Animal Farm by George Orwell - Book Review

It is a book that remains to be the center of controversy to this date ever since it was first published in 1945. The book is set in an age when animals are much smarter than they are in real life and they challenge each other with that smartness.

Some of the animals become leaders while others become followers. The powerful message behind Animal Farm has carried on through the years and proved to be relevant at almost all times since its publishing.

The whole book is set in a rancher’s farm, where animals have taken control over the farm from their human master after a long period of complaining of bad treatment. The farm animals all vowed to one another to live in peace together and be equals.

But not long after the revolution of the animals against the farm owner that things have shifted from equality of animals to leader pigs and follower animals.

Old Major was the first pig leader after the revolution, he was fair, and kind, and he treated all animals as equals. However, he was overthrown by his successor, Napoleon, who ruled that pigs were better animals than any other breed on the farm.

He made sure all the other animals worked hard on the farm day in and day out to support the pigs even if they worked too much as they used to in the days when humans ruled.

When the comrades, as they called each other throughout the book, Napoleon and Snowball set some rules for the farm animals to live by, it grew the inequality even more.

Among those rules was that “anyone on two legs is enemies, anyone with four legs or has wings are friends.” Although Snowball was also in a leadership position, he often disagreed with Napoleon on the farm decisions.

Bit by bit the rest of the animals on the farm start to get the feeling that they are going back to the society and bad treatment that they had long suffered from during the reign of humans.

One of the last commandments that meant their suspicions were in place was the one saying, “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

The book has caused global controversy since its release in the United Kingdom during times of war ending as it was a play on criticizing the regime in a sly and subtle way that had a large impact. The power from Animal Farm comes from its relevance to mankind throughout the ages in different countries ruled by different governments.

It works as a historical guide for future generations to learn from. The book is relatively quite small and can be read entirely in only a couple of hours as it captivates the reader and keeps them wanting to learn more about the events.

But although it is short, it is a political masterpiece by Orwell that has left generations of people talking about that time. It’s a story of misery, leadership, policies and greed, all mixed with human emotions translated in a fascinating way through animal farms.