Animal Farm Critical - George Orwell has written his novel 'Animal Farm' on three levels.

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Animal Farm Critical

George Orwell has written his novel ‘Animal Farm’ on three levels. It works not only as a fictional tale, which could be conceived as a children’s story, but also as an allegory of the Russian Revolution and a political or social warning.

‘Animal Farm’ is set on ‘Manor Farm,’ an establishment run poorly by the lazy, drunken Mr Jones. The animals on the farm are badly treated; they are not fed, milked or shut in properly. Inspired by the last words of a wise and idealistic pig, ‘Old Major,’ the animals evict Mr Jones and his family and take over the running of the farm. At first the farm is run on the principle of ‘Animalism,’ with all animals having equal rights and all human-related objects and ideas being abolished. However, as time progresses the pigs (in particular the cruel and deceitful Napoleon) grow hungry for power and deceive the other animals on their way to taking total control of the farm.

The novel could be regarded as a children’s story for various reasons. The first and probably most obvious of these is the anthropomorphism used – giving animals the ability to talk. Many children’s books centre on talking animals, and this is seldom found in an adult-aimed novel.  The easy to follow, linear plot line is also typical of a children’s story – adult books tend to be more complicatedly structured, and narration too is more complex. Another aspect typical of children’s stories is the idea of ‘Good versus Evil.’ In Orwell’s novel, this can be regarded initially as animals good; humans bad and then later Napoleon and his faithfuls bad; other animals good.

However, although Orwell has adopted a simple narrative style for his novel, it is clear from the irony contained in the text that this novel is not aimed exclusively at children. One example of this irony comes later in the novel, where the animals comment on everyday things such as eating and drinking and give Napoleon credit for them: “Thanks to the leadership of Comrade Napoleon, how excellent this water tastes! Young children would be likely to take this literally, (understanding that Napoleon really has made the water taste better) whereas older readers would see the irony in it, (that the water tastes the same with or without Napoleon and that he has just brainwashed every other animal to believe that anything good is due to him.)

Additionally, nothing is sorted out in what is by no means a happy ending. A child would find this hard to cope with, as a resolution and a happy ending are essential as endings to most children’s books.

One other indication that ‘Animal Farm’ is not a children’s book is the political nature of the text, something that young children would not be expected to identify with.

The second level, on which the novel operates, the political allegory of the Russian Revolution, works with certain characters and events representing people and procedures involved in Russian history. Napoleon, for example, represents Josef Stalin – the general secretary of the communist party in Russia at the time. Both are cruel and callous, and eliminate anyone challenging their power. Snowball stands for Trotsky, a Russian revolutionary and a main opponent to Stalin. Like Trotsky, who was expelled from his country, Snowball is evicted from the farm. Napoleon’s specially trained sheep and dogs are the book’s equivalent to Stalin’s slogan-chanting masses and secret police, helping him to gain complete power. Events happening the Revolution such as the 1917 rebellion and the 1917 revolution are symbolised by the rebellion of Animal Farm and the Battle of the Cowshed respectively.

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However, the novel can also be read on a wider political context, representing not only the Russian Revolution but also illustrating other events in the past (or situations which could arise in the present or future) as well as society in general. For example, the novel was written during the time of the Second World War, so characters could also stand for individuals involved in this. For example, the puppies Napoleon trains are like Hitler’s Secret Police in that they are introduced unexpectedly and are thereafter always around to intimidate animals that speak against him, and to scare them ...

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