Book Report on George Orwell’s Animal Farm

In today’s world, everyone has their beliefs whether it be religious or political. In today’s political world, things can escalate quickly. The past two elections have been quite tense and emotional for some, while others choose to simply ignore such tedious issues.

Welcome to George Orwell’s book that is a perfect depiction of a political fiction novel, “Animal Farm” where it depicts how society works in the real world. With the different characters including Napoleon being your corrupt politician that promises the public one thing and proceeds to do the exact opposite, Boxer is your average optimistic American who believes they will succeed if they put in the hard work, Benjamin who does not care for political affairs and decides he does not want to be a part of the system, and Squealer who gossips to the animals’ fake news about their situation and manipulates them into believing things that are false. One thing I absolutely love about this book is how the characters contributed to the overall plot. Although, there are a variety of plots in this book, the most prominent plot being the fact that Napoleon is a dishonest political figure who leads the animals with his best interest being his top priority. Napoleon’s strong character really caught my eye. Combine this with the astounding plot made me fall in love with this book with an exceptional score of a 9.6/10.

I personally loved the overall development of the characters, especially Napoleon. Napoleon in the beginning works with Snowball but ends up betraying Snowball for his own gain and later in the book, “As usual, Snowball and Napoleon were in a disagreement” (page 51) and, “Napoleon stood up and, casting a peculiar sidelong look at Snowball, uttered a high-pitched whimper...enormous dogs wearing brass-studded collars came bounding through the barn. They dashed straight for Snowball.” (pages 52 and 53). This shows that Napoleon purposely betrays Snowball by calling these killer dogs to chase Snowball out of the picture. He eventually develops into a more dictator-like character that bends the rules that were first created and betrays the animals for his own personal agenda by convincing the animals that they have to consistently work. There are some static characters throughout the book such as Benjamin or Boxer who kept their own ideologies and a few characters who die off or even leave the farm before they can develop such as Old Major or Snowball. What I was frustrated about was the animals being constantly lied to but as a result not changing and continuing to believe these lies even when there is evidence for it right in front of their eyes. Although, I believe that these characters are meant to represent how the public reacts to modern-day politics, I do believe that Benjamin the donkey as a character is somewhat separated from the others due to him not really caring about the political gravity of the situation. I feel as if this benefits him long term and shows the reader an alternative to if the other characters had reacted differently. Overall, I feel as if these characters’ truly blossomed in Animal Farm and I personally like that style. A good example of this being Napoleon who, in the beginning of the book, did not seem to pose a huge threat but towards the end he turns into this aggressive dictator who rules over Animal Farm completely disregarding what Animal Farm was originally about. We as the readers get a very 3-dimensional view on the more important characters which is really nice, I feel as if I was really put in perspective with the characters throughout the story. I also feel as if the characters truly tie to the development of the theme.

I believe that there are multiple themes to this book with the umbrella theme having something to do with society as a whole. One of the themes having to do with Benjamin the donkey and how he does not really care for Animal Farms political affairs which saves him in the long run, “Benjamin was the only animal who did not side with either faction.” (page 50) and, “For once Benjamin consented to break his rule, and he read out to her what was written on the wall… ‘All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.’” (page 134). I feel as if Orwell is saying that politics do not really matter because all these different ways to look at things sounds good in theory but when put into action it can take a toll on society such as the separation of the animals seen in the quote “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.” I also believe that the other theme involves Napoleon and the hierarchy of Animal Farm. The other theme being no matter how hard you work; your efforts may not be appreciated. Boxer gets sent off to be killed so that the hierarchy of the animals can get more bottles of whiskey. Boxer was an excellent worker who was very much dedicated to helping animal farms, all to be sold off and killed once the hierarchy did not need him anymore. This scene in the book by far was one of the most emotional ones due to my attachment to Boxer throughout the story, “‘Boxer!’ cried Clover in a terrible voice. ‘Boxer! Get out! Get out quickly! They’re taking you to your death!’” (page 123). This shows that no matter how hard Boxer worked, he was still sold off for Napoleon and the pigs’ gain. Boxers death helps contribute to the overall plot of this book.

  And last but not least, the plot of Animal Farm. I feel that Orwell made the plot relate to reality in a sense with each animal representing something or someone within society today, such as the animals (other than pigs and dogs) representing the working class as Pilkington says towards the end of the book, “If you have your lower animals to contend with...we have our lower classes!” (page 138). This shows the reader that this book is meant to reflect the flaws within society, such as the lower classes working as hard as possible without receiving fair treatment. Pilkington mentions that Napoleon is quite the genius for fooling the animals to work for little to nothing which leads into Napoleon’s persona. Napoleon's very dictator-like ruling helped thicken the plot along with Squealer (Who, is a very nice touch to this plot) who enforces these issues (ex: changing the 7 “rules” of animalism, spreading fake news around the farm, lying to the animals, etc.) Squealer seems to represent different news companies that push their own agendas to the public by giving out fake stats, news, or overall biases of their own. This is proven when the windmill was knocked down, Squealer claimed it was due to Snowball because he was trying to sabotage Animal Farm. The resolution was not the solution I was personally hoping for because I feel as if the animals ended up back at square one after all they sacrificed but the resolution represents society as a whole. In my opinion, I believe that the working class is in fact taken advantage of by hierarchies. Boxer, being a very loyal and devout worker on this farm, realizes this before he is sold off to get slaughtered in trade for whiskey for the hierarchy of animals. This represents a betrayal. The book highlights that betrayal because after all Boxer has done for the farm, once he was not capable enough to work anymore, he was sold off for the benefit of the hierarchy.

In conclusion, Animal Farm is a true masterpiece when it comes to books. This book has very intriguing characters and plots in it along with an astounding theme that speaks volumes in today’s world. Orwell did an excellent job with getting his message across to his audience with a story to tell behind it. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in finding a good read. I can confidently say that I was truly engrained in this book.