Animal Farm

Animal Farm by George Orwell is an allegorical work of fiction. Depicting rising revolt among the animals who wish to take over the humans the author wrote one of the best satire of the era. Animals who live in Mr. Jones farm are tired of serving human and find it very exploiting as they use animals for all their needs. Rebellion starts on the day when Mr. Jones forgets to feed the animals. Under the charge of two pigs Napoleon and Snowball animals thus plan to invade humans and take over the farm. The attempt is initiated by changing the farm's name to ‘Animal Farm'. Agenda raised was to seek benefits to four legged animals and other animals of the farm for which they selected ideals who got corrupted with passing time. The book reflects incidents and events that led to Russian Revolution in 1917 followed by Soviet Union's Stalinist Era. George Orwell who was a democratic socialist was in opposition of Joseph Stalin and Moscow-directed Stalinism result to which is a book like Animal farm- one of his best satirical fiction novel. About the author Eric Arthur Blair aka George Orwell was born in 25 June 1903. He was an English essayist critic novelist and journalist. His area of focus was awareness of social injustice and democratic socialism while he was in opposition of dictatorship. His works includes literary criticism fiction poetry and polemical journalism. Best known for the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) and Animal Farm (1945) George Orwell was ranked the second greatest British writers since 1945 by The Times. A Children’s Bookshelf Selection Each month our editor’s pick the best books for children and young adults by age to be a part of the children’s bookshelf. These are editorial recommendations made by our team of experts. Our monthly reading list includes a mix of bestsellers and top new releases and evergreen books that will help enhance a child’s reading life. Review True Agony of a Socialist Orwell is obviously angry at the way Socialism has been distorted by Stalin. Using Animal characters as symbols Orwell honestly mocks and criticizes the Russian leadership under Lenin. It is a very easy to read book giving good perspectives on the Socialist Revolution. --Abhishek Kona Aug 22 2011Animal Farm is a satirical allegory on the Russian Revolution. Orwell explains it It is the history of revolution that went wrong. It tells the simple and tragic story of what happens when the oppressed farm rebel to attain freedom from Mr. Jones. It is about their attempt to rule the farm themselves on the basis of equality. The animals had initially aimed to form a utopian society where each would work according to his capacity respecting the needs of the others. But they failed to do so. And Animal Farm ended up being a dictatorship of the pigs that were the brightest but did no physical work in reality. The main action of the story stands for The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the early years of the Soviet Union. Animalism is a metaphor for Communism. Manor farm is an allegory of Russia Mr. Jones is Russian C-Zar Old Major stands for Karl Marx and Snowball represents Leo Trotsky. Napolean stands for Stalin while the dogs are the secret police. The horse Boxer stands for the working class which works constantly for the greater good while Squealer is the propagandist. The novel is skillfully organized and presents the horrors of communism through simple story-telling. It presents what propaganda and brain washing do to the people living under the dictatorship. How the fickle minded people were swayed easily by the pigs who managed to reverse the seven commandments and reduce them to Four legs good two legs better . I would recommend this book to everyone above 14 years of age who has some knowledge about communism or a hint of what happened during the Russian Revolution of 1917. The book is gripping as there is always something happening.