I finally got to read Animal Farm after accidentally reading 1984 a couple of days earlier.
And finally, there are pigs.
In many ways, Animal Farm sends similar messages to 1984, although it is presented differently and emphasized from different angles. They are both depressing. While 1984 is overwhelmingly a world I wouldn't survive for even a day, Animal Farm is sort of limited by the characters, although they are adequate enough to represent many. The slacker and sneaky cats, the loyal dogs, intelligent pigs, hardworking horses, and the sheep! Holy carbonara, the sheep! From now on, if I want to quiet someone annoying who talks too much without a brake, I will bleat for fifteen minutes.
And that is the moral of the story, no? NO!
I am aware it was a controversial book at its time, it was rejected even though there was a book shortage, I quote, "which ensures that anything describable as a book will "sell" (hey, every cloud has a silver lining, sounds like a much better time to be an author!).
The book starts with wisdom, a rebellion idea from a pig named Major, who has made intelligent observations that animals would be better off without humans. The animals rebel and take control of the farm. They manage to come up with seven commandments, and of course, suspension of disbelief is needed: everything is working well.
Until the power struggle.
The story has everything: power struggle, unfairness, cheating, dictatorship, social division, hypocrisy, political bullshit, lies, lies, lies. It is great to send ideas in the form of an entertaining and simple story, yet it packs a lot of meaning into them.
One of the best scenes is the pig parade, I imagine spooky music with a dark background against the moon when the parade of two-legged pigs happens and the bright house casts long shadows as they walk by.
Like 1984, this book reminds me a lot of the current situation in North Korea. No freedom of speech, fact manipulations, dictator figures that you have to worship (or die), dictator figures that invent 'everything', manufactured emotions, fabricated enemies, and rules with fear. The dumber the society, the better it is for them. The poorer the society, the easier they are to control.
Boxer breaks my heart as he not only represents the hardworking class in society but in more specific areas, he also represents corporate cultures.
While it's a great book, it's very predictable. Most can see the ending from miles away, and most character limitations, as I mentioned in the beginning, are very two-dimensional. The main villain is an alcoholic greedy, horny liar. The intellectual would rather shut up. The kind-hearted ones are easily manipulated. The manipulator is without conscience and soul. The sneaky one voted on two sides, and skimping works. The blind followers are easily brainwashed and provoked on demand. And the narcissist is selfish.
In many ways, some things don't change. This book and idea remain timeless, as we also see this a lot in modern society, which is ridden with corruption and hypocrisy. The rise and fall of heroes, causes, and movements in all factors of lives. It happens way too often.
Rating: 4 cock-a-doodle-doos out of 5 Clean Tails Leagues
