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Overview

Animal Farm is the most famous by far of all twentieth-century political allegories. Its account of a group of barnyard animals who revolt against their vicious human master, only to submit to a tyranny erected by their own kind, can fairly be said to have become a universal drama. Orwell is one of the very few modern satirists comparable to Jonathan Swift in power, artistry, and moral authority; in animal farm his spare prose and the logic of his dark comedy brilliantly highlight his stark message.

Taking as his starting point the betrayed promise of the Russian Revolution, Orwell lays out a vision that, in its bitter wisdom, gives us the clearest understanding we possess of the possible consequences of our social and political acts.

Editorial Reviews

Edmund Wilson
Absolutely first-rate...comparable to Voltaire and Swift. -- The New Yorker
More Reviews (1) Fewer Reviews
From Barnes & Noble
Tired of their servitude to man, a group of farm animals revolt and establish their own society, only to be betrayed into worse servitude by their leaders, the pigs, whose slogan becomes: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." Published in 1945, this powerful satire of the Russian Revolution under Stalin remains as vivid and relevant today as it was on its first publication. Including Orwell's proposed preface to the original edition and his preface to the 1947 Ukrainian edition, this special edition also features a series of magnificent color & black and white illustrations by Ralph Steadman.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780451526342
  • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
  • Publication date: 4/28/1996
  • Format: Mass Market Paperback
  • Edition description: 50th Anniversary Edition
  • Edition number: 50
  • Pages: 176
  • Sales rank: 352
  • Lexile: 1170L (what's this?)
  • Series: Signet Classics Series
  • Product dimensions: 7.48 (w) x 10.90 (h) x 0.46 (d)

Meet the Author

GEORGE ORWELL (1903-1950) was born in India and served with the Imperial Police in Burma before joining the Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War. Orwell was the author of six novels as well as numerous essays and nonfiction works.

Table of Contents

How to study v
How to use this guide ix
Key to icons x
Background 1
The story of Animal Farm 5
Who's who? 10
The main animal characters 10
The other animals 19
The humans 21
Themes 23
How to get to the top 23
How to tell lies 25
The uses of literacy 28
Down with "isms" 29
Language, style and structure 32
Just words? 32
Do we laugh? 33
The structure of the novel 34
The use of repetition 35
Commentary 37
Chapter 138
Chapter 241
Chapter 344
Chapter 448
Chapter 551
Chapter 655
Chapter 758
Chapter 862
Chapter 966
Chapter 1071
Topics for discussion and brainstorming 77
How to get an "A" in English Literature 79
The exam essay 80
Model answer and essay plans 81
Glossary of literary terms 84
Index 86

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 2382 )

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 2291 Customer Reviews

  • Posted September 12, 2009

    I Also Recommend:

    9781432741150 9780312367466 9780451524935

    Must read

    Animal Farm is about the animals on a farm uprising and throwing out their unjust owner in order to run the place themselves. It is a thinly-veiled jab at tyrannical regimes and succeeds tremendously. I breezed through this one and honestly could find nothing wrong with it. The characters are all believable and quite a few are even highly likable. My favorite is the horse Boxer who is renowned for his strength, both of body and character. You have to kind of suspend your disbelief when reading Animal Farm because of some of the things that happen, but it is well worth it. The animals decide that the humans get all of the benefit for their hard work and they are tired of it. Led by two pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, they overthrow the humans. I won't give a bunch of spoilers, but the story unfolds in such a way as to show how a dictatorship comes to be and how the animals went from one form of slavery to another. I also think the character Squealer was done extremely well as far a propaganda man(pig). By the end of the tale, you can see and understand everything that has transpired and the moral stands on its own without you needing to be bashed over the head with it. For a great fairy-tale about the dangers of socialism or any other kind of bad government ending with "ism", look no further than Animal Farm, where "All animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others."

    15 out of 17 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 29, 2009

    Today's parallels are astounding

    Classic, he was way ahead of his time. Of course evil and lies lurk in our everyday lives. You can see the parallels in today's politics, a must read for everyone and keep your eyes open, freedom is not free-nothing is given to you without consequences read between the lines.

    9 out of 10 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted July 3, 2009

    It is the time of the Pig Regime!

    It is the time of the Pig Regime! Animal Farm is about the animals working together to overthrow their often drunken and oppressive owner, Mr. Jones. Their action is inspired even more by Old Major, a prize winning pig, who ends up dying just before the animals' revolt. Later on, the pigs are given power over the other animals because they are thought to have more intelligence than the other animals. The choice that the animals make to put the pigs in charge symbolizes the rise of communism in Russia after the 1917 revolution. The animal that I admire most in the novel is Snowball. The reason why I admire Snowball so much is because he is such a good speaker and is so interested in making the animals' lives better by trying to educate them and pass his knowledge on to them. Snowball's beliefs represent the start of communistic beliefs, similar to those of Leon Trotsky, and Old Major's beliefs are similar to those of Vladimir Lenin. When Snowball is overthrown and exiled by Napoleon, a power hungry Berkshire boar, Napoleon himself takes over the Animal Farm and changes its name to The Manor Farm. Napoleon rules like a dictator and tyrant, and his actions and character traits are an allegory of Joseph Stalin during his rule of the former Soviet Union. Napoleon twists and turns the original rules that were there before his regime to support his wants. When the animals try to revolt against Napoleon or make any uproar about his judgment, they are killed, exiled, or both. After a short period of time, the animals realize that Napoleon is truly a cruel ruler.
    I recommend this novel for people who enjoy reading fictional books that are based on true life history. The use of animal characters to represent people and the heavy use of symbolism make Animal Farm an educational book. Animal Farm is also a book about the struggle for independence, freedom, and justice. Some of the main ideas in Animal Farm can even be used in real life situations. Animal Farm enforces this belief that, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Under Napoleon's regime, things become absolutely corrupt and cruel for the other farm animals. Most of the farm animals believe Napoleon at first when he says they will have a more productive and better life with him as their leader than they would have had when Snowball was their leader. Napoleon's actions and those of the remaining pigs, however, prove to be different than what the other animals expect.

    6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted October 29, 2008

    The perfect political fantasy.

    Change can sometimes be good, but not in this case. At first glance, George Orwell's book "Animal Farm" might seem like a book for children but as I read the story, I began to realize it was based on the Russian Communist Revolution. It's purely political as well as fantasy, considering the characters are animals. George Orwell says "it is the history of a revolution that went wrong" and he was absolutely right. Leaders have a tendancy to get too comfortable with their authority and begin to take advantage of it. The novel explains the many things that can go wrong when someone decides it's time for a change.
    "Animal Farm" is the story of a group of animals living in a farm under human authority. Once manipulated into believing Mr. Jones is evil, as well as all the human race, the animals decide to rebel. They come up with seven commandments that they are expected to live by:
    1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy;
    2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend;
    3. No animal shall wear clothes;
    4. No animal shall sleep in a bed;
    5. No animal shall drink alcohol;
    6. No animal shall kill any other animal;
    7. All animals are equal.
    The rules were set and they were final. They drive out the farmer and start to feel as if all authority is gone. Just as fast, the pigs decide they are the ones most fit to be in charge. Sure enough, authority begins to be abused and misused. The pigs treated the animals as if they were above and better than them. They started living in the farmers home, sleeping in the beds and there were even rumors of murder! The other animals were forced to work harder while the pigs sat around and did absolutely nothing. Everything was all too familiar but if you decided to speak up or go against the pigs, you were gone.
    I could definitely recommend this book to others because it's very interesting and easy to comprehend. It illustrates manipulation at its worst. Before reading this book, I didn't care much for politics but after I realized everything that could go wrong, it motivated me to be aware of any leader's words and actions. It brought me to the realization that just because it sounds good doesn't always mean go with it because it's easy to be manipulated when the words they're speaking sound right. Change isn't always for the better, even if that's what they're telling you.

    6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted May 19, 2010

    Great Story Line And Interesting Till the Very End.

    Animal Farm Review
    "Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals." ~George Orwell, Animal Farm. In the beginning of this book George Orwell shows how the humans are in control of the Manor Farm, then as the story progresses we see the animals take over and thus Animal farm is born. The book then goes on to show how the animals work together at first and then the pigs start to take control and from there the reader is taken on a rollercoaster of deception, betrayal, war, and much more.
    The writer gets his point across beautifully; he shows how a utopian society was impossible. An example of how he did this would be, that even once the animals got rid of the humans, the pigs stepped in and took control and started dictating, slowly and unnoticed by the other animals. As the story progresses there is a point where an overthrow is tried and succeeded. Then the commandments which were set when Animal Farm was first started were slowly altered ever so slightly that the animals were convinced that they just imagined the real commandments.

    The writer also shows how war was inevitable in order for the animals to keep their farm, also proving a world without war impossible. Like in the battle of the cow shed which was a big turning point in the story. Up till that point Mr. Jones had been planning to strike the animals on the farm and by doing so recover his farm back. But the animals had expected this and therefore readied themselves for it, so when Mr. Jones tried to win his farm back the animals had plans to run him off yet again thus the Battle of the Cow Shed. When the animals won this battle they proved to the humans and themselves that they were independent and would be able to fight to keep their freedom.

    It is my opinion that George Orwell stated fact well and made it interesting for the reader to read and also to interpret. He showed dictatorship at its beginning unthreatening, helpful, and hopeful and then the lust for ultimate power comes through and dictator! He shows suffering, hard work and unawareness. He showed what was wrong with society in that day and much of it still applies today, and did it all in a way that it could not be directly tied to the government. His words were beautiful, a book of great meaning and interest.

    So it is my opinion that George Orwell was a talented person of thought. The book at times made you feel as if you were there, it was fiction but yet comparable to real life, it showed many types of behavior, thoughts, and what one will do in a given situation and more. All in all the point of the book came across loud and clear.

    4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 30, 2008

    Animal Farm review

    When I first started reading Animal Farm, I didn¿t really understand what they were talking about. Once you really get into the book, you figure out quickly what the book is really about. Animal Farm is about equality, mistreatment, and rules and commandments that even the leader couldn¿t follow. Also, it is about how you can¿t always trust who is in charge nor has authority over something. George Orwell did a great job on pointing out the fact that these animals were mistreated. If they didn¿t follow a commandment or did something the leader didn¿t like, then they could face severe punishment, or even death. The leader, Napoleon, couldn¿t always follow the commandments himself. When he failed to follow them, he would change them so that he couldn¿t be held responsible for breaking them.

    The Animal Farm has a big goal they were trying to reach. As they were trying to get towards that goal, they hit a few bumps. They really learned what kind of unfair leader they had. They finally found out what happened with Snowball, their old leader. They wondered why they were treated so horribly and what they did to deserve it. Which in reality, they did nothing. It was all because they had a selfish leader and they trusted him. The way George Orwell described everything, I could picture everything that was going on in the book. I understood a little bit more of what was going on and how serious these animals were. They were exhausted. Overworked, they weren¿t fed well, didn¿t have any say so in anything. All they had were these commandments to live by:

    1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy;
    2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend;
    3. No animal shall wear clothes;
    4. No animal shall sleep in a bed;
    5. No animal shall drink alcohol;
    6. No animal shall kill any other animal;
    7. All animals are equal

    These rules weren¿t always fair but the animals took them seriously as well as the leaders. They had a song they sang that was in memory of their old leader. They sang it all the time and thought about their deceased member. Eventually, that was also banned from the farm and so were many other things. If you think that the world is not fair, why don¿t you just read this book and then you will really understand what is unfair and what rules that we need are. All you have to do is look at these animals. They had a desire for change burning in their hearts and would do anything to get there. Change can be for the good, which is what the animals wanted. But the downfall of that is, that change can also be for the bad, which is what happened in the story.

    4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 26, 2000

    Orwell stands beside Swift, Voltire, and Thackery.

    A great satire on conumissiom. I am 10 years old and I enjoied it. It is about a group of hard working farm animals, how they rebell, and how things do not go so well after it. Better than the t.v. movie!

    4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted February 7, 2012

    Interesting Read!

    “Animal Farm” by George Orwell was a creative masterpiece. Orwell tells of a farm that is overcome by animals. The animals must face many difficult choices as they begin to build their own community. Things that the animals must face once they begin their new society include: leadership (who will be their 'leader' and help guide them in the right direction), profit (ways for the farm to continue making money even once the humans are upset with them), and society matters (including what buildings will be built and what jobs need to be done). Throughout the novel, the animals must face many ups and downs. I believe that Orwell isn't just telling a novel for enjoyment purposes, but also to describe how society is. He tells the story of animals controlling a farm because its creative and catches your attention, but the bigger picture is that he tells what happens once we elect an official for our government. I feel that if you want to do something, you can do it as long as you believe that you can, but I also believe that there could be unintended consequences. For example, the animals thought they could take over the farm and they did, but there were also consequences like times when there wasn't enough food for everyone or not enough money. This was a very interesting novel that covered many important points that are still problems with out government today. Just because you think someone is saying the things you want to hear and society hasn't crashed and burned doesn't necessarily mean that they are telling the complete truth. An example being how some animals are being treated differently than other animals on the farm and how the jobs are divided amongst the different 'classes' of animals. A point that doesn't have to do with government that George Orwell discusses in “Animal Farm” is trusting yourself. Some of the animals think that stuff seems to be changing, but they keep it to themselves. George Orwell's novel has opened my eyes: sometimes things aren't what they seem, if you think something seems different or off, mention it to others; they might be thinking the same thing. You guys could step it up and help bring a better change! This is a great novel that should be read by young adult readers because not only does it get your attention and make you want to read the novel, but it makes you think about society in the novel and how society is where you live. “Animal Farm” is a must read for both animal lovers and people who enjoy politics alike! Great job George Orwell!

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted January 12, 2012

    recomended

    Animal farm is the story of a group of animals that live on a farm. The farm is run by James, a heartless human that abuses the animals. Old Major, a pig, who is the leader of the animals, gives a speech and tells the other animals that he is getting week and that he is close to death. Dying shortly after, the animals gain the confidence to take over. The animals run James out and start to run the farm by themselves.
    The remaining pigs on the farm become the leaders. The first thing that they do is make 7 commandments that Old Major had mentioned in his speech before he died. The pigs end up abusing the power once they are the leaders and end up breaking all 7 commandments by the end of the story. After each time another animal would find out about them not following the commandments, they would make slight changes so it would look as if they had done nothing wrong. Understand that there are talking animals but this is no cute story. I would recommend this book to any middle school, or high school student who has an interest in animals and stories of betrayal.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted December 10, 2011

    Animal Farm - a highly interesting read

    The novel Animal Farm is a very interesting book. It speaks of rebellion and dictatorship, freedom and oppression. In this book, George Orwell writes of a farm on which animals are oppressed and worked mercilessly without enough food. One of the pigs decides that the animals should revolt against their owners to create the perfect society ruled by those who stand on four feet.
    When the rebellion succeeds, a government is established with a pig called Napoleon as the head of the so called ¿Animal Farm,¿ the name the animals give Manor Farm after taking over. However, power tends to corrupt, and the utopian society doesn¿t stay perfect for long.
    One interesting part in Animal Farm was when the humans return to the farm and try and reclaim it, but fail. I think this symbolizes that when the old form of government tries to return, it finds that the new system is too strong to replace.
    Another notable scene is when Napoleon changes the seven commandments written on the barn wall to suit his own purposes, instead of for the good of the whole farm. The animals, most of who cannot read, ask the old goat to remind them what the laws say, and when they have been altered, blame themselves for having a bad memory and simply forgetting a few words here and there, though they alter the meaning of the rule considerably.
    I think the most important part in Animal Farm is located at the very end, when the pigs walk on two legs, carry whips, and play cards with humans. It was said that they looked almost the same. I think this signifies that although the animals had created a new government, it had turned out to greatly resemble the old one that they had so despised.
    I think the author of Animal Farm was trying to depict the Communist government and rule in a way that is somewhat satirical, and he did a very good job on this through renaming historical figures and representing them as animals to add to the effect of the governments being different, at least in the beginning. Animal Farm is an interesting book, full of meaningful situations and characters, and well worth reading.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted November 22, 2011

    I Also Recommend:

    9780380973835 9780156027779 9780316051637

    A wonderful book!

    ¿It¿s a bird! It¿s a plane! No, it¿s an animal rebellion!¿ Animal Farm is an incredibly interesting book that focuses on highly intelligent, easily persuadable farm animals taking charge and seeking freedom and higher animal rights. By hearing the final words of a dying pig and former animal leader of the farm, the farm animals decide to rebel against the human who runs the farm and physically kick the farmer out of his own farm! And thus, the animals declare war against the humans, and the revolution has begun. Can the farm animals succeed with their quest to overthrow the humans of the world and take their place as leaders of the world? Or will the rebels be destroyed from the inside?

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 19, 2011

    False Utopian

    The perfect animal society made of the animals, by the animals, for the animals. Can such a utopian really exist? The animals of Manor Farm were sick of being mistreated by their drunkard owner Mr. Jones; Old Major gave them a vision of a new life where animals roamed the fields free of humans. Humans were the cause of so much despair for the animals; they took away and sold their young, and killed them for food and bones when they got to old. So, the animals started the Rebellion in order to free themselves. Animal Farm was a dream that became a reality, but soon turned into a nightmare, the superiority the pigs were bestowed with was horrific. Throughout the farm deception and lies spread, and each passing day became worse than the last. There can be no such thing as a utopian society in this world. Old Major left the animals with few laws of Animalism, laws that were too easily broken. Napoleon went against everything old Major believed in and envisioned. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy; then the pigs began to walk on two legs. No animal shall wear clothes; then the pig wore the clothes of their old master Mr. Jones. No animal shall sleep in a bed; the pigs not only wore the clothes of their past tyrant, but slept in the same bed. No animal shall drink alcohol; this became no animal shall drink alcohol to excess. No animal shall kill any other animal; Napoleon held a public execution. All animals are equal; but to Napoleon, he is considered more equal than others. People who take power become corrupt and blinded, they don¿t see how they look to others, they only see the pleasure of the fear in their eyes. They treat those under them like slaves, they lie to them and hurt them. Napoleon was no different, he went behind his comrades backs, he lied to them in such a way, it is unforgivable. Napoleon became not only a dictator, but he became a human. There can be no such thing as a utopian society in this world.

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  • Posted November 2, 2011

    An amazing book for most ages - fantastic read!

    Many authors strive to make their books wanted, read and most importantly, passed on for others to read. Animal Farm has done every one of those, and more! Animal Farm is a clever mix of comedy, adventure, action, tragedy and many other genres. What starts out as a calm regular old farm ends up being taken over, while all of the animals face the challenges of their own, but is it too much to put in the hooves of these farm animals?

    Now, I feel that the two best parts of this book are The Battle of Cowshed, and when Napoleon chases Snowball away. Those two parts really affected the story by a great amount, and are both mentioned many times further in the book. In The Battle of Cowshed, the humans invaded the Animal Farm with intent to retake it. Though the animals did end up chasing the humans back off, the hard-working horse named Boxer had knocked out one of the younger humans, and he had an iron hoof on. Luckily just a little later, the human came to and ran off. The animals do refer back to The Battle of Cowshed many times in the book, some good memories, some not so good memories.

    When Napoleon chases Snowball away from the Animal Farm, it almost sent the plot of the book spiraling in the opposite direction, because at that very moment, the bad guy who wanted everything for himself was standing there before them as leader of the Animal Farm. Yes, I am talking about Napoleon, the ruthless leader who defies all Animal Farm rules. Now that Napoleon is in charge and Snowball is nowhere to be seen, things are supposed to be getting better, right? Because Napoleon has great ideas, and just wants what's best for the farm. Nope, that's not the case for this rascally little animal. He takes over the farm and, well you'll have to read the book to find out.

    I would recommend this book to everyone 10 and up, because it does have one or two gory partswhere the dogs rip out the throats of multiple animals, but overall it is an amazing read which would be perfect for the family to read together. After this essay, I would still say that my favorite parts of this book would definitely be The Battle of Cowshed and the part where Napoleon chases Snowball away. This book is an amazing creation, and I would definitely recommend this read for families of almost all sorts of ages, young or old.

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  • Posted November 2, 2011

    Overall okay book

    To start things off, The book I will be giving you a review on is Animal Farm written by George Orwell this book takes place in a time period which is unknown it does not take place during any historical events making it hard for the reader to figure out the time period. The setting is an imaginary farm in England. Thought this book you will see a lot of conflict, conflict associated with all characters. Old Manor a well-known boar on the farm gathers all the animals one evening telling them how great life would be if Mr. Jones and his men did not rule them forcing them to do hard work giving them little or no food. The animals were all tried of this so they listened to Old Manor and decided they would form a rebellion against him. Sadly three days later Old Manor died, with this tragic event behind the animals someone had to take charge so three pigs named Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer decided to step up and make this rebellion happen and stop Mr. Jones and his men once and for all! The rebellion was a success and the animals had the farm all to themselves just like they wanted, one day Napoleon and Snowball got in an argument over building a windmill so Snowball got expelled from the farm. After Napoleon reflected he realized that maybe he should build a windmill, Shortly after production started the animals find that the windmill had been destroyed by a storm. Napoleon begins to expand his powers changing history, making snowball the villain. Time passes and the animals of the farm start to act like humans more and more making the seven commandments once written on the wall a total blur.

    To continue, My personal opinion is that the book should have had more sparkle, and better attention grabbers I sometimes found myself getting a little bored. In the first few chapters it was a little boring but once the book got some action it was better, I think when Snowball got expelled from the farm the book really took off from there. This book overall was very good. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone younger then 9th grade do to the fact it may be hard to understand, a younger crowd may not understand the moral or lesson of the book. I enjoyed how in the book we learned animalism. I thought it was a cool way to introduce a topic that a lot of readers haven't seen before.



    In conclusion, I thought this book was pretty good I would give is a 3.5 out of 5 starts at points I think it could have been more interesting for the reader. Even with my feelings I would still recommend this book I think it taught a good life lesson. I think the author George Orwell is very educated even though this is the first novel I have read of his. I would definitely be interested in reading one of his other novels.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 1, 2011

    BEASSSSSSTTTTTT

    The Animal Farm was a very interesting book that kept me reading right until the very end. This book was about a farm called the Manor Farm. The farmer Mr. Jones was neglecting his animals because he was to drunk to care about his animals. Then one night one of the oldest animals on the farm shared his dream that he had the night before, his name was old Major. His dream was about when all animals roamed free and animals could have as much food as they wanted. Also he was saying that no animal should ever kill other animals because all animals are equal. Later that night old Major passed away. Then many months later the animals had enough of being treated badly so they started a rebellion against Mr. Jones and ran him off the farm along with his wife. The Manor farm was theirs. The rest of the story is about how the pigs take over and run the farm, and the struggles that the animals run into. Last the battles they fight with the farmers. A major event that happened in the story is when the farm built a windmill to run the farm and give the farm electrical power. The animals had worked countless hours dragging rocks form the rock quarry. Almost a year of work had gone by building this windmill. Then the Mr. jones and a group of farms attacked and placed a dynamite in the windmill and blow it to pieces. This was a major setback. I believe that is book was wrote at a fast pace and that the languages in the book was very different form many other books I have read. This book does this in many ways starting behind the meaning of the book. From the research I have done on animal farm it is exposed to mock the Russian government. The book does this in many ways as to make Russian officials into pigs which we all know are very dirty not very smart creatures. Also the symbolism in the story is an extreme factor in the reading. Some of the symbolism is that of the animals, such as boxer the horse he represents the Russian working class he works extremely hard and for what communists to tell him good job and keep working? Some of the other animals are snowball and napoleon the represent Russian communist leaders at the time the story takes place. All of these features mold together to create in my opinion one of the best allegories of all time.

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  • Posted October 29, 2011

    A pretty interesting book, i highly recommend it for novel beginners.

    I really enjoyed reading it. Unlike most novels for kids, this one isn't boring. It's very fun, and highly entertaining. I did it for school and at first I thought it was going to be completely terrible but in the end I was glad it was this book and not another one.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 28, 2011

    Animal Farm Review

    Animal Farm is not a typical story with some animals on a farm. What Orwell has created is a brilliantly orchestrated story about socialism and manipulation written throughout it. It starts off with Ol' Mayor holding a meeting in the barn talking to all the animals of the farm about how things need to change and one day they will. How they need to take an uprising against the humans and change the world. When they do make their stand against drunken Mr. Jones, the farm owner, they easily overpower him and kick him off his own farm. The animals work twice as hard and reap an abundant produce. Napoleon, the head pig, that took over and his second-hand pig, Squealer, create these commandments that all the animals must follow in fear of dire consequences. 1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy; 2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend; 3. No animal shall wear clothes; 4. No animal shall sleep in a bed; 5. No animal shall drink alcohol; 6. No animal shall kill any other animal; 7. All animals are equal. Throughout the fiction novel, it is shown that most all the animals do follow these rules. When the rules were made, the smarter animals went ahead and memorized the commandments. With the passing weeks and months no one could understand why they could not remember the second part of the commandments. For example, Clover memorized the last commandment with ease, until one day, "Clover, whose eyes are failing in her old age, asks Benjamin to read the writing on the barn wall where the Seven Commandments were originally inscribed. The last commandment read: "all animals are equal." However, it now carries an addition: "but some animals are more equal than others."" (excerpt from the book) This wasn't the only commandment that changed, all of them changed for the benefit of Napoleon and the other pigs. The inequality and manipulation in the story mad me really mad, but it opened my eyes to how this fairy-tale relates to real life. Animal Farm is an upbeat book that constantly surprises you with the decisions and the storyline that was written. It was full amazing genres that you could want in a book, drama, action the struggle to see right from wrong. Animal Farm a good read and I will constantly remember the life lessons that were not-so-subtly told.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 27, 2011

    Highly recommended for young adults - check it out !

    This is a really interesting novel about talking animals . its GREAT !

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  • Posted October 27, 2011

    Surprisingly Interesting

    Animal Farm was definitely an interesting book. It captured my attention and made me think of the ways life could be in a completely different perspective. Although the book may seem odd in that it is in the perspective of animals, it makes thinking about the issues that the book presents to the reader much easier to understand. In the novel the characters capture your attention and let you yearn to learn more. At the beginning of the novel the situation that the animals were forced to live under was terrible. The old boar, Old Major, in the beginning of the novel left the other animals with a thought and a dream of an animal run farm. To the animals it seemed like a utopia. It was the place where there was no worry or trouble and they would feel good about the work they did and the food they received. They dreamt of a world where all animals were equal. In the novel there are two pigs, Snowball and Napoleon. These two pigs are the main characters of the story. They wanted a revolution in which they were no longer malnourished and maltreated. They came up with a plan to overtake the farm and live in the way they had dreamt. Once they accomplished their goal, they devised 7 commandments they were told by Old Major to live by. These 7 commandments were whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy; whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend; No animal shall wear clothes; No animal shall sleep in a bed; No animal shall drink alcohol; No animal shall kill any other animal; All animals are equal. Over a small amount of time the two main characters were beginning to feud like never before. These two pigs would lead to the demise of the utopia the animals had dreamt of. Napoleon was feared by all the animals. The other animals on the farm were forced to live in fear and work because of greedy, power hungry leaders. The animals were foolishly led into a world of vigorous work and little food. The animals allowed themselves to be convinced that the wrong doing of their leaders was simply there memory failing them. The utopian society they dreamed of was at risk. The leaders are lying, greedy animals that will soon lead themselves to the demise of their own beliefs and dreams. This book leaves you with thoughts about how people in other countries lived or are living by the government. Many people live without hope or freedom and this book shows others what that life is like. I recommend that people read this book. It grasped my attention and I am very happy that it did.

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  • Posted January 7, 2011

    more from this reviewer

    This is a good book! Spoiler Alert!

    Could animals take over the world? Well, the animals of Manor Farm seem to think so! They are tired of serving men, and getting nothing in return. They decide to overthrow the human race, starting with Mr. Jones, the owner of Manor Farm. The animals vow to never wear clothes, sleep in a bed, drink alcohol, or kill a fellow animal. The pigs are in charge because they can read and write, but will their power corrupt them? At first, their plan was going perfectly. They had gotten rid of Mr. Jones and the farm was all theirs! The pigs started getting selfish, though. It started with the milk. They took it all to themselves, without offering to share with anyone else. They did not work along-side the other animals, they merely supervised. Then they took all the apples to themselves. Their reasons were that they needed these things to stay healthy, and the farm couldn't survive without them. Snowball and Napoleon, the two head pigs, started disagreeing with each other. Everything thing was an argument, from what to plant in that field, to what to plant in this field. The biggest argument of all was about the windmill. Snowball came up with a plan to build a windmill, which would supply the farm with electrical power. Napoleon was totally against it. The whole farm was separated on the subject. Some of the animals agreed with Snowball and wanted a "three day week". Other animals agreed with Napoleon and the "full manger". Snowball kept making speeches, and after awhile, the animals started agreeing more with him. Napoleon did not like this. He called to his dogs that he had been raising in secret, and they attacked Snowball. This was the start of Napoleon's reign. After Snowball was out of his way, Napoleon decided to build the windmill anyway. Soon, the pigs moved into the farmhouse. Commandment number four was broken. Later, four pigs, three hens, three sheep, and a goose admitted to treachery. They were all slain on the spot. Commandment number six was broken. The animals went through many hardships with the windmill and making deals with men. Commandment number one, "Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy", was broken. The pigs found a case of whisky and drank it. Commandment number five was broken, too. Boxer, the most hard-working horse, was injured when working on the windmill. Napoleon sent him to a "veterinary hospital" which was really a horse slaughterer. He killed again, this time for no reason at all. Years passed and nothing changed. One day, something that would change the farm forever happened. The pigs were walking upon their hind legs, carrying whips. After that the pigs wore clothes. Commandment three was broken, but not really, for the seven commandments were removed. They were replaced by a single commandment that read: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others". Soon after that, the animals saw the pigs playing poker with farmers. The pigs had become just like the men that were once their "enemies". Animal Farm was a great book that portrays the corruption of power and that symbolizes totalitarianism. Napoleon wants all the power just like dictators throughout our history, such as Robert Mugabe and Omar Al-Bashir. The end of the book is what makes Animal Farm so good, because you see at the end that Napoleon's intentions were no better than those of his enemies.

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