Tolog Recommendations: Animal Farm

Animal Farm
by George Orwell
Literary Fiction, Allegory

reviewed by Kari Savoie
class of 2017

Animal Farm by George Orwell was a phenomenal book that I will always think about as one of the best novels that I have ever read. From the first page of this short but sweet novella, I was immediately captivated by the chilling plot that is bursting from the seams with creativity. For a book of only 141 pages, Orwell still manages to pack a punch into the messages and themes of Soviet communism, rank, and the power of language, which still have meaning and intense power today.
The Manor Farm, run by the dictator Jones, was taken over by the belligerent animals working on it during an event that was referred throughout the entire book as the “Rebellion.” Organized by the boar Old Major, the Rebellion causes Jones to flee the property and instills principles of “Animalism” and the “Seven Commandments Of Animals” into the horses, cows, sheep, pigs, and all of the animals that were now free on newly named Animal Farm. Orwell masterfully weaves ideals of Soviet communism into this extraordinary allegory of the Russian Revolution. From reappearances of humans on the farm to battles, Animal Farm keeps its readers hooked to the unpredictable plot by juxtaposing human behaviors with those of animals. Things seem to be running very smoothly on the farm after the Rebellion because the animals are happily working long hours, receiving larger rations of food, and an electric windmill is being constructed to remove a good amount of manual labor. Everything begins to tumble downhill as the “comrades” begin to violate their own rules (wearing clothes, sleeping in a bed), become dictators themselves, and turn Animal Farm into the horrible, tyranny-filled, place that it once was. Animals become ranked once again and some animals even attempt to leave to a few of the neighboring farms. Will the power of language and tyranny take over the farm or can the animals put everything into perspective and maintain hold of Animal Farm? If you liked Night, you'll love this book! I have this opinion because like Orwell, Wiesel manages to convey some of the most powerful images that I have ever read in a book in only about one hundred pages in his Holocaust memoir.