Animal Farm by George Orwell

"Animal Farm" is a very peculiar, yet engaging book, and while it seems to be a story of fantasy, being based around a farm run by animals, its message is one to carry on into our own society. The story centers on a farm known as the Manor Farm, which is run by an evil and cruel man known as Mr. Jones. He mistreats the animals day in and day out, frequently getting drunk and forgetting to feed them. In the barn, the patriarch of the animals is a prize boar referred to as the Major, and he is slowly nearing his death. He decides to spread his acquired knowledge and wisdom with the farm, telling them of a time when there will be a revolution, and the animals will rule the farm and rid themselves of the humans who do nothing except cause them problems. The Major dies soon after, and the animals prepare for the revolution, only to find that it occurs sooner than expected. This leaves the manor in charge of the pigs, especially the two leaders named Snowball and Napoleon, who work to improve life on the farm and increase the standard of living. They create animalism, a new philosophy that includes seven commandments, one of which says that "All animals are equal". However, as life on the farm goes on, there are unexpected twists and turns that affect its inhabitants drastically, and tension brings about some surprising new developments...

The novel itself was written as an allegory to the Russian Revolution and the Soviet Union as a whole, as the plot and characters correlate to certain people and events of the period. However, it is really a critique on all society. It portrays a very important message, that equality will never be a realistic possibility, because while all may be equal, some may "be more equal than others". Also, it shows what happens when one individual gets too much power. The initial intentions may be good, but greed is inevitable, and the power will eventually turn them into the very thing they detest the most. It was also very interesting to see how Orwell used the idea of rewriting the past in this novel. This was a prevalent notion in his other novel, "1984", but it was shown in "Animal Farm" as well. Orwell demonstrated how using terror as a weapon, it is possible even for the past to be revised to match the present, a notion that he seemingly feels to be a huge factor in totalitarianism. Individuals can be convinced that their memories are false, as long as they are threatened, and Orwell clearly finds this point to be significant.

Overall, "Animal Farm", like "1984", is a critique on government, and also in a way a warning to the consequences of becoming mad with power.