‘Animal Farm’ – A story of corrupted power

‘No question now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. 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.’

If you read ‘Animal Farm’, by George Orwell, you will understand the profound meaning of these words, which can be a warning for all of us. The book can be considered just a fable, a fairytale if you want, but it has a very symbolic meaning, because it follows the things that led to a distorted form of communism. But what better words to describe the theme than the author‘s himself: ‘(...) it is the history of a revolution that went wrong’.
‘Animal Farm’ tells the story of some animals which feel that they are abused by the farmer Mr. Jones and decide to take over the running of their master’s farm. Everything goes according to the plan until the pigs, considered the brightest animals, get out of hand and start changing the commandments. The short-novel ends with the animals being in the same despotic ruling from the beginning, only that this time the power is in the ‘hands’ of the pigs.
Although the writing is simple and may seem unobstrusive, the mastery of Orwell lies in his capacity of presenting all the horrors of communism through satire and by conceiving a book that can be understood by both children and adults (in different ways, of course).
In ‘Animal Farm’, George Orwell describes how power has turned the pigs from simple animals to ruthless dictators who managed to walk on two legs and carry whips. Even though the book’s strong political message is based on the Russian Revolution, you don’t need to be a genius to understand who the pig leader Napoleon was.
A thing that should attract your attention how the ‘animals’ can be brainwashed, how the pigs can make them do and believe anything. Like in the present, the commandments can be rewritten without the animals even realizing it, because they haven’t paid so much attention to them.
And as much as I would like to believe that this story is just about communism, I can’t ignore all the similarities to the ‘magnificent’ democracy, which has proved to be worse than communism itself. At least then, the ‘pigs’ had the courage to say the truth in your face. Now, all they do is keeping us down for ‘our own good’.
So, as a conclusion, I heartily recommend you this book that is so brilliantly written, yet so accessible to all kinds of people, and which will definitely open your eyes on the society we live in.