Animal Farm by George Orwell


**Spoiler Warning**
Hey guys,
Some time ago, I read the book Animal Farm, written by George Orwell. One of many of his
political books, Animal Farm offers a humorous view of communism, written during World War II,
representing communists as pigs on a farm, taking over the other animals through a long and
gradual process

I started reading this book because I saw it was small, and I didn’t think it would be very hard. I was
partly right, but what ended up hooking me was Orwell’s way of incorporating comedy into a
complicated and risky political argument.

The story starts off with a somewhat confusing scene, in which a meeting between animals
takes place. Some pigs have decided that they are tired of their ruler, the farm owner, so they plan to
overthrow him. Funnily enough, they manage to push him off the property, and take over. At first, the
animals are very happy, but not long after, some animals become power hungry, and want to have
control over the others. These animals create the political ideology Animalism. Seven
commandments, or rules are created that control the other farm animals. Over time, these
commandments are naturally, and inexplicably changed to just one. “All animals are equal, but some
animals are more equal than others.

Now for my review! 
Despite my previous praise, I did find the book’s general story/plot very predictable, and there was a
notable lack of plot twists. If the reader knows the historical consequences of communism,
they can predict almost the entire plot of the story, from it seeming great for the people, to the people
in charge eventually ruining it. Towards the end of the book, the story jumps forwards a couple of
years, and almost completely leaves the reader to fill in the blanks.

While these are negative factors, I still found that the book had many redeeming qualities.
The story was generally fun to follow, and did have some extra details that couldn’t have been
predicted straight away. The way that George Orwell gradually changes the characters' traits is very
believable and realistic. The reader is not surprised when a character makes a slight change, and
this makes the story very easy to follow. Along with this, there were many interesting characters.

My favorite character was Boxer. I found him very likable for may reasons. He is a hard working, strong horse that is just trying to stay out of trouble. He starts off as a worker, doing what everyone else is doing. As time passes, the leaders’ expectations of him grow, and he is forced to do more. Throughout this all, he never complains about anything. In the end, he ends up being betrayed. His whole story brings the reader on an emotional roller-coaster. 
Another character, the "villain" of the story, I found interesting was Napoleon. He was one of the original pigs that agreed with the idea of overthrowing and taking control of the farm. He was different from the other leader pig, Snowball. After a while, they both realized that only one of them could be the ruler. This is where Napoleon's strongest trait, determination, really comes out. He is so determined to be the ruler that he recruits dogs to kill Snowball.

One thing I noted that all of Orwell's characters have in common is that each has one strong trait. Boxer has his strength, while Napoleon has his determination. Another thing to note is that many of the characters or concepts have real life parallels, as this is a book based on communism. Notably, the farm represents Russia, Napoleon represents Stalin, and Boxer represents the public working class.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book, and would recommend it to anybody looking for an interesting and comedic political representation of communism. I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Thanks for reading, Ethan Roberts



Comments

  1. Icicle (Nate)October 11, 2019 at 5:41 PM

    As someone who read Animal Farm for school and got to learn about the political parallels in class, I think your review does an excellent job of describing the book. Like you, I enjoyed how effectively Orwell entwined comedy with politics. I also like your observation that each character has a strong trait--I didn't think about this when I read the book. Great review covering the important points of the novel!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cameron McGillOctober 13, 2019 at 9:41 AM

    I remember reading Animal Farm last year and although I can see why you feel the way you do about the book, I disagree with your final verdict. You acknowledged the problems with the book but unlike me you were able to accept those problems and enjoy the book. I'd say Animal Farm is a 2/5 book but again, I didn't give the book a chance and maybe it was a decent book. But despite my disagreement with your final verdict, I think this is a well written review that explains your thoughts and opinions in a well organized manner.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Charlie HechlerOctober 13, 2019 at 10:05 AM

    I myself have also read Animal Farm and your review pointed things out that I had not noticed, or remembered, while reading it. I don't remember any events too difficult to predict, but every time something major happened I was a bit surprised. I like how you summarized the book as well as its purpose. The way you explained the parallels between the book and the real world was very intriguing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wes LOctober 13, 2019 at 3:41 PM

    This is such a well written review! I love how you pointed out all of the specific personality traits of the animals, something which makes Animal Farm such a unique and interesting book. Your review would have convinced to to read Animal Farm if I had not have already read it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. NickOctober 13, 2019 at 4:13 PM

    I have read Animal Farm multiple times and have really enjoyed it because I find something new that I hadn't figured out the previous time whenever I reread it. I agree with you that since the plot is entirely based on the rise and fall of communism it becomes predictable at some points, but especially during my first read I still found it quite interesting and even though I know the plot well now I can still notice an increasing amount of references to communism especially how the pigs describe Animalism as amazing in theory, but then do not do quite what they said they would, often leaving the other animals confused. This is the main relation to communism as it makes sense to everyone in theory, but does not quite succeed in practice. Good review!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cpt. Jack SparrowOctober 18, 2019 at 6:57 AM

    Had I not already read Animal Farm, I would definitely read it now. The review gives all the important characteristics of the book and a concise review with a spoiler warning, which is always important. I never really noticed how each character has one big trait until you mentioned it here, and now I can see it clearly. Great review!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Gus MillerOctober 25, 2019 at 4:12 PM

    I have read Animal Farm multiple times in the past, but I did not have as well as an understanding of communism back then as I do now. I am now seeing how events in the book relate almost directly to communism, like how the farm represents Russia and Napoleon represents Stalin. I also agree with you that the book was predictable but still enjoyable at the same time. If I ever read Animal Farm again, I will try to notice the ways that the author is indirectly making the story represent communism. Great job with this review, and I hope to see more in the future!

    ReplyDelete

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