Animal Farm

Mr. Jones was the owner of the manor farm. His farm animals were not happy under him. One day, an old pig called Willingdon Beauty (who was addressed as an old major) gathered all the animals on the farm for a discussion. He was respected a lot on the farm. So, all the animals obeyed him. The dogs, pigs, hens, pigeons, the horses Boxer and Clover, the white goat, the donkey Benjamin, and a white mare, Mollie, were the participants of the meeting. The old major addressed his fellows by claiming that the life of an animal is misery and slavery. It is not because the land of them is so poor that it cannot afford a decent life to those who dwell upon it. It is because nearly all the produce of their work is stolen from them by human beings. He mentioned that man is the only enemy for them. If they could remove man from the scene, then the root cause of hunger and overwork would be abolished forever.

He also added that man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, and he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals. He sets them to work, he gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving, and the rest he keeps for himself. He also insisted his fellow animals be ready for rebellion and remove man from their lives. He also sang the “Beasts of England” song to motivate the animals. The old major passed away three days after the meeting.

Days passed by. Mr. Jones was not having a good time with the farm. He was not successful, and he didn’t feed the animals properly. One day, when Mr. Jones got back, he immediately went to sleep on the drawing-room sofa. The animals were unfed till evening. At last, they could stand it no longer. One of the cows broke in the door of the store-shed with her horn, and all the animals began to help themselves from the bins. It was just then that Mr. Jones woke up. The next moment he and his four men were in the store-shed with whips in their hands, lashing out in all directions. This was more than the hungry animals could bear. With one accord, though nothing of the kind had been planned beforehand, they flung themselves upon their tormentors. Jones and his men suddenly found themselves being butted and kicked from all sides.

The situation was quite out of their control. They had never seen animals behave like this before, and this sudden uprising of creatures whom they were used to thrashing and maltreating just as they chose frightened them almost out of their wits. Mrs. Jones looked out of the bedroom window, saw what was happening, hurriedly flung a few possessions into a carpet bag, and slipped out of the farm by another way. And so, almost before they knew what was happening, the Rebellion had been successfully carried through: Jones was expelled, and the Manor Farm was theirs. They sang Beasts of England from end to end seven times running, and after that they settled down for the night and slept as they had never slept before.

Snowball and Napolean, the two pigs, took the leadership, and they renamed the Manor Farm to “Animal Farm." They introduced seven commandments that should be followed by all the animals.

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.

Now, the Animal Farm belongs only to the animals. They are set free. Now all their hard work will be only for them. They felt they had attained democracy under the leadership of Snowball and Napolean. Things were smooth in the initial days. But as the days progressed, problems started to emerge. The political game started among the leaders who were managing the farm activities. What happened next? Whether Animal Farm was able to sustain under the leadership of animals? Whether animals dream of getting rid of human beings support succeeded? The author engages the readers with all these intriguing questions.

Though the novel is imaginary, the author closely relates the characters and the plot to the real-world scenario. It helps us to correlate the slavery, democracy, rebellion, greed, and backstabbing happening around us. In the later part of the story, one of the key commandments, “All animals are equal,” would change to “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." This highly resonates with how selfish politicians ruin the people and how one’s greed towards power creates an imbalance in equality.

Overall, this book is one such masterpiece, highlighting the dark sides of political games and how they affect the innocent public. The author’s style of storytelling is highly appreciable, which keeps the readers on his track.

Do give it a read!