Animal Farm Themes Analysis Essay Example

Animal Farm written by George Orwell is a very famous piece of literature, and has been read in schools and elsewhere for quite some time. But why is it so loved and popular? I believe that this is because of how relatable it is to the real world and life itself. It has a very powerful meaning behind it. It was originally written about the Russian Revolution, but as it has been proven, history repeats itself, so this book will be relevant time and time again. It is an animal fable about a farm where animals start building a communism society, but it ends up being a dictatorship, hinting at the communists in the real world. This topic has and will continue to come up again and again in the real world and I believe that this fable does a fantastic job teaching about it. A theme in this story is oppression which is present in our history and today. The story also dictates how leaders can take advantage of people, which has most certainly happened in the past and even present. Lastly, Animal Farm shows us the potential dangers of good intentions. 

First and foremost, “All Animals Are Equal / But Some Are More Equal Than Others"  is a quite obvious form of oppression in the fable. Oppression is a topic which has come up in our history time and time again, and Animal Farm does a great job demonstrating the effects of it and how it could be happening and you don’t even know it. People have been oppressed because of race, gender, religion, sexuality and much more over the last couple centuries. In the novella it says “It was announced that from now onwards all barley would be reserved for the pigs.” (60) which clearly shows that the pigs were on a higher rank than all the other animals on the farm. The pigs had a lot more power than all of the other animals, just like oppression in the real world. Like racial inequality, which has been a large issue in our world, people of a certain race are denied educational opportunities and equality under the law. In the fable, animals are denied food, reading and writing classes and more because only the pigs could have them. Again, it says “Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer-except, of course, for the pigs and the dogs.” (67) which is simply another example of the inequality represented in Animal Farm. The real world has had so much oppression, and Animal Farm has only begun to explain and shine light upon some of it. 

Moreover, the book dictates how leaders can take advantage of people, which has most certainly happened in the past and even present. In the fable, the pigs take charge and take control of the less intelligent animals. They keep resources for themselves and don’t follow the commandments their late leader had once written. The fable states “He personally congratulated the animals on their achievement, and announced that the mill would be named Napoleon Mill.” (52).The animals on the farm had worked hard to rebuild this windmill, yet Napoleon took credit for it. Also, it says “ There lay a ladder broken in two pieces. Squealer, temporarily stunned, was sprawling beside it, and near at hand there lay a lantern, a paint-brush, and an overturned pot of white paint. The dogs immediately made a ring round Squealer, and escorted him back to the farmhouse as soon as he was able to walk. None of the animals could form any idea as to what this meant.” (57). Squealer took advantage of the fact that some of the animals were not very intelligent to change the commandments. There has been a pattern in our world of leaders taking advantage of their people, like Hitler, who took advantage of the German people’s fear and anger towards him in WW2. Napoleon took advantage of the other animals' fear of him and their lack of intelligence just as Hitler had. The effect that Napoleon had on these animals is very realistic and relatable to the real world. 

In addition to that, Animal Farm shows us the potential dangers of good intentions. The fable mentions “All that year the animals worked like slaves. But they were happy in their work; they grudged no effort or sacrifice, well aware that everything that they did was for the benefit of themselves and those of their kind.” (32). Yet, little do they know their hard work could turn into something terrible for them. It led to them being taken advantage of, as I mentioned in the paragraph above. I also believe that in the beginning, Napoleon had good intentions as well. He thought of ideas that could help the farm produce more food, and to allow them to obtain more money. But, the power went to his head and everything went wrong. There were murders, starvation and injuries, and Napoleon was becoming more and more power-hungry. Additionally, back to the beginning of the book, Old major had good intentions for the animals and the farm during his speech. He talked only about the animals thriving and Mr. Jones leaving, not of pigs deserving more and better treatment. “ Only get rid of Man, and the produce of our labour would be our own. Almost overnight we could become rich and free.” (7). Old Major only wanted better for the animals. This happening is very relatable in our world, and even in your regular life. Even if you do or start something with good intentions, it can lead to bad things happening. For example, European colonization. The Europeans, though it was a terrible idea in the first place, first wanted to colonize the new land for three things, God, glory and gold. They thought that providing new land to their people would make them rich, and be heroes. Which it did for some time, yet this ended in war and oppression to the people who first owned the land. This idea is presented in Animal Farm very well and is so relatable to the real world, which makes it much easier to create connections while reading. 

In closing, I believe that the novella Animal Farm by George Orwell is so famous and well-loved because of how it relates to the real world and because of it’s deep meanings. Topics such as oppression, taking advantage of people, and good intentions gone wrong are shown through a more interesting storyline that makes people want to learn about history. The novella creates its most powerful ironies in the moments in which Orwell depicts the corruption of the farm by those in power. History in our real world has proven time and time again that giving the wrong people power will end badly.