Book Review: Animal Farm by George Orwell

What a fascinating book it is! It’s almost a shame that I had not picked up this book until so late even though I had heard so much about it. But I'm glad that I finally got to see why this book is considered a masterpiece.

First of all, this book is absolutely entertaining. Unlike many other ‘classic’ books where you can learn valuable lessons and have thought provoking moments but only by going through and enduring monotonous stories and abstract plots, this book gets straight to the point and is full of thrills, suspense, and surprising turns of events, while still offering valuable lessons transcending different eras. Its fast-paced plot never allows you to get bored. A fascinating scene after another, you are getting at the end.

I loved all the similes, symbolisms and metaphors George Orwell employed to analogize human issues. It’s well known that he wrote this book in the rise of dictatorships and totalitarianism, particularly at the emergence of Joseph Stalin, to warn people against them. The fact that Orwell's work, this one with another masterpiece 1984 (which I haven't read yet), is still offering very relevant messages to us makes me feel bitter.

Napoleon, a shrewd boar, is depicted as an evil dictator. He succeeded in building a society that works for him, at the cost of other animals' sacrifices, for some cases of their lives. He symbolizes leaders of oppressive and violent political system, presumably Joseph Stalin at the time. It's unclear whether his had planned to be a tyrant from the first rebellion, or he fell a victim to the hierarchical system he built - a victim in the sense that he missed a chance to be a noble and respected leader. Whichever the case, we have seen both in history.

Squealer - another pig that worked to serve Napoleon’s interests, was an important enabler of the suppressive regime. Squealer was the character I disliked the most in the book, more than I hated Napoleon. To me, Squealer symbolizes intellectuals and pundits who manipulate general public to support a malignant authoritative system because the system works in their favor. They understand what’s wrong and right, but personal winning is their first interest. The other animals weren't able to call him out as they weren't enlightened and educated enough to articulate their points.

Snowball is an unlucky boar who never had a chance to build an animal paradise he had envisioned. He was ousted right after their successful rebellion by Napoleon's schemes. After his expulsion, he became the biggest threat to their society (Animal Farm) serving as a major source of justification for many manipulative policies and political purges. Reading this reminded me of how Korean dictatorship and malicious political parties have used North Korea and national security as political tools.

I also couldn't help but wonder whether Snowball would have been any different if he had actually taken Napoleon's place and remained in power for a long time. Would he have been able to maintain his intent as pristine as it initially was? I would like to believe so, but isn't power too delicious to resist?

Boxer, a powerful horse devoted to the Animal Farm's causes, represents general public who believes in benevolence of their system willingly sacrificing themselves for greater causes. Boxer’s tragic death serves as a chilling lesson that how individuals could be deceived by manipulative elites and face unwanted fate unless they strive hard to be enlightened.

I particularly liked how Orwell used Commandments as an apparatus of the novel to show transformation of a system that started with good intentions to be something different over time. Napoleon and his enablers gradually brainwash other animals and revise Commendments in their favor, little by little. Through oblivion, other animals forget what the original Commendments were and accept whatever is offered to them.

I also liked the foreword written by Tea Obreht, a female writer born in Yugoslavia. She explains how much she cared about Benjamin (a cynical donkey), and how Benjamin’s attitude reminded her of older generations, who had to have a sense of a strict distinction of indoor talks from outdoor talks as a necessary survival kit under the oppressive political regime. Benjamin survived through by keeping himself alienated from the rest of the animal society and remained cynical throughout. I feel heavy-hearted as I imagine a situation where we are forced to weigh between our survival desire and desire to live with dignity and chances for self-realization.

The book ends with an eerie scene where pigs become an ally to humans and further become indistinguishable from them. The fact that Napoleon, once a revolutionary leader, ultimately became the part of the system he fought against gave me chills.

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys political satire, seeks moral lessons, or both.