Reviews with content warning for Death - Animal Farm

4.5 stars.

W. O. W
This story scared me from the very beginning. The pigs were a red flag from the start. I appreciate the way that this book makes you think in regards to politics and economics on a simple farm setting and it's a great introduction for anyone who wants to learn more about that but I recommend knowing the basics of the USSR before reading this.

The death of certain animal towards the end destroyed me. I appreciate the way that George Orwell does not glorify Mr Jones or what I can assume Mr Jones stands for, which is capitalism. It is made clear that the animals suffer tremendously under Mr Jones as well as under the regime of the pigs.

It's easy to think that the animals were stupid or naive or not strong enough to prevent the pigs from exploiting them and the farm but if you think about it, this is a reflection of the world we currently live in.

The abuse of power, the deliberate spread of misinformation, the manipulation and the gaslighting are used by governments and individuals in every country. The animals starting to doubt themselves and allowing themselves to be manipulated is something that our own media facilitates quite frequently.

I appreciated the fact that this novella, despite being a classic, had quite accessible language compared to *cough cough* Dickens (who wrote much earlier than Orwell, I know). There is none of the typical frustrating writing style of classic novels like extremely long sentences or outdated cultural references that modern readers cannot understand.

The inclusion of the apathetic animals like Benjamin and the cat was a good reflection of those who show indifference in the face of harmful events or corrupt leaders. To me, Benjamin represents those who have lost faith that things will ever change and so refrain from engaging in politics or protests and the like.

Muriel betraying 'Animal Farm' for insubstantial things like ribbons and sugar and presumably being re-enslaved by humans can represent those who support leaders or figures who are harmful overall to their very own lives but are easily won over or manipulated by empty gestures or less important promises that political figures promise to give them.

It's easy to forget and think towards the end of the book that Snowball would have kept his promises and provided a better life for the animals than Napoleon did, but I think he would have turned out more or less the same exploitative and corrupt leader that Napoleon was.

The sheep, to me, were quite annoying characters especially when they would start chanting pro-Napoleon phrases and drown out the discussion of anyone who opposed Napoleon. In my opinion the sheep represent ignorant people who do not take the time to think out the things that they hear or question the actions of those that they admire. This is especially harmful when "the sheep" in real life undermine or drown out actually useful discussions/debates that people have when questioning their leaders or the way things are run. Without this discussion things cannot change, as shown by the fact that the animals are stopped from protesting after the pigs walk out on two feet.

We can clearly see that the ignorance of the animals and their inability to read is a huge weakness that the pigs take advantage of. We can apply this to our own lives, where education, knowledge and critical thinking can be a protection from manipulation and exploitation from other humans, the media or dishonest politicians.

The slow progression of the pigs' abuses of power and manipulation of the animals felt realistic in the story. The pigs slowly becoming more like the previous human exploiters they despised was jarring especially when they began walking on two feet and when the novella ends with the animals no longer being able to tell the difference between humans and the pigs.

This is clearly shown in the cyclical nature of the story where the pigs treat the other animals worse than Mr Jones did, eventually renaming the farm 'The Manor Farm', symbolising a return to the old ideals upon which the farm was run.

"All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others. "

Content Warnings