Name: Animal Farm
Item: Animal Farm
Rating: 5
Author: Mezy Fadhila

When the mistreated livestock of Manor Farm revolt against their owner, Mr Jones, they believe they are building a utopia of freedom and fairness. However, a scheming, ruthless group of pigs led by Napoleon and Snowball quietly orchestrates a power grab. The rest of the animals soon realize that their dream of equality is a lie, finding themselves trapped under a new regime just as oppressive as the last. George Orwell’s brilliant allegory remains a timeless warning about how easily noble ideals can be corrupted by a hunger for absolute control.

Can you relate to this situation? Perhaps.

Section 1: Rebellion and Idealism

Section 2: Power Struggle and Dictatorship

Section 3: Betrayal and Complete Corruption

It is quite heavy for a work of fiction. I looked up who the possible characters in this book represent (guys, I can't check the truth, but it's interesting to find):

🐖 The Pigs (The Ruling Class)

Napoleon: Represents Joseph Stalin, the Soviet dictator. He is power-hungry, quiet, and uses brutal force (his dogs) to control others.
Snowball: Represents Leon Trotsky, Stalin’s rival. He is smart, creative, and genuinely wants to help the farm, but Napoleon chases him away.
Squealer: Represents state propaganda and the Soviet media. He is a smooth talker who tricks the other animals into believing Napoleon's lies.
Old Major: Represents Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, the creators of communist theory. His dream of a fair society inspires the entire rebellion.

🐴 The Horses (The Working Class)

Boxer: Represents the loyal, hardworking working class (proletariat). He is strong and dedicated ("I will work harder"), but he is exploited and betrayed by the pigs.
Clover: Represents the female working class. She is kind and motherly, and she quietly notices when the rules are broken.

If you just read the book or listen to it, it is hilarious to imagine. The animals vs. the human farmer. But the lines, the characters, and the story's dynamics make us think beyond just the farmhouse.

The Moment: The sheep spend years mindlessly chanting the farm's simplified slogan: "Four legs good, two legs bad." At the end of the novel, the pigs suddenly emerge from the farmhouse walking upright on their hind legs. Before the other animals can protest, the sheep are subtly retrained by Squealer to loudly chant: "Four legs good, two legs better!" The Satire: This highlights the terrifying ease with which an uneducated public can be brainwashed into chanting slogans that directly oppose their own best interests.

The book ends with the iconic visual of the ordinary animals looking through the window, unable to tell the difference between the pigs and the humans. The very system that was built to destroy human tyranny has completely transformed into an exact replica of it

The Moment: The pigs discover a crate of whiskey in the cellar, get completely wasted, and suffer severe hangovers the next morning. Squealer solemnly announces that Comrade Napoleon is dying (because he has a hangover), and a decree is issued punishing alcohol consumption by death. By evening, Napoleon feels fine, learns how alcohol works, and promptly orders the fields to be planted with barley to brew beer. The Satire: Orwell brilliantly mocks the sheer hypocrisy and self-indulgence of dictators who create strict, puritanical laws for the public while rewriting those exact same rules to suit their own personal vices.