Book Review: Animal Farm

Animal Farm is a book, which, many would think is about animals on a farm, however, the message is far more advanced. The short answer is that it is about the dangers of communism. Animal Farm is aimed at 13+ but can be read by any age.

The farm is run by Farmer Jones, but his animals kick him out. The animals are thought to represent the people of Russia and how they rebelled against the Tsar. Because of this, the novella was banned in the USSR due to its similarities to the Soviet Union, until 1991, when it fell apart. 

Animal Farm does an excellent job of showing how we will never be fully equal. Someone will always be in charge. Orwell demonstrates this with the pigs. The pigs – Napoleon and Snowball – are the most intelligent. They wrote the rules, ordered everyone to do things and taught the rest of the animals what to do.

This is similar to what many communist countries do; they claim that everyone is equal yet there is always someone who is the mastermind behind the whole scheme. It also shows how most people trust the smartest person and, normally, just trust what they say, even if it’s wrong. This is because we as a society value intelligence as one of the most important things, yes it is important, but good leadership and ideas are how you lead a country.

While in some Communist countries, Animal Farm has been banned due to its spreading propaganda it is considered one of Beep’s must-reads.