I am not the kind of person who reads the political news every day, but after reading Animal Farm, by George Orwell, I had to stop and question whose decisions are going to affect my future. The novel was written like a fable. Who doesn’t like fables right? You can connect to characters, while going on a journey of fantasy, but Animal Farm is not all about the happy ending.  It includes strong underlying themes relevant in our society today, like manipulation and passivity. I think Orwell’s argument is compelling--that we need to preserve freedom and self-determination and to prevent a cycle of dictators. Yet the way the novel is written, building personal connections to the animals, can leave us with a misunderstanding of that argument. Reading Animal Farm forced me to think about social injustices in the world through the eyes of passive animals.

I recommend Animal Farm because Orwell will make you relate to the animals, so that when they are suppressed by propaganda you feel their helplessness; in turn, you recognize the effects of propaganda in your own life. For example, when I first read about Boxer, a determined, hard-working horse, he pulled at my heartstrings.  When he becomes disabled because of how hard he pushes himself, he is taken away presumably to the hospital. As the ambulance comes to get him, Benjamin, an old donkey, shouts, “‘Fools! Do you not see what is written on the side of that van?’...‘Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughterer and Glue Boiler.’...They are taking Boxer to the knacker’s!” (87). I was horrified that his friends didn’t even understand what was happening when they heard Boxer was going to be killed. Even in my English class, we decided not ever to talk about Boxer since he was so loved by everyone. The emotions I felt for this strong, passionate workhorse were because of the constant propaganda used by the controlling pigs, Napoleon and Squealer. In the end, Boxer’s foolish determination leads him to overwork himself; the pigs know he is going to hurt himself, but use him to manipulate the other animals, by encouraging and praising him. When I read the novel, it gave me an understanding of how propaganda works. The petty, petulant pigs continuously feed the animals lies, with the intention of keeping them ignorant. Because I connected so strongly with the animals’ being suppressed, I can now notice that same feeling in my life. Feeling it first vicariously through the animals, I can be more aware of when someone is trying to trick me.

As I read this novel, though, I realized that I got so wrapped up in pity for the animals that I almost missed how mad I was at them because of their passiveness. Napoleon and Squealer, the leaders of the farm who become its dictators, create rules for the animals to follow, which are called the Seven Commandments and are inscribed on the barn wall. The majority of the animals on the farm are illiterate, but Benjamin, a donkey, can read. He has the intelligence to see how the pigs are manipulating the animals, but he never questions their decisions. “Benjamin could read as well as any pig, but never exercised his faculty.” His compliance with the rules helps to create the harsh hierarchy of the cunning creatures who take over the farm. This is maddening because he is smart enough to comprehend the changes made by the pigs for their own benefit, but he doesn’t take any sort of action. Reflecting on Benjamin’s compliance got me thinking about how much conformity is a part of my life, how many times I don’t question things. Someone might say that the hens are an example of animals sticking up for themselves and trying to rebel. Yes, the hens do try to rebel, but when they do they are ripped to shreds by the dogs. Although this is true, all the other animals see their rebellion fail, which causes them to stay passive to survive. The animals frankly don’t have enough passion to defend their rights, or enough creativity to come up with a rebellion that would be successful. Rebellion is out of the question. Orwell gives a great example of how easily people can be taken advantage of when they are passive. Reading Animal Farm got me to thinking about how often I am passive.

Orwell wrote a letter to his friend Dwight Macdonald saying that his whole purpose in writing the novel was to tell people “that revolutions only effect a radical improvement when the masses are alert and know how to chuck out their leaders as soon as the latter have done their job.” Rather than being passive, as the animals are when the pigs take over, Orwell wants us to fight for our rights. Regardless. Animal Farm is a great book to read to get past the emotions of anger and pity for the world and people in it, and to start taking action to make change. He wants us to move from internal responses to external actions.