Animal Farm: Themes

            

George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm, contains a variety of themes. Some of which are “A Utopian society is impossible to obtain”, “The Societal tendency to class warfare” and “The totalitarian government is dangerous”. Further elaboration throughout the paragraphs will be focused on the specific events from the novel that illustrates these themes.

           

A universal balance in every aspect of life must be considered in having a perfect government. In Animal farm, different attitudes and characteristics are particularly seen that disapproves this thought. A good example is Mollie, a vain and materialistic horse, which often shows up late in work and leaves early compared to the others. She embodies people who can’t stay up and help the majority wherein in reality it’s for their own sake. Another good example is Boxer which strength is incomparably greater than the rest of the animals but he’s definitely not of first rate intelligence. A great percentage of our population are not that smart, not dumb, and often cover things up by working hard. It’s a good thing, but the point is due to their working ethics, they’re missing out on what’s really happening on their environment, same with Boxer inattentively controlled by the pigs. The final example of this theme is seen when Moses narrated “Sugarcandy Mountain” to the other animals which gave them hope that their labour and sufferings will be put to an end. In this novel, Moses personifies “Religion” which is as with many things, different to each people. With every religion, we are ought to follow rules and principles that shape us entirely. We tend to act sometimes not by our own free will, but with our religion. By merely looking at the given examples, we can say that a perfect government can never be achieved for we have different perspectives and own definitions of “Perfect”. And, even though we may not admit, humans themselves are a sight of imperfection.

            

Different wars, brought by conflicting societies, have shaped our history, now and then. Animal farm itself is made of different situations wherein there’s a societal tendency towards class warfare. To start with, at the beginning of the novel, farm animals, led by Old Major, started an uprising caused by the cruelty of humans to the animals. This anger led them in forcing Jones, owner of the farm, to leave. This specific example shows, just like humans, how driven and powerful different individuals are in exterminating a common problem. Another example illustrated in the novel is the part wherein the pigs gained the status as “brainworkers” of the farm, leaving the other animals as workers in the fields (manual labour). Even though this particular example doesn’t include physical conflict, still, it shows the divisions of animals according to speciality, intellectually and physical capacity, which marks the beginning of the manipulative approach of the pigs toward the farm animals. The last part of the novel is another great example of the theme wherein the farm animals saw the pigs and humans playing cards together, and they can’t basically tell the difference. Even though the ending is kind of a blur, we can nearly have the assumption that there’s a possibility that the animals will do what they’ve done before which is to oppose a common enemy. Simply because, the fact that they’ve associated the pigs with humans is the start of them, farm animals, realizing that society has changed and in their case it’s for the worse. These examples prove that even though different people are parted by society, still when needed to, can work or oppose each other.

The flag of Animal Farm

            

The last theme is focused on the dangerous effects of a totalitarian government. A good example can be seen when the farm animals were asked to volunteer extra hours on the windmill, but in reality they have no choice but to abide with it, if not they wouldn’t receive rations at all. This example clearly shows that the power to choose is prohibited in a totalitarian government, for disregarding an order is the same as putting yourself in danger. Another great example of this theme is the part where Boxer is sold to the knackers (men who slaughtered aged animals). It shows that if you’re not that helpful to the government you’ll be forced out into a position where the government will benefit from you, in Boxer’s case, its death. The final example of this theme can be seen on the part where the pigs ordered that the field originally planned as a grazing spot for retired animals be ploughed up and planted with barley. This example emphasizes the jurisdiction of the pigs in making a decision, that when settled upon, no one has the right to oppose it. By looking at the given examples, we can say that a totalitarian government is one-sided and it brings harm, not only to individuals, but with society itself.

           

This paper has been a discussion of events from the novel that illustrated the major themes. To recap, they were the “A Utopian society is impossible to obtain”, “The Societal tendency to class warfare” and “The totalitarian government is dangerous”. Understanding these themes will provide you not only deeper understanding but appreciation of the novel as a whole.

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