Animal Farm

George Orwell's "Animal Farm" is on pretty much every high school student's reading list. It was on mine, and now it's on Jake's. Not really remembering much of it (Swiss-cheese memory in the # 1 reason for my blog posts; so I can remember things), I decided to read it after Jacob did.



The book was Orwell's snub at Joseph Stalin, Soviet Union leader from 1941 to 1953. It deals with a farm where the animals revolt against the human farmer. They take over the land and start tending to it on their own. They start out with good intentions of all of them being equal, but as time progresses, the pigs (the smartest of the lot) keep imposing their own agenda, always saying it is best for the farm, when in reality, it just improves the pigs' lot.

It's sly, how slowly and sneakily the pigs work to twist things around. And it's sad how the rest of the population just goes along with it. No one questions it. They're all wiling "sheep." Well, almost. Some object, but those who do suddenly get branded as evil and get chased away, or worse, get killed.

Everyone is so busy following rules for their own good, they can no longer remember what it was like before the revolt. In reality, all the other animals are in a worse state than before they revolted against the humans, and sadly they can no longer tell the pigs apart from the humans anymore.


A lot to think about.