Animal Farm Essay

12 December 2014

Animal Farm Essay

In Animal Farm, George Orwell depicts the behavior of animals on a farm ran by themselves. They try to build an equal society after overthrowing, their human farmer, Mr. Jones. Orwell presents an allegory by demonstrating how power can disrupt the notion of equality through the experiences of his characters.

In the beginning, Orwell shows that through a power struggle, hope can create chains. Orwell, through Old Major’s speech, illustrates the tyrannical conditions of the farm. Old Major, an old prized boar, talks about how the animals are mistreated under Mr. Jones’ control and describes to the animals how their “lives are miserable, laborious, and short”, (Orwell 28). He says, “The animal life is misery and slavery: this is the plain truth,” (Orwell 28). Old Major got the animals to reflect on their own lives causing them to want change. Orwell also displays a peek of inequality through the pigs, being described as the cleverest animals, already positioned as leaders. The pigs are the ones who decide how the farm is going to run. They were the ones who created the Seven Commandments, “an unalterable law by which all the animals on the Animal Farm must live for ever after,” (Orwell 42). The pigs’ ability to read and write leads them to be labeled as leaders therefore, creating a dent in the community’s promised equality. Inequality is already displayed through Mr. Jones mistreating the animals and through the pigs having the upper hand after Jones is overthrown.

As the story progresses, Orwell details how power can lead to tyranny and exposes some of the effects of authoritative control. Napoleon became so paranoid of having competition that he set out to get rid of Snowball. Snowball’s plans of the windmill was what kept Napoleon from having total domination over all the animals. Orwell says, “[Napoleon] had declared himself against the windmill from the start,” (65). The thought of having control over the whole farm led Napoleon to become a dictator. The author also portrays how power can easily be abused when no one is able to challenge it. The pigs took the opportunity of moving into the house therefore changing the original commandments. Squealer was able to convince the animals from thinking against this by saying, “It is more suited to the dignity of the Leader,” (Orwell 79). The pigs are the only animals benefited by the changes of the commandments. Having the pigs in the farmhouse further dents the farm’s equality.

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