish: it is premised on the
principle that your life is your own and that the good is to live it. The only economic system compatible with
freedom is capitalism. So Orwell is not a champion of freedom at all. The ideology that he upholds, altruism,
collectivism, socialism, is exactly opposite of what freedom really requires: egoism, individualism, capitalism.
Animal Farm provides a good satire, and it is amusing to identify what each character and event symbolizes in real
life. But it is of very limited value to the advocate of freedom.
Postscript: I do not want to imply that George Orwell was consciously an enemy of freedom. I have read many of
his novels and essays, so I know that he was genuinely opposed to tyranny. But his good intentions do not change
the fact that his fundamental philosophical context is incompatible with freedom.
Last Updated: Apr. 11, 1998
Copyright 1998 by Greg Shoom. All rights reserved.
Animal Farm
by George Orwell
George Orwell's novel Animal Farm does an excellent job of
drawing parallels from the situation leading up to the Russian
Revolution of 1917. Animal Farm is a satire that uses its
characters to symbolize leaders of the Russian Revolution. The
animals of "Manor Farm", the setting of this novel, which
symbolizes Russia, overthrow their human master after years of
mistreatment. Led by the pigs, the farm animals continue to do
their work, only with more pride, knowing that they are working
for themselves, as opposed to working for their human master,
Farmer Jones. Slowly over time the pigs gain power and take
advantage of the other animals. They gain so much power that
they become just as power hungry and corrupt as their human
master. The theme in the novel being that in every society there
are leaders who will, if given the chance, likely abuse their
position. Old Major is a prize white boar who helps point out to
the animals that no animal in England is free. He continues to
tell the animals that the their labor is stolen by man, who
benefits alone. The animals in return get near nothing, just
enough to keep them away from starvation. Old Major gave many
speeches to the farm animals about hope and the future. He is
the main animal who got the rebellion started even though he died
before it actually began. Old Major's role compares to Lenin and
Marx whose ideas would spark the communist revolution. Lenin
became the leader and teacher of the working class in Russia, and
their determination to struggle against capitalism. Like Old
Major, Lenin and Marx wrote essays and gave speeches to the
working class poor. The working class in Russia, as compared
with the barnyard animals in Animal Farm, were a laboring class
of people that received low wages for their work. Old major
tells the animals that the source of the problem is man, they
must overthrow man to abolish tyranny and hunger. Soon Old Major
does die, but his words still echo in the hearts of all the
animals. With the leadership of the pigs, the smartest
animals, they repel against the human and gain complete control
of the farm. This would symbolize the Russian Revolution.
Another parallel represented in the book is Farmer Jones.
His character is similar to the politician Czar Nicholas who
treated his people similar to how Farmer Jones treated his
animals. The animal rebellion on the farm was started because
Farmer Jones was a drunk who never took care of the animals.
This made them very angry, fed by the words of Old Major the
animals decided to rebel like the Russians. Czar Nicholas was a
very weak man who treated his people similar to how Farmer Jones
treated his animals.
The Czar made his working class people very uneasy with the
way he used his authority and preached all the time, and the
people suffered and finally demanded reform by rebelling.
The animal Napoleon can be compared as a character
representing Stalin in Russia. Both were very mean looking,
didn't talk very much but always got what they wanted through
force. In one part of the book Napoleon had the dogs charge
Snowball, another animal, as soon as he thought that the pigs
were becoming corrupt. Stalin became the Soviet Leader after the
death of Lenin. He was underestimated by his opponents who
always became his victims, and he had one of the most ruthless,
regimes in history. In was not till very many years later that
the world found out about the many deaths that Stalin created in
Russia during the Revolution.
Another strong parrael would is the character of Snowball
with the Russian leader Trotsky. Snowball was very enthusiastic
and was a leader who organized the defense of the farm. He gave
speeches and instructions but was not very beneficial. All the
other animals liked him, but he was outsmarted by Napoleon.
Trotsky and Stalin's relationship was very much like Snowball's
and Napoleons. Trotsky organized the Red Army and gave speeches
and everyone in Russia thought he would win power over Stalin.
After Lenin's death Trotsky lost all his power to Stalin and was
expelled from the communist party.
George Orwell has created a masterpiece which is excellent
if it is read without any prior knowledge to the situation in
Russia. However the added element does wonders for this novel.
Orwell is a genius and he has cleverly hidden the satire in such
an excellent way, that everything fits into the picture like a
jigsaw puzzle. I give this book five stars. This rating is
given for many reasons. It is a very easy read and quite
enjoyable to many levels of education.
By: RickyG
Word Count: 801
