Animal Farm by George Orwell
“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”
Animal Farm is an allegorical novel, that helps shine the light on the difficulties of organizing a functioning governing body, how rebellions fail, and how political power corrupts many on the path to freedom.
Even though the book is primarily focused on criticizing the Soviet Russia of the time, the ideas in the book are truly timeless and every one of us should read it to better understand what are the possible downfalls of an ideology like communism.
You should by all means read this book for yourself. Below, I have written out my book notes, but I couldn’t cover hundreds of pages in just a couple of bullet points. That is why I highly encourage you to create your notes whilst going through the book, and for the time being use mine as a guide on what this book is about.
For more books check out Best Self-Improvement Books or Best Classic Books, and for a full self-improvement guide, you can also take a look at my Roadmap to Overman.
Book Notes
For a quick summary of the book watch the video below. It is a two-minute recap of the plot and if you read the book a long time ago, it is a quick and easy way to refresh your memory.
Themes
The inevitability of class stratification
Animal Farm highlights the human tendency to maintain and reestablish class structures even in societies that allegedly stand for total equality. The novella demonstrates how classes that are initially united in the face of a common enemy, as the animals are against the humans, eventually become divided once the common foe is vanquished. With Mr. Jones being exiled, a power vacuum emerges, paving the way for the next authoritarian figure to seize absolute control. The obvious division between intellectual and physical labor quickly comes to express itself as a new set of class divisions, amongst many others.
The problem of weak people
Napoleon isn’t the only cause of the decline of Animal farm. The fundamentally wrong attitudes of the book’s characters allow rulers like Napoleon to succeed. Mollie represents the kind of people who are so self-centered that they lack any political sense or understanding of what is happening around them. Boxer is the epiphany of the blindly devoted citizen whose reliance on slogans prevents him from examining in more detail his situation. Even Benjamin who seems wise, has done nothing to prevent the rise of Napoleon. He represents the closed-minded people who are so stubborn with their views of the world and the impossibility of change, that they never attempt to create change. In their minds change is impossible and they are not open to a change in perspective. But their core problem isn’t closemindedness. It is the lack of hope that is the fundamental problem. He has the power and intelligence to influence the outcome, but due to his hopeless views, he chooses not to. And so, his pessimistic prediction becomes reality. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy, and at the root of it all is the fact that he had no hope.
So if you are to take one thing from this whole summary it should be this: All you need to change the world is true hope (faith) that it is possible.
Religion and Tyranny
One of the important themes of the book is also the role of religion. It serves as opium for the people and is represented through Moses’ talk about Sugarcandy Mountain. At the midpoint of the book, the animals were still hopeful for a better future and therefore dismissed Moses’ stories of a paradise elsewhere. As their lives worsen, however, the animals begin to believe him, because they look somewhere to grasp for hope. For a better world than the one they live in. The pigs of course allow Moses to stay on the farm, because they know that his stories of Sugarcandy Mountain will keep the animals docile.
The abuse of language
A big theme that is shared both between Animal Farm and 1984, is the manipulation of language as an instrument of control. As a result of the constant changing of the rules, nobody is able to oppose the pigs without also opposing the ideals of the Rebellion.
The failure of intellect
Animal Farm highlights the fact that intelligence on its own means nothing. The pigs are identified as the most intelligent animals, yet their intelligence produces nothing of value, and instead, it is used to manipulate and abuse other animals. Benjamin is literate, but he refuses to read, showing that being intelligent is worthless without the moral sense of obligation to engage in politics and the courage to act. The dogs are nearly as literate as the pigs, but they have no desire to become anything more than mere followers.