"Just Like Animals"

George Orwell’s Animal Farm: A Fairy Story is a political allegory symbolizing the Russian Revolution and Joseph Stalin’s totalitarian rule. The story begins on an orderly farm, Manor Farm, owned by a man named Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones did not treat his animals with high regard. He sometimes neglected to feed them, and took almost everything that they produced. This left the animals with next to nothing. Old Major, one of the pigs, gave a speech that pointed out all of the injustices that the animals had to live through: the chickens were forced to give up their eggs, the cows were forced to give up their milk, and the horses had to give up their young. In the end, all of the animals had to give up their lives. In the end, the horses were killed when their muscles were of no more use, and the pigs, sheep, and chicken were killed for their meat. All the animals on the farm had their place, until their so-called worth diminished, or until their work was no longer valued.

Old Major rallied the animals by saying that one day, the animals will rise up. On that day, all animals will be equal; all animals will be able to live and work side by side in a utopia. Old Major ended his speech by teaching the animals a song called “Beasts of England.” 

Old Major’s speech drew parallels with The Communist Manifesto, a political pamphlet written by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. The Communist Manifesto, analyzed the stark contrast between the bourgeoisie and proletariat class. It talked about how the proletariats were only valued for their labor, rather than their character. “Hence, the cost of production of a workman is restricted, almost entirely, to the means of substance that he requires for his maintenance, and for the propagation of his race” (Marx and Engles 2).

Old Major’s speech inspired a rebellion. The animals kicked Mr. Jones out, renamed Manor Farm to Animal Farm, and created the seven commandments designed to prevent the animals from becoming like Mr. Jones. These laws were set in place to prevent the animals from succumbing to their instincts to seek power, reestablish class privileges, and to allow their greed to taint their ideology. Thus, the start of a new era of “Animalism,” representing in Russia, an era of communism, began: 

1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal (Orwell 24-25). 

The pigs took a leading role in running Animal Farm. They were facilitating–rather than doing–the hard labor themselves. Readers can already see this utopia taking the first step to becoming a dystopia. They can already begin to see the pigs stepping into the bourgeoisie role, just like in Russian history. After the revolution in Russia, many people were still elevated in class. Meanwhile, the seven commandments were slowly changing to better suit the pigs. For example, the pigs moved into Jones's farmhouse, and started sleeping in beds, and the law that did not allow that, was replaced by: “no animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets” (Orwell 67). Along with this, the pigs convinced the animals that they were working for their own benefit. The pigs used fear as a method of control by threatening Jone’s return; there is nothing worse than his return. At least they were working for the benefit of themselves, rather than someone else. Those words, however, were not the truth. In reality, all of it was a lie: they were getting way less food, working much longer hours, and still not receiving the promised fruit of their labor. None of them were able to protest their pain, because no one could really remember what it was like before the revolution. The pigs changed the narrative, just like Stalin did in Russia. 

Eventually, the seven commandments that all animals lived by changed to one line: “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others” (Orwell 134). Totalitarianism, as a form of government, manipulated the communist economic ideology to better suit themselves. Communism became a tool for a totalitarian government to gain more control. 

I do not think that George Orwell wrote Animal Farm to undermine the values that drive communism. When he wrote Old Major's speech, it seemed like there was a pure intention in it. The original vision and values, alas, were poisoned by greed. The elimination of class became a distant dream; a select few continued to live with immeasurable wealth, while everyone else was in danger of starving. This was like in Russia, when Stalin allowed millions of people to die of starvation in order to become an industrial powerhouse. Stalin made his people work, even though they had nothing left to give. He took from his people what they were unable to provide. 

Animal Farm depicts that, in theory, the communism ideology may seem appealing to some people, but there are many variables that can cause corruption, namely greed for power. This book clearly depicted the Russian Revolution and the dangers of a totalitarian society, and how people can be manipulated just like animals.