“Four legs good, two legs bad.”

I just listened to Animal Farm by George Orwell today as I’m interested in rereading or having an initial read of the classics. I watched Jojo Rabbit yesterday and it reignited my interest in revisiting Night by Elie Wiesel. That led me down the rabbit hole, no pun intended, of reading Animal Farm. Oh my god. What a timely read.

If you haven’t read this book yet, please go read it. If you have, let’s discuss. Be aware there are going to be spoilers ahead.

Overall, I really appreciate the simplicity and directness employed by George Orwell. Things fall apart rather quickly once the animals are left to their own devices, much like we have seen before with The Lord of the Flies. You can read my thoughts and overview about that book, https://journeyofathousandmiles.net/facing-my-fears-why-i-finally-read-lord-of-the-flies/

Throughout this book, I appreciate the demonstration of how quickly our good intentions can lead to our collective demise. We see how the animals establish that “All animals are equal” as a basic principle and unifying concept and throughout the book, the supporting principles that govern Animal Farm get dismantled and finally, we end up with, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” This book is a good reminder to hold true to out principles and ensure that we are not swayed by tactics to foster confusion. By the time the novel ends, no one remembers the founding principles of Animal Farm or the key events of the battles that were fought.

I also appreciate this book as a reminder to keep a written record of history that can’t be altered. Throughout the book, we find that the key principles of Animal Farm are being rewritten so that there can be no challengers when Napoleon ascends to totalitarianism and rewrites the rules of the farm.

One of the most poignant parts of the book was when Boxer was ill, after dedicating his entire life to working as hard as he possibly can, and being sent to the glue factory. This is a great reminder to me to work within my means and not to push myself for someone else’s benefit, but to my detriment. At the end of the day, the reward is to go to the glue farm and a new horse is brought in to take your place.

Overall, the ending was such a nice way to bring it all together. The animals can longer tell who is a pig and who is a human. If we don’t hold true to our principles and stay steadfast, we become the very thing we were fighting against all along.