Animal Farm

Animal Farm Full chapter Introduction

The animals of Manor Farm rise up after enduring unremitting oppression under human control. The animals form a plan to drive away the humans and establish a place to live freely and happily. Once liberated, they renamed farm, christening it “Animal Farm.” However, a pig named Napoleon appropriates the spoils of their revolution, and this egalitarian animal society gradually slides towards dictatorship. Under Napoleon’s watch, the animals’ lives are more miserable than ever; they have as little to eat as they did when humans were still in charge. Animal Farm is George Orwell's most famous political satire. The animals act out the conditions of a society under totalitarianism.

Overview | Chapter 1

Hi, welcome to Bookey. Today we will unlock the famous novel, Animal Farm.

George Orwell wrote this political satire in the form of a fable in 1945, giving it the title Animal Farm. The book shocked the world, fueling conflicts between capitalism in the USA and the socialism of the Soviet Union. The story triggered different responses from the two opposing ideologies.

In the capitalist countries of the West, the work was warmly received. People believed it was an objective evaluation of a socialist country and told the truth about its living conditions. Western societies embraced the story, and its popularity grew. Animal Farm was translated into more than a dozen languages, adapted for children, illustrated and turned into animated movies. Orwell himself became a spokesperson and arbiter of his time, with influential moral views and a linguistic style that influenced the works of many western novelists and playwrights of the 1950s and 60s.

However, in Communist Russia, the novel was regarded as anti-Soviet, anti-socialist, and was banned for many years. In fact, the book is widely regarded as a revelation of the dark side of Joseph Stalin's influence in the Soviet Union and an attack on totalitarianism across the world. In the preface to the Ukrainian edition, Orwell says that some elements of the plot were inspired by the historical facts of the Russian Revolution. During the Cold War, the United States actively used the book as a propaganda weapon against the Soviet Union.

So is this really an anti-socialist story? Why did it touch a nerve on both sides? Next, we will discuss the novel’s plot in three parts:

Firstly, we will explain the novel’s narrative framework. We will hear how the animals on the farm plan their revolution and what kinds of power struggle take place as the revolt gets underway. And how the ruler gradually starts to betray the revolutionaries.

In the second section, we will analyze the ideas this work seeks to convey and the symbolic representation behind the character of the various animals.

In part three, we'll talk about Orwell’s approach to writing, how his experiences changed his ideological views, and why he wanted to use animal imagery to illustrate his ideas.