Banned Book of the Month: Animal Farm
Photo from Amazon.
About the Author
Animal Farm was written by George Orwell, and published in 1945. Interestingly enough, the same year World War 2 ended, which was a significant aspect of writing Animal Farm. George Orwell is also the author for 1984, another book that was written in this banned book article series. Orwell’s background was highlighted more in our1984 article, so check it out to learn more about him! Since Orwell’s life was mainly uncovered in a past article, and in efforts to reduce repetition, instead it may be insightful to look at why Orwell chose to write Animal Farm. Orwell was highly political and felt conviction for exposing political and societal wrong-doings. Animal Farm was intended to do exactly that, but in a more allegorical manner. During the World War 2 era, Orwell studied and analyzed the Soviet Union’s totalitarian government under Joseph Stalin. Orwell finds Stalin to be repulsive, so much so that he wrote a book where the main character—a pig—was inspired by him.
Summary of the book
Animal Farm takes place on a small farm known originally as Manor Farm. Mr. Jones is the man who runs Manor Farm, but the animals feel that they put in more work than what they are rewarded for. The animals feel a desire to revolt against Mr. Jones and his greedy ways. This desire for rebellion is led by two pigs, Napoleon and Snowball. Napoleon is greedier in nature and wants an imbalance of power, but this isn’t expressed until later in the book. Snowball wants all the animals to be free from the control of humans, and be able to live as they please. The animals on the farm succeed in revolting against Mr. Jones, and end up getting Manor Farm to themselves. The animals then rename the farm to Animal Farm, and write their own constitution in order to not fall under control like how they did with Mr. Jones.
After the revolution, things seem to be going well for all the animals on the farm. They have a new way of life, fair laws, and freedom from control. However, the pigs on the farm are highly intelligent and begin to take on roles of leadership and an unwritten power. One of the goals of the Animal Farm is to create a windmill to store food. Napoleon and Snowball disagree on building the windmill, and tensions rise. Napoleon doesn’t want to build the windmill, and Snowball does, thinking it will be an opportunity for the animals to have careers and a purpose on the farm. The less intelligent animals don’t seem to mind at first, but chaos breaks loose. Napoleon begins to show his true colors, and betrays Snowball. Napoleon attacks Snowball and exiles him from Animal Farm, leading him to take sole control of the farm. He uses manipulation and scare tactics to coerce the animals into believing his power and believing his intentions are democratic. Napoleon then changes his beliefs on the windmill, and forces the animals to build construction immediately. Napoleon officially takes on the role of being a controlling leader, and the animals must do as he says while he sits back and plots his continued leadership. The constitution that was originally written when Mr. Jones was overthrown has slowly begun to change. One of the lines originally read, “all animals are equal”, and later was changed to, “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” This is just one of many examples of the original lines of the Animal Farm constitution being changed to fit the new ideologies of Napoleon.
Anytime a setback occurs on the farm, such as the windmill getting destroyed, Napoleon blames Snowball. All setbacks are blamed on the enemy, according to Napoleon, and this incites fear and hate within the rest of the animals. This hatred is used as fuel to the flame for Napoleon to keep the animals subservient to him. The farm becomes violent when Napoleon attacks other animals if they disagree with his ideas. Animals are exiled and killed due to the disagreeing viewpoints on the farm. Napoleon’s power grows unstoppable, and he starts to form allies with humans. Having any ties to humans was strictly against the constitution of the farm originally, as it was the main reason for rebellion. Now, Napoleon and his fellow pigs have begun to walk on two feet, sleep in human beds, and socialize with humans. Animal Farm ends with an impactful way to explain what has happened on the farm, and also what happens in real life. The pigs have become indistinguishable from humans, and their power has become disastrous. The conclusion reads, "The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."
Why it is banned and/or challenged
Many believe that Animal Farm should be banned due to the tone and underlying message that may spark revolution. Especially in Russia, Animal Farm is banned because the book was inspired by the corrupt leadership of the Soviet Union, and that corruption is still active in present day Russia. Russian politicians want to prevent any potential for a revolution, so by banning books such as Animal Farm, they feel it will achieve that goal. In America, Animal Farm is more so challenged rather than banned. America has challenged Animal Farm due to its political content and criticism of foreign governments, which may be deemed as insensitive. Ironically, the power to ban and challenge books is a power only leaders and politicians can exercise, which shows an imbalance of power. This power imbalance can be represented in the words of George Orwell, “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
