Animal Farm (In 1,000 Words or Less)
"As Clover looked down the hillside her eyes filled with tears. If she could have spoken her thoughts, it would have been to say that this was not what they had aimed at when they had set themselves years ago to work for the overthrow of the human race. These scenes of terror and slaughter were not what they had looked forward to on that night when old Major first stirred them to rebellion."
(Source: It's a quiet evening on the Manor Farm, and a pig makes an announcement to the rest of the animals. He has had a dream that he wishes to share with them.
"Why do we continue in this miserable condition? Because nearly all of our labour is stolen from us by humans. There, comrades, is the answer to all our problems — Man. Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished forever."
"Three nights later, the pig died peacefully in his sleep. His body was buried at the foot of the orchard."
After the pig's passing, the other animals begin to prepare for the Rebellion. One day, after they hadn't been fed for the entire day, it suddenly happens! The animals drive Farmer Jones away from his own farm!
With the farm now theirs, the pigs write out The Seven Commandments of Animalism:
"THE SEVEN COMMANDMENTS
1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs 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."
Working together, the animals are able to finish the labor on the farm faster than the humans ever did! But already there's an uneven distribution of work and pleasure.
"The pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others. With their superior knowledge it was natural that they should assume the leadership."
"Now if there was one thing that the animals were completely certain of, it was that they did not want Jones back on the farm. ... So it was agreed without further argument."
News of the Rebellion starts to spread all across town. Some of the farmers get together to help Jones get his farm back! However the animals are prepared and stage their own defence. One of the pigs, Snowball, fights courageously. The humans eventually flee.
After that, Snowball explains that they should build a windmill, as it would greatly benefit them in the long run. Napoleon, an opposing pig, argues that they should focus on gathering food. Suddenly Napoleon calls on dogs that chase Snowball off the farm, thereby expelling him.
Napoleon then takes leadership of the farm, using his dogs to manipulate any animal who might disagree. He suddenly changes his mind about building the windmill, even going so far as to say it was originally his idea, not Snowball's.
"But Napoleon spoke so persuasively, and the dogs who happened to be with him growled so threateningly, that the animals accepted his explanation without further questions."
And so the animals begin to build the windmill, which proves to be an extremely tiring task. During this time, the pigs move into the farmhouse and begin sleeping in the humans' beds! They convince the animals that the Commandment actually reads, "No beds with sheets," which the pigs had already taken off (obviously).
One night, the half-finished windmill topples over. Napoleon seizes the opportunity to use Snowball as a scapegoat, saying that it was he who had destroyed their hard work, and that Snowball must be killed.
By the winter, Animal Farm is starting to face a food shortage, always tittering on the brink of starvation. Snowball continues to be blamed for everything that goes wrong. Until during one meeting, Napoleon does something terrible.
"Napoleon stood sternly surveying his audience; then he uttered a high-pitched whimper. Immediately the dogs bounded bounded forward, seized four pigs by the ear and dragged them, squealing with pain and terror, to Napoleon’s feet."
The little pigs abruptly confess to being in contact with Snowball; they are slaughtered on the spot. One by one more animals confess, and each one meets a grisly end.
The next day, the animals question their Commandments: that no animal shall be killed. However the pigs convince them that the rule actually reads, "No animal shall kill any other animal without cause." The animals accept it.
The windmill is now complete! But food continues to grow shorter.
"They knew that life nowadays was harsh, that they were often hungry and cold. But doubtless it had been worse in the old days. They were glad to believe so. Besides, in those days they had been slaves and now they were free, and that made all the difference, as Napoleon did not fail to point out."
Boxer the horse's health is declining. He collapses while working, and Napoleon says that he will be sent to the hospital. But when the van arrives, the animals find that it reads: "Horse Slaughterer." They try to stop it, but it quickly takes off. They soon receive news that Boxer passed away in the "hospital."
Years pass; many of the animals from the Rebellion have passed on as well. Only the pigs seem to be thriving.
"But the luxuries of which Snowball had once taught the animals to dream, the stalls with electric light and hot water were no longer talked about. The truest happiness, Napoleon said, lay in working hard and living frugally."
One day a cry pierces the farm. The animals all gather to see the commotion; it is the pigs, walking on their hind legs.
"Out came Napoleon himself, majestically upright, and with his dogs around him. He carried a whip in his trotter."
When the animals go into the barn to read the Seven Commandments, they see that now only one remains:
"ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL
BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS."
One night the animals peek in the farmhouse to find the pigs with the farmers playing poker, where Napoleon tells them that their quarrels are officially over.
"No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The animals outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig; but already it was impossible to say which was which."
(Image created using an AI art generator on Night Cafe)
My review... As a whole, I can appreciate the way Animal Farm captures the essence of socialism: how it always begins with good intentions but always ends up corrupted by power-hungry people. The elements were all there: lies, gaslighting, propaganda, strength through song, erasure of the past...
George Orwell did a wonderful job of providing the animals with human emotions and behaviors as well. After all, who hasn't been Clover the horse when she had this thought?:
"As Clover looked down the hillside her eyes filled with tears. This was not what they had aimed at when they had set themselves years ago to work for the overthrow of the human race. ... If she herself had had any picture of the future, it had been of a society of animals set free from hunger and the whip, all equal, each working according to his capacity, the strong protecting the weak."
Personally I do not believe in equality -- and here is why! The animals could not be equal due to the fact they varied in degrees of intelligence; some of them could not read, some of them had the memory of a goldfish, etc. And back when Orwell first wrote Animal Farm, perhaps that could have been true as well up to a certain point: there were more "uneducated" people back then than there is now. If that's the case, what is our excuse today? Education has become a human right, we have instant information at our fingertips (Internet), and aside from that our fellow man doesn't even give us the opportunity to be ignorant anymore 😂
So again, what's the excuse? Well, we can have all of the necessary tools -- doesn't change the fact that we're still stupid 😂 And easily manipulated by fear and anxiety. So again, this is why I cannot believe in equality, due to our innate human nature (and the fact that some are just more intelligent than others). Where's that quote from Men In Black?
So I think Animal Farm did a wonderful job of portraying the dangers of socialism. And remember, no need to think humans above animals, that there might be a different outcome if it had been us instead of them; humans are animals, and just as stupid, at that 👍
It’s a great book especially its parody of communism. In 1981 I visited mainland China. Everyone appeared to be dressed the same in drab Chairman Mao “uniforms”. As tourists we got to eat at the top restaurants but notice that some of the top tables were taken by blue and brown uniformed Chinese. We asked our guide about why they could eat there while others who looked identical could not. He patiently explained that the people who were eating at that table had 4 pockets in their tunics which meant they were official members of the Communist party. Ordinary people only had 2. It reminded me at the time of Orwells prescient statement you mention, “All Pigs are equal, but some are more equal than others”. He surely knew the truth.