Short Work in Depth: Animal Farm
By Shi Xinying
George Orwell’s Animal Farm, one of his most prestigious masterpieces, is short in length but profound in depth. In only about thirty thousand words, the author depicts an allusive story in which a group of animals expulsed the farmer and then managed the farm on their own.
In the beginning of the novel, the farm was supervised by Mr. Jones and the animals lived miserably like slaves. The night when the respectable boar old Major delivered a speech became the turning point. He appealed the animals to rebel against Jones. Though he did not live to witness the success of the revolution, two other pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, succeeded in expelling Jones and exercised full sovereignty over the farm. As an achievement of the rebellion, the seven commandments, reduced from old Mayor’s Animalism, formed ―an unalterable law by which all the animals on Animal Farm must live for ever after‖ (Orwell, 1983, p.22). However, the pigs gradually obtained the dominance over the whole farm as the most literate and intelligent animals. In the late chapters appeared internal controversies between the leaders, heavier working burden and poorer living conditions for animals except pigs, and even killings that should have been abandoned from this independent beasts’ pasture. Few realized that they were deceived and exploited by pigs, the new
privileged stratum. None dared to revolt or simply complain: if they do so, they will be murdered. Finally, law and order was changed and the farm virtually returned to what it had been.
Orwell’s language is simple. He rarely uses hard vocabulary that even a
kindergarten child can read his tale. But a kid can never understand the implications of his words. According to Orwell’s own saying, the book was the first he tried ―to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole‖ (Orwell, 1956, p.395). It is obvious that the fiction is mainly an animal version of Russian Revolution. In the aspect of the characters, for instance, the dead old Mayor who firstly raised the
ideology of Animalism represents Lenin; Snowball, the scholarly ex-leader who was slandered enemy of all animals, shares a similar experience of injustice with banished Russian revolutionist Trotsky; dictator Napoleon stands for Stalin with no doubt; other animals, though still different in details, symbolize the majority of Russian civilians. Moreover, evidences can be found almost everywhere in the plots. The abolishment of the song ―Beasts of England‖ resembles the original Russian national anthem ―Internationale‖; the green banner with hoof and horn came from Soviet national flag with hammer and sickle; their neighbour Pinchfield Farm’s deception and attack suggests the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Bolshevik and Nazi; the building of the windmill s the New Economy Policy and etc.
Nevertheless, it is unfair to regard this story merely as ―a rollicking caricature of the Russian Revolution‖ (Meyers, 1975, p.198). Some paragraphs also remind readers of history in western society. ―Long live Napoleon‖ is in the identical structure with ―long live the king‖ and ―long live Hitler‖. The last commandment ―all animals are equal‖, which is in the end added ―but some animals are more equal than others‖ can either be an irony on the Declaration of Independence in this way: all men are created
equal, but white men are more equal than other men and women. Orwell himself also said that his purpose was ―directly or indirectly against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism‖ (Orwell, 1956, p.394). Therefore, it is totally wrong to take Animal Farm as a criticism towards Soviet or Socialism. In fact, it is ―more
meaningfully an anatomy of all political revolutions‖ (Lee, 1969, p.109). The author never sticks his writing to limited region or social system. Sarcastically, the beast fable became a vivid portrayal of the future world politics to some extent. Perhaps that is why Orwell is crowned ―wintry conscience of a generation‖ (Meyers, 1975, p.34).
Master as he is, Orwell still leaves some small regrets in the book—namely the lack of a resolution to the problem. Until the finale of the fiction the obedient animals still altered nothing. The creatures were only able to stand beside, looking ―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‖ (Orwell, 1983, p.122).
However, the little pity cannot hinder Animal Farm from being one of the most significant literatures in twentieth century. Generally, it is worth reading and chewing, better together with Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four. Only do everyone learn by heart ―how revolutionary ideals of justice, equality and fraternity always shatter in the event‖ (Lee, 1969, p.109) will the future be bright for common civilians.
References
1. Lee, Robert A. (1969). Orwell’s Fiction. London: University of Notre Dame
Press.
2. Meyers, Jeffrey. (Ed.)(1975). George Orwell. London and Boston: Routledge
& Kegan Paul.
3. Orwell, George. (1983). Animal Farm. Penguin Books in Association with
Martin Secker & Warburg.
4. Orwell, George. (1956). The Orwell Reader: Fiction, Essays, and Reportage
with an introduction by Richard H. Rovere. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company.
第二篇：The Characters in Animal Farm
Title: Animal Farm
Author: George Orwell
The Characters in Animal Farm
As we all know that, George Orwell, the writer of the book Animal Farm, is a master in language. In this book, there are many characters created by Orwell. And because it’s a satirical book, the animals are not just animals. That is to say, several characters and settings have obvious specific mappings: Mr. Jones is Tsar Nicholas II, the farm itself is Russia, the neighboring farms are neighboring countries, old Major is Marx, Napoleon as mentioned is Stalin, Snowball is Trotsky, and Squealer is Pravda and the Russian government propaganda in general.
As far as I am concerned, among all the animals or we can say the characters in the book, I like Boxer and Benjamin best. And personally, I hold the opinion that Boxer and Benjamin are the heart of the story.
Boxer is one of the farm's two cart-horses, the hardest worker and the strongest animal on the farm. He isn't particularly intelligent, but he's steady and determined. In the revolution, Boxer is the true believer. Early on, he takes as his motto “I will work harder,” and puts his heart and soul into making the farm a success. Later, when times get rougher, he sadly adds “Napoleon is always right,” setting aside his
doubts and redoubling his efforts. Finally, Boxer was sold to the knacker’s and was killed sadly.
Benjamin, on the other hand, is a donkey of the farm. He's cantankerous and ill-tempered, cynical, and the oldest animal on the farm. He refuses to take a position on the revolution and is entirely unaffected by the patriotic fervor the other animals. He simply continues on working at the same pace he always has, staying out of politics, not commenting even when the pigs start changing the rules. Benjamin is the disaffected cynic, certain that “life would go on as it always had gone on — that is, badly.”
Benjamin is, of course, right. Benjamin is the knowing voice of the reader who's familiar with the Russian Revolution, of the author who knows how badly things will turn out, and of the political cynic who is nearly always right. But Benjamin is not the sympathetic character in Animal Farm. Boxer is. Benjamin may most closely match the knowledge and feeling of the reader, but it's hard to read this book without partly wanting to be Boxer. Wanting to believe, wanting to work towards a greater goal and a larger good, wanting to think that by main force, dedication, and sheer effort, the world can become a better place. And in a beautifully poignant commentary on politics, Orwell paints Boxer and Benjamin as close friends, a friendship of entirely opposite personalities but deep mutual respect. Benjamin is
proven right, but Benjamin cares more about Boxer than about being right, which is a key to the tragedy of the book. Indeed, Boxer and Benjamin are friends. I love both of the two characters very much.