“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
If we replace animals from the above quote with humans, the quote doesn’t lose its meaning. It just becomes a social commentary on how even equality is relative in today’s world.
Plot Overview
The story starts when a prize-winning boar gathers all the members of the farm to tell them about his dream where no animal is oppressed by the man, where all animals are free, and where all animals are equal. Later after his death, the animals were able to drive away from the framer from the farm and took it under their control. Initially, all the animal prospers and live in a very harmonious way. Later, two differing ideologies lead to a power struggle between two leaders and ultimately to dictatorship.
My reading experience
It is my second book by George Orwell first being 1984. I loved the dystopian theme of the first book and was immediately awed by the storyline and plot. Animal Farm again has kept the charm of George Orwell’s writing style.
The book’s central theme is said to be a portrayal of the power struggle between Leon Trotsky and Stalin in the Soviet Union, but since I didn’t read this book for university grading, I didn’t explore much of those themes.
While reading this book, I was able to reference so many ideas from the book Sapiens – A Brief History of Humankind. And why not the book is about evolution, about how the concept of nation, democracy, and class system is formed. The animals of the farms are also building a new system after overthrowing an existing one.
When few animals on the farm realized that this is not the ideal system, they also couldn’t do anything. That’s because to overthrow a system you need to have another system. In the word of Sapiens, to prove one story is bad you have to tell another story and convince a large number of people to believe in that.
The story also explores the theme that how the ignorance of people can lead to oppression. The animals of the farms are working much harder than they used to without any gain, but still, they are not able to identify that they are being oppressed.
It also explores the division of the society of animals based on the ‘brainworkers’ and the ‘manual workers’ where it’s brain workers who manipulate the society to their own benefit. The book keeps you wondering whether the system was wrong or the people were ignorant.
Conclusion
Overall I really enjoyed this book. This is a small novella under 100 pages and I finished this book in a single sitting. And I would highly recommend this book.
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