Political Lessons in "Animal Farm"

George Orwell's Animal Farm, a work brimming with sapient political insights, presents to the reader what happens when societies deteriorate. Notably, Animal Farm profiles most any nation that has seen revolutions or currently experiences rule by dictatorship and totalitarian or autocratic regimes. From the terrible political realities that unfold in Animal Farm, one can learn some invaluable lessons about how to successfully attain a free nation and how to avoid one where ills such as oppression, totalitarianism, socialism, communism, or despotism pervasively rule.

How does the society on Animal Farm go so wrong? Major stirs the crowd on Manor Farm, populated with a motley crew of miserable animals, when he proclaims that there would come a day when an animal rebellion would successfully overthrow Jones and bring forth a reality where the farm would be ruled by animals--indeed, the seeming utopia of such a prospect seems irresistible to the animals. When the Rebellion does take place and the animals successfully claim the farm for their own, all seems glorious and promising to the creatures on the property, now called Animal Farm. With Jones away, fruits of all the labor are promised to be returned to the whole of the animal society; some pretty concrete ground rules, The Seven Commandments, are set in place to ensure peace and harmony; and with sure and steady leadership, the prospects of Animal Farm look to be bright and secure.

What happens? The Rebellion, inspired by Major, takes place one day. The pigs (particularly Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer) lead the organization efforts, endorse a philosophy known as Animalism, put forth a set of rules that embody the thought, and then assume leadership of the society with promises of more food, less labor, and happier lives. The Animal Farm anthem, "Beasts of England" brings together the diverse group of animals, mantras such as "four legs good, two legs bad" constantly remind the population of the nucleus of the farm's mission--to avoid being subject to human rule--and speeches, weekly meetings, and a team approach to all of the transpirations of the farm are supposed to allow for a sort of societal cohesion and a stable hand on the animals' keeping control of an efficient and secure operation.

One may start questioning the integrity of the Animal Farm society when a revolutionary rebellion, such as that on Animal Farm, leads to the helming of the "nation" by a leader or entity that assumes itself, so to speak, to the post of leadership--in this case the pigs. Successful outcomes of revolutions, such as that which led to the founding of our nation, result in open and legitimate elections, charters that are chosen by representative bodies, and an open, transparent governmental operation. Revolutions that result in failure (that is communistic, socialist, closed, and repressive regimes), such as Cuba or the Soviet Union, are followed up by figures that assume power, wield heavy hands, set rules of law dictated by the whims of the regime, heavily punish those deemed to have broken the law, and are filled with corruption and secrecy. In such a way, it is the latter such scenario that largely takes place in Animal Farm. The pigs proclaim the Seven Commandments to the animal population, single-handedly decide how the farm shall operate, disregard religion (seen largely in the government- centered Sundays, the day on which community meetings, reverence to the farms cause, and chantings of "Beasts of England" represent a veritable Sunday church service), enforce food rations, and set forth a general policy of societal oneness.

Things unravel only further when Napoleon, the rogue pig, assumes essentially autocratic power when, on the heels of what was about to be a democratic vote in favor of the project, the nine dogs that Napoleon taught in seclusion chase snowball off the farm, the pig never to return. Napoleon assumes his leadership, takes on a quasi-militaristic dictatorship and, eventually, leads Animal Farm to become a place of misery, drudgery, and fear--a figurative return to the eras of Jones' Manor Farm and, after several years, a place which by name and social climate indeed returns to Manor Farm. Perhaps the most severe change of all, though, is that the Seven Commandments has been essentially scrapped, leaving the law of the land to be condensed to but one frightening line: "All animals are created equal but some animals are more equal than others," (94).

Making matters all the worse is that the pigs, considered the "cleverest" of the farm's animals, conduct all of the leadership and management of the farm, which is populated by markedly less-intelligent beings (12). A prime target for being taken advantage of, these lesser-educated, more unassuming animals are easily led to live in what gradually becomes a fierce dictatorship. Unlike the United States' Constitution, which was drafted and signed by a body largely representing the whole of our then-young nation, the Seven Commandments of Animal Farm are cemented in place by the pigs alone, who, interestingly, use human books (those which belonged to the children of the much-despised Mr. Jones, no less) to condense their studies of Animalism to a neat, concise, seven-point body of laws that are supposed to allow the farm to run fairly and smoothly.

In these examples of Animal Farm's breakdown therein lie the political lessons that can be gleaned. First off, "utopia," as some may call it, is practically never successfully and fairly achieved in this world on the national level. Marxism, socialism, and communism--collectively once a flourishing philosophy in many places around the world not too many decades ago--is now a dying set of concepts that have been replaced by the ideals of democracy, capitalism, free-enterprise, and liberty. Second, nations of this world can learn through the example in Animal Farm that only trouble can ensue when a single leader, on his or her own force and volition, assumes control of a nation. While some such leaders may have "good intentions," so to speak, unchecked power can lead to a completely totalitarian dictatorship, such as seen in this work, and has been seen in nations such as Cuba, North Korea and, until recently, Iraq. A third lesson to be learned from Animal Farm is the value of true democracy and citizen input. Animal Farm could have been successful, like the United States and scores of other free nations, had the Rebellion led to a government that was helmed by a fairly elected leader who operated under a charter that was decided upon by the masses, then many of the abuses and much of the social and political deterioration seen on the farm could have likely been avoided. Term limits for leaders, multi-party elections, judicial order, representative government, and an educated and aware populace are all things that are necessary for a truly successful free nation, and these are all such attributes, among others, that Animal Farm by and large clearly lack.

Finally, when populations are ignorant of their inherent rights ("unalienable rights" as one popularly knows them in the United States) and follow government blindly, violations of human rights and dignity are sure to ensue. Insomuch, people living in free nations around the world can learn why it so important to educate those currently unknowing of the principles of democracy, liberty, free and open trade, fair election processes. It is harder to encourage positive change no less when people become physically, psychologically, spiritually, and emotionally broken by oppressive governments. While all people can be taught these fundamentals, they are best rendered to the young, before they become indoctrinated with the tenets of their nation's respective despotic, totalitarian, autocratic, closed, socialist, or communist governing regime. Napoleon molded the nine puppies' malleable minds and hearts to know only evil. This is a clear example that the minds of youth largely operate based on only what they know see, and are directly taught. While some nations teach their young--through slanted schooling, extreme religious sects, and all-out espousing of radical concepts--to literally hate anyone unlike them, other nations, such as those in the West, and scores of others elsewhere in the world, teach their youth to embrace democracy, aim for individual success, and cherish and protect their liberty.

Indeed, Animal Farm is the profile of what happens when societies go bad. It is the collective montage of dozens of societies known to man that have failed to recognize the rights of all and the value of a fair and stable government. Moreover, though, Animal Farm is a reminder to all people that human society has an inherent weakness that, occasionally, leads some of our societies to heinously devolve. It is through Animal Farm that one therefore becomes further cognizant that societies can, conversely, evolve through the implementation of democracy, transparent government, open trade, free enterprise, and liberty. Those who have yet to enjoy such realities in their own nations must strive to attain them, and those who already live in free nations must protect what they have, for there will always be a Napoleon who will threaten to wield his tyrannical hand and steal from the masses democracy, capitalism, security, happiness, and liberty.

Work Cited:

Orwell, George: Animal Farm. 1946. New York: Plume, 1983.