Animal Farm is an allegorical fiction novel written by George Orwell, used to depict how corrupt leaders can manipulate those who are less knowledgeable into doing what they want. Orwell was alive during the time of the Russian Revolution, where Joseph Stalin had taken power away from Leon Trotsky and manipulated the Russian people into thinking that he is going to make Russia a better place; Stalin was just trying to get people to believe in his ideas, so that he could get them to do what he wanted. Since George Orwell watched these historical events take place, he wrote Animal Farm to inform the people of this time that they had been taken advantage of by these dictators, and that if they had been further educated, they would have noticed.

In the novel, Orwell uses the pigs to represent the more educated members of society and shows how they take advantage of the less educated animals. The horses on the farm, Boxer and Mollie, represent the working class in Russia during the early 1900s and how they believed whatever they were told due to their lack of education.

One of the pigs, Napoleon, becomes a dictator figure on the farm and manipulates all of the lesser animals to work for him and turn the farm into a paradise for the pigs. Once the smarter animals such as Benjamin, the donkey, who represents the working class, inform the other animals of what the pigs are doing they realize that they have been tricked into being the pigs’ slaves, but it is already too late.

Overall I felt that this book was a good example of how an excess of power can be turned into something bad. This book taught me that knowledge is important so that you can make decisions for yourself and know when someone is steering you in the wrong direction. I liked this book because it was entertaining to read about the fictional animals, but the moral of the story was also inspirational.

Animal Farm by George Orwell is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Animal Farm is a dystopian science fiction novella that draws inspiration from the Russian Revolution. The author George Orwell depicts a world in which the animals on the farm overthrow the farmers. The pigs are the leaders of the “coup” in which they create the Seven Commandments of Animalism, the most crucial being “all animals are equal”.

Life without the humans starts off well, but as the story continues it shows the descent of the original beliefs. The animals build a windmill to create their income and fund the farm. By the end of the story, the pigs are drinking amongst other human farmers. I found this concept very interesting. The idea is that in an attempt to create a better situation, the pigs became just like the people they despised. As even their motto got changed to “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”.

Orwell perfectly illustrates how as the oldest members of the original coup die, the younger ones begin to abuse their power. The symbolism of animals on a farm representing people in a society is truly brilliant. I read this for the first time in 7th grade. This classic is a 10/10 and I highly recommend it.

Animal Farm by George Orwell is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

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