Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Animal Farm by George Orwell

116 reviews

stargazerave's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

To say this is one of the most depressing works of fiction I've read in the past year would not be an understatement.

Orwell, in enrapturing detail, documents through an allegorical lens the repeated cycle of capitalism, dictatorship, and just how easily people (or in this book, animals) are manipulated by language. Reading this book made me viscerally angry at points and heartbreakingly sad at others. To see the cycle laid out so plainly forces the reader to acknowledge the presence and repetition that continuously plagues political landscapes. In a mere 96 pages (of the edition I read), Orwell highlights with haunting clarity how easily political dogma can be transformed into propaganda, especially over the course of time. 

This novella left me horrified at moments with how many of the pigs' atrocious actions I found myself relating to our current sociopolitical climate. While written as an allegory for the Soviet Union, Orwell's work now highlights the atrocities committed by current governments and world leaders in a very blunt way. Yet, even as the book reaches its final pages, we see that this "accord" between the men and the pigs is strictly surface level with Orwell alluding to the start of the Cold War as both leaders play an ace of spades simultaneously.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Cannibalism

cloud_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, and Violence

Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Slavery, Gaslighting, and Death

livelaughomo's review against another edition

informative reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Animal death, and Slavery

Moderate: Gaslighting and Alcoholism

emey_reading07's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Slavery and Gaslighting

Minor: Alcohol and Death

d00rframe's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Alcohol, Animal death, Death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Murder, Alcoholism, Classism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Slavery, Physical abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Torture, and Suicide

vreyna20_2004's review against another edition

dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I love stories that are like this and showing how things can become corrupt later on even with good intentions. It shows how history repeats itself and I just love it. I know this book is old and people have read it in high school but I wasn’t one of those since my teachers resorted to using articles instead of books but reading this now and willingly felt more intriguing compared to being forced to read this as well as write an essay about it so I highly recommend people to read classic books that you’ve read back then or haven’t read. Anyway, knowing that I haven’t read it now explains why I was shocked when I read that the pigs started walking on their hind legs because after everything they’ve said to the other animals they went and betrayed them and became the one thing they hate. A human, a thing that walks on two feet who also drinks alcohol. It’s the one thing I love in stories like how I said in the beginning. I’ve seen the reviews on here but most are complaining about reading it in school so I hope people can reread it and grow to like it now that it’s not being forced upon you. But to me, I highly enjoyed it. I won’t ever forget what happened to Boxer though like reading that was a stab to the heart.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Violence

Moderate: Slavery, Gaslighting, and Death

Minor: Alcoholism, Suicide, and Alcohol

phantomsparrow's review against another edition

challenging informative tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Violence

Minor: Slavery and Blood

braeloves_reading's review against another edition

challenging dark informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, War, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Murder, and Torture

nineinchnails's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

this was a really quick read and very fast paced but surprisingly dense. i was kinda disappointed because i thought it’d be more profound than it actually was but i read it in an hour so it’s very possible it just went over my head - i think i’ll probably enjoy this more on a reread with a little more context since i went into this pretty much blind. it’s really digestible so i’d definitely recommend this for anyone interested in reading classics but a little intimidated!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Classism

Moderate: Gaslighting, Gun violence, Death, Slavery, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cannibalism

authorannafaundez's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

An incredible view into what happens when gaslighting meets censureship, ignorance, intolerance.

Of course, Orwell's Animal Farm is a commentary on Russian politics and practices during the 1940s, but they still apply to today's world. More-so, I'd say, in the age of the internet which gives access to nothing for those who cannot think critically and everything for those who can.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

Moderate: Violence, Slavery, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Animal death