Animal
Farm is a great read, a classic. For someone like me who does not give much
thought on things like utopia, freedom, and other related issues, the story was
an eye-opener. Not only did it have a great impact to me as a student, but it
also changed my perspective on the state and the government today.
During the first few pages of the story, I
learned to sympathize with the barn animals in their desire to achieve freedom.
But it was in the latter part that realization came to dawn on me. The story presented
a very un-idealistic picture of the world to me, especially when it came to the
part where Napoleon took control of the farm. I took notice of things in the
story that could also be seen in the society before and even today—hierarchy,
as in the case of the pigs and the “other” animals; rivalry in power, as in the
case of Snowball and Napoleon; and most importantly, tyranny, as manifested in
the case of Mr. Jones’ and Napoleon’s leadership.
On a side note, the story almost seems like a
“guidebook” on what leaders should not
do when in power. Snowball and Napoleon have very different “styles” in
governing the farm animals. But despite Napoleon’s clearly bullying tactics,
the author presented the story in such a way that, in my own perception,
Snowball is not necessarily the preferable alternative for a leader. Napoleon
has this lust for power and control, while Snowball thinks of himself as a
genius who should be leading in order for the farm to be prosperous. I see both
of them as potential dictators, since neither of them really have the animals’
interests at heart. One thing that also caught my attention was the fact that
the pigs used their “intelligence” to oppress the other animals. They used
their mental advantage over the other animals to manipulate them. This can be
seen in the part where the pigs “revise” the seven commandments, knowing that the
lower animals cannot read them, much less understand them. This was one of the
parts of the story that pricked my curiosity, and at the same time, caused me
to be disturbed. I began asking “what ifs.” What if the animals—all of
them—knew how to speak, write and read? What if the animals were not as
gullible as they were in the story? The author did a fairly nice job in
answering my questions—in Animal Farm,
none of those are going to happen.
In general, the story is
one big metaphor of what is happening in the society then and now. It tells a
simple, yet tragic story of animals who tried to make a utopia for themselves
but ended up being a dictatorship of pigs. It is a simple fable, yet by no
means simple in its symbolism. At one point, it made me question about the
rules of society. At one point, it inspired me to make things better. Animal Farm taught me how essential it
is to have passion when attempting to set things straight, but also cautions me
that passion can lead to destruction when set towards wrong goals.
Read Animal Farm here!
