BOOK REVIEW

Animal Farm – George Orwell (Eric Blair)

Immaculate parable highlighting the bottomless gluttony of power  

          Here is yet another magisterial work whose merits often evade the adult memory because of its early prescription in the education system. For this reason, I do my best to read the incomparable Animal Farm once a year, such is its literary grace. Its allegorical nature can be easily savored by all readers, even those who may not be familiar with the events of the 1917 Russian Revolution, on which the book is based. Orwell employs the satirical plotline and its characters to caution against the corrupting influence of power, simultaneously imparting an absorbing story that fuses elements of both horror and humour.        

      The plot begins as the lazy and neglectful Mr. Jones forgets to feed his livestock, sparking a rebellion amongst the animals that leads to the overthrow of Manor Farm. Though the animals initially band together in a collective vow to expunge the inequities from Jones’ time, the pigs soon self-select themselves as the leaders and award themselves exclusive privileges such as additional food. The ideals of the rebellion are further compromised as the pigs jostle for power amongst themselves, inculcating the other animals with revised commandments to justify their increasingly Machiavellian behavior. The situation continues to deteriorate until the farm resembles a grisly scene, nothing like the animals had envisioned originally.

          Books like this underscore to me that the written word is an indisputable form of art. Orwell resists building characters or scenes beyond necessity, instead focusing on the farm’s evolving dynamics and the pig’s efforts to establish a compliant following. This approach maintains a speedy pace and the reader feels further drawn into the mire with each page. I have no reservations in proclaiming that for its uniquely cautionary and imaginative flavor, Animal Farm is worthy of a place on any bookshelf. 

-NP, October 2014