Animal Farm: Book Review

 

It's 1984 all over again...

I first read 1984 and after reading this wonderful, heartbreaking and satiric fable of George Orwell, I can say that he had done another good job.

A little teaser about Animal Farm. A rebellion in a farm has ignited among its mistreated and overworked animals. They planned to create a Utopian world where all animals are equal. And with Orwell's mastery in weaving thoughts, he rolled in a very fitting allegorical fable that mirrors the society and transcends through time.

It is hard not to compare this to his work 1984 as it both targets tyrannical ruling. But though the same in thought, it still stands out in its own different ways like apples and oranges.

You can see how metaphors were well executed and when added with the right mix of analogy, adds lustre to the story. The story does not tell you what to do to fight for freedom but tells you what happens when you don't stand and give a cold shoulder on it. This thought already brought shivers down my spine. It tells you how ignorance can be a key factor to deteriorate society. You can see how the minority was being crushed by the majority. It also shows the idea of "doublethink" proposed by Orwell in 1984: the idea where you have to accept two contradicting thoughts and accept as it is, no contradiction, no critical thinking and such.

I would like to flesh out some characters on the story and it might contain some spoilers:

• Snowball - the ideal leader everyone is looking for. the perfect leader for a better society.
• Napoleon, Squealer and the other pigs - they are the total opposites of Snowball. Manipulative, totalitarian and tyrants who always think of themselves as higher than the others. They use their superiority and intellect to their advancement. They are also willing to go to the depths of evil deeds to have their gains. A true fascist ruler.
• Benjamin the donkey - the wise one who never cares what happened. He can be the perfect example of the people who have the power to change things but chose not to do so. I mirror the part where he breaks his rule and read the board as a sign of resentment and regret for he did not fight for what is right.
• Clover - the mare that is the perfect representation of of the minority that are powerless and keeps being crushed by the majority. No matter how hard she tried to escape the shackles of ignorance and fight for everything she thought was right, she will always be slapped by the status quo that she can never be anything higher.
• Mollie - another mare that only cares for herself, a perfect reflection on how self-absorbed people can be.
• Boxer - all brawn and no brains. I hate to put it this way but that's the fitting description I can say. He and most of the animals are the reflection of ignorance and idiocy. How we can just easily succumb to "doublethink". How we precariously hold on to our false belief to the point of setting aside our being critical just so we could heed to it.

This is perfectly mashed together and I will say for the nth time that it fits perfectly we now have. I am afraid to admit that this is the current happening in the Philippines' political system.

For me, Orwell provided a hopeless open ending and gives us a signal that we will be the one who will put a closing to it. A signal for us to wake up and start making a change before it's too late.....