Animal Farm

             Animal Farm, written by George Orwell in 1946, uses the personification of animals to tell the story of the Russian Revolution. The embodiment of a communist revolution, the Russian Revolution first raised hopes for revolutionary ideas of liberty, fraternity, and equality; then it cruelly shatters them. Even after a decade of the collapse of the Soviet Union, is this story still relevant? If it were limited to the events of the Russian Revolution, this piece of work would just fade out with its purpose completed, yet, this book is about so much more; as long as people walk on two legs and any type of government is present, this book will stay important. The book is written in a very simple way, one which is easy to understand. It can be understood by a wide range of people, those of different races and different ages. However, this simple style of writing does not undermine the serious message within the book. Employing allegories and personification to empower his satirical fable, Orwell presents the reader with an excellent example of the good and bad of human nature within politics.
             George Orwell (1903-1950), a novelist and political journalist, wrote Animal Farm towards the end of WW II but he was unable to publish it until the end of the war. Russia was an ally to England, a country who repelled the attacks of Nazi Germany, making it a bad time to criticize their country. Beneath the simplicity of Animal Farm, Orwell displays the techniques Stalin used to bend the original aims of the revolution to his will. Exactly like the pig Napoleon, Stalin rose to power by eradicating his opponents. He eventually became the same tsar everyone wanted removed. All the people gained was a new tyrant with a new government.
             Orwell had plenty of reasons to write this novel, having been affected by many revolutionary events in his life. His father was one of the British officials put in charge of India while it was part of the British empire.