There never seems to be a time when the writings of George Orwell appear outdated. Perhaps those who regard him as a prophet overstate their case from the beginning since there are many ways one could argue his stories don’t exactly reflect how society works. However, the essence or core principles of his stories are what remain most prescient, especially in our modern moment, where every day greets us with new chaos. For those who have read “Animal Farm,” this sentiment may be familiar to you.
While “Animal Farm” has certainly enjoyed its acclaim, it has been overshadowed by the no less brilliant “1984,” resulting in its status being degraded to a sort of elementary or middle-school-level reader. The novel itself, which Orwell referred to in its extended title as a “Fairy Story,” was written to imply the absurdity of our political history.
After a group of farm animals overthrow their human oppressor (Mr. Jones), Napoleon, Snowball and Squealer (the pigs) meet to determine the fate of their farm. They develop a theory that makes the prophetic dream of the prize-winning bore more practical: the farm animals would achieve perfect equality, and by banishing their oppressors, would simultaneously usher in the dawn of permanent human prosperity. Such an endeavor was the core goal of “Animalism.” No longer would the animals be ruled. From now on, they would rule themselves.
However, Napoleon, the model-Stalinist, instead wields his opportunism and uses the power vacuum to assume control and chase out the opposition (Snowball). What follows is a story eerily similar to the Stalin-era USSR. Napoleon stages purges and brutal executions of disagreeable animals, all while rewriting history to his advantage, changing the rules, and making those who were once comrades the irredeemable foes to be sought out. He constrains every aspect of life on the farm, blending the personal and the political until they are indistinguishable so that nobody is excluded, but more importantly, everyone is involved.
As Orwell does in “1984,” “Animal Farm” demonstrates how the abuse of language is the primary mechanism by which totalitarian regimes strengthen their grip on power. Seeing himself as the rightful ruler of “Animal Farm,” Napoleon, over the course of the story, hoards more and more from himself while the animals suffer at levels worse than before. He violates his own rules (modifying them after doing so) and ruthlessly punishes anyone else for doing the same. When the animals, ignorant themselves, take notice of these violations, they are unable to trust their own instincts and intuitions.
They attempt to protest but how can they when Napolean deliberately keeps them ignorant? Only pigs could be educated, just as they were the only ones permitted to sleep in the farmhouse, drink alcohol, walk on two legs, play cards, and make crucial decisions. The steady and constant erosion of equality, and the incessant reinforcement of arbitrary restrictions resulted in a generation of animals passing, being betrayed, murdered, and lied to while the next one accepted these circumstances as the by-product of a natural process.
This situation is the kind Orwell spent his life fighting against. Beyond Stalin’s terror, Orwell committed himself to resisting totalitarianism everywhere – from Franco’s Spain to British imperialism in Burma. His other works (notably his essays) are required reading if we are to understand “Animal Farm” in its proper context; that is if we are to comprehend what propelled Orwell to write the novel in the first place.
After a wealth of life experience, Orwell decided that rather than ideology, his concern would instead be political principle. The core essence of our humanity was, to Orwell, the sole enterprise worth taking seriously, especially when it came to our ability to think freely for ourselves according to information and language that was not intended to deceive us.
Such foresight is likely why such a bizarre story has so much credibility. Aside from the fact that Orwell writes prose like poetry, he is incredibly incisive and accurate in his descriptions. His dystopian novels make one oddly uncomfortable and alarmed at the alignment of the stories and our real lives. Perhaps, in reality, Orwell wanted to demonstrate that we are nothing more than animals. When one reads in the news daily how leaders blatantly lie and expect the public to accept it as truth and how verbal commitments to morality and reason are nothing more than bandaids covering desperate wounds, it is hard not to feel as if we find ourselves in a similar “Fairy Story.”
With the recent attacks on free speech and thought in America, it is hard not to be a pessimist. We now exist in a time of immense uncertainty and despair. Truthfully, that is the only sufficient description. However, reading Orwell makes one realize that if you have something worth fighting for, you must never surrender the ability to fight for it. Once the desire for freedom fades and is subdued permanently, it is only a matter of time before everything follows the same path.
Is Orwell an oracle? Of course not. While I do not think Orwell was an ideologue, I do not think he would cringe at the charge of being one-sided. After all, in his oft-quoted essay “Why I Write”, Orwell states:
“Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand it. It seems to me nonsense, in a period like our own, to think that one can avoid writing of such subjects.”
Maybe this one-sidedness warrants Orwell some criticism – especially since many think democratic socialism is susceptible to the same risk of devolvement as any other ideology is – but the space for critique is limited. Regardless of your ideology or affiliation, resistance to any form of totalitarianism is necessary, and perhaps through literature, we can seek new ground while improving the one we already stand on. If you want to understand how totalitarianism works historically, but also how it functions on a personal level, “Animal Farm” is essential. Do not die without reading this book.
Rating: 9.5/10
