Animalism
Animalism
Animalism
It is a well-
versed story written in the form of an animal tale. George Orwell wrote Animal Farm as in a
classic fable form, and it is able to present his subject in simple symbolic terms by treating the
development of communism as a story that is taking place on a single farm with talking animals.
This paper is aimed at discussing the discussing the principle of anomalism introduced in animal
farm focusing on the meaning, success and failure.
George Orwell’s Animal Farm depicts a society that slowly falls from a Feudalism to an
autocracy and finally into a totalitarianism. The book depicts a farm of animals who believe in
the principles of Animalism. Animalism is George Orwell’s depiction of communism and more
specifically the Russian revolution of 1917. Their principles include all the animals being treated
equally and sharing the responsibilities and rewards of the whole farm.
The ideals were stated by Old Major, a prize-winning boar on the farm. He said he saw
Animalism in a dream like vision. Old Major suddenly dies three days later, and two younger
pigs named Snowball and Napoleon took the reins of Animalism and began to spread Major’s
dream to the other animals (Moyo, 2010: 24). This depicts the fall of the Russian Monarchy and
rise of a new government system. They led a rebellion against the owner of the farm, Mr. Jones,
after they were treated terribly not fed one night. They ran Jones and his men off the farm and
changed the name from Manor Farm to Animal Farm. When they first take the farm, the pigs
self-induct themselves as leaders, and all the animals are happily working together. They defend
themselves in a battle against the humans and created their own anthem called, “The Beasts of
England”. This is used as a symbol of their freedom.
The farm’s productivity skyrockets, and every animal looks to Snowball as their leader, and
Napoleon became jealous. A rift between the two pig leaders formed as Snowball teaches the
animals how to read one day, and Napoleon educates a group of young dogs on the “principles of
Animalism.”. Napoleon used the vicious-looking dogs as an intimidation factor to take power
and kick snowball out during one of their democratic meetings.
This rift is based on when Josef Stalin eliminated all his political rivals and solidified his position
on top. This represented the deuteriation of the democratic-like state and start of an autocracy, a
system of government by one person with absolute power (Borock, 1992: 26). Napoleon worked
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the animals extremely hard and gave them little food. This created a division of two sides: the
intellectuals and the laborers. The pigs used their intelligence to change a society in their favor.
The book quotes, "All that year the animals worked like slaves. But they were happy in their
work; they grudged no effort or sacrifice, well aware that everything they did was for the benefit
of themselves and those of their kind who would come after them, and not for a pack of idle,
thieving human beings."(Orwell 1949: 51). Boxer, the work horse, recites “Napoleon is always
right” whenever he runs into a problem. This shows just how brainwashed these animals were.
They were working harder than with Mr. Jones, the human they rebelled from, and are happy.
They are naive and gullible because of their lack of education.
The same thing occurred in Russia as the government easily controlled the uneducated masses.
Napoleon created a set of commandants which stated animals were equal, condemned any two-
legged person, and prohibited human activities such as drinking alcohol, wearing clothes, and
sleeping in a bed. He soon broke these rules by drinking whiskey, sleeping in a bed, and
engaging in trade with the human neighbors. Napoleon’s ideals start to switch as he and the
animals are no longer an equal. He has broken every commandment he initially set up. This
signifies the switch from an autocracy to a totalitarian state. A totalitarian state is, “…a form of
government that attempts to assert total control over the lives of its citizens. It is characterized by
strong central rule that attempts to control and direct all aspects of individual life through
coercion and repression. It does not permit individual freedom.” (Nkosi, 1995: 88). Napoleon
was initially just in control with everyone having the same freedoms.
Now, Napoleon has superior privileges and freedoms such as those prohibited by the
commandments. This is a “stab in the back” of his former government as he has complete control
to even “break the law”. Years later, Napoleon and the pigs eventually become more and more
human like such as walking on two legs and socializing with the human farmers. The
commandments were taken down. The final scenes show the farmers and pigs quarrelling over a
card game and realize they can’t tell which one is pig and which one is human. This shows how
easily power can corrupt a person or a group especially when autocracy and totalitarian policies
are implemented (Gutierrez, 1988: 90).
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Themes of Animal Farm coincide to many of the themes we have learned throughout the class.
For example, themes of the book include the danger of the naïve working class, propaganda and
intimidation from a government, and the corruption of socialist ideals (Marx, 1973: 20). The
book also coincides with chapter two’s goal question of group identity and how groups form.
When Old Major died, Snowball and Napoleon were the ones who brought the principles
together and to the whole farm. They deemed themselves the “leaders” since they were the
smartest of the animals and were good public speakers.
Napoleon threw snowball out before he could teach the animals to read which made it a lot easier
to trick them as they were illiterate. He used physical intimidation with the dogs to hold power,
but also used songs, poems, and commandments to “brainwash” them in the form of propaganda.
In the book it states, “Several of them would have protested if they could have found the right
arguments” (Orwell, 1949: 17). The animals wanted to protest but cognitively were inept.
Napoleon assumes leadership of the farm and declares there would be no more meetings. The
meetings signified democracy as every animal had a voice. He asserts that the pigs will now
make all the decisions for the good of every animal. The alliance of the pigs forms from the
group’s identities. They were the most intelligent and therefor can easily convince the animals of
anything and use their power for their own gain. Interests of the group subtly change from
equality for all animals into a hierarchical government protecting the weak from the “strong”.
Commandments soon change to side with the pigs instead of everyone.
For example, Napoleon changes “All animals are equal.” (Orwell, 1949: 3) To “All animals are
equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” (Orwell, 1949: 40). Napoleon also uses
security as a way to keep his power. He uses regime security with the dogs to protect himself and
his position in power. Squealer, Napoleon’s propagandist, justifies every action Napoleon does
to the other animals. He convinces them that he is a great leader and is making everything better
on the farm although most of the animals are hungry, overworked, and cold. Napoleon uses the
fear of the before times to scare the animals into working. He states, “Surely, comrades, you
don’t want Jones back?” (Orwell, 1949: 17).
In conclusion, Animal Farm not only was a satire of the Russian revolution but showed the
switch from a democratic-like state into a full-blown totalitarian state. George Orwell use
symbols and themes to convey his message across through allegory. The use of corruption,
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propaganda, and power confirms the similarities between the farm and the Russian revolution.
The gullible animals represent the un-educated mass laborers who are silent and afraid to speak
out. The pigs represented the communist government and how easily the masses can be
manipulated and taken advantage of. Animal Farm completely changed its’ government structure
within days, and this really shows you how fast it can all happen.
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References
Gutierrez, G (1988). A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Social Salvation. New
York: ORBIS.
Moyo, G.M (2010). Mythology and Allegory in Drama: A Comparative Study of Ben Jonson.
Lusaka: University Of Zambia.
Nkosi, L (1995). Reading Animal Farm: The New Novel of Post-Independence. New Jersey:
Africa World Press.