Animal Farm by George Orwell | Book Review

Disclaimer: This book has mentions of controversial political topics, and within this review I will be expressing my personal opinions on these topics. For those who feel very strongly about their political views and take offense in others expressing a different political view, this may not be the book review you want to read.

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I have been meaning to read Animal Farm by George Orwell for roughly two and a half years now and I finally sat down and gave it the attention it deserved. Animal Farm is a book I think most people should read at least once in their lifetime, because there are so many lessons in this book that are valuable and worth reflecting on as our world is rapidly changing.

Summary of Animal Farm (With Spoilers)

Animal Farm by George Orwell is about the uprising of animals on a farm whom are being treated unjustly by their farmer. They decide to have a meeting, hosted by a pig whom inspires the other animals to stop taking the abuse, stand up for their freedom, and inspires them on what their life could be like free from humans. The animals do just that, drive the farmer off the farm, and set core values that will ensure their happiness and freedom remains in tact from that point forward. Slowly, conflicts begin to arise between the animals, having various disagreements, the pigs in leadership start to fight for power and control, and the pig that demonstrated benevolent leadership gets chased away from that farm by the corrupt pig whom then slowly starts implementing more and more authoritarian leadership.

It starts off ever so gradual, and becomes more and more aggressive as time goes on. As time goes on, the corrupt pig in power and his associates start to quietly modify the original core values that the animals originally agreed upon for their freedom and harmony, they created new rules and set double standards, created different classes and ranks amongst certain animals, and convinced the animals that their memories of the core values and what happened during the original rebellion were wrong. Gradually, things the animals celebrated regarding the original rebellion and their freedom were banned and censored. Anyone who tried to defy or overthrow the corrupt pig and his associates were killed and threatened with death. Eventually, these very slow and gradual lies and shifts cause the farm to come full circle to a place which ended up to be even worse than where they started when the humans were in power. Even though the farm is now run by animals, the pigs in power become indistinguishable from the humans that were previously in power. The neighboring human farmers took inspiration from the authoritarian pig and his associates to gain more power and control on their own farms.

Takeaway

I think this is a very important book with powerful lessons that could be applied to a number of different scenarios, depending on your political perspective. My personal takeaway from this book was that this is a reflection of our government system and how the freedoms we fought for have eroded over time, and we are to blame for this because we allowed them to. We have been told lies, gradually over a long span of time to the point we do not notice anymore. As time goes on and new generations come into the picture, the value of our freedom gets forgotten and the struggles we fought to achieve those freedoms also gets forgotten. New generations are receiving a new education directly from our enemies that distort and change our entire perception of history and core values. They teach us their version of how history happened, as well as the core values they want us to have that benefit their best interests, which consists of half truths and mostly lies that make their authoritarian leadership look good and paint history as though things were worse before they came into power.

We’ve reached a point where our government no longer represents our best interests. They make it seem as though we are a democracy, but many of us are starting to realize that we haven’t been a democracy for a long time. Our governments make self serving decisions behind our backs, we have no say in those decisions and we pay the price for those decisions. They give themselves raises and increase our taxes. They tell us we are the ones harming our beautiful Mother Earth when it is them and their big corporation friends whom poison our air, our oceans, our food. They tell us they care about our health, while simultaneously making billions off our illnesses. If anyone says anything they don’t like or that threatens their authority, they take whatever measures are necessary to silence their opposition. This was recently demonstrated in Canada with the trucker convoy, and has also been consistently demonstrated on social media the past several years on Facebook and other platforms through shadow banning, fact checking, account suspensions and restrictions. We are already moving down a very dangerous and slippery slope into the authoritarian nightmare that is depicted in Animal Farm.

As digital ID and 15 minute cities are introduced into society, I hope those who have read this book will remember the lessons they were taught from this book, and use discernment in what these decisions our governments are making really mean for us, humanity as a whole. May we finally draw the line in the sand and say enough is enough, and care enough about our freedom to stand up for it. May we not continue to be manipulated with half truths and lies, and remember our core values and what real freedom means. And may our younger generations care to know and fight for the truth, their own freedom, and our collective future.

Conclusion

I highly recommend this book and think everyone should read it at least once to absorb the lessons within. These are really valuable lessons and are very relevant to the times we are living through today. Remember who you are, and don’t be afraid to stand up for truth, for freedom, and for what’s right. Speak up, even if your voice shakes, because once freedom is gone, it is not so easily regained.

Have you read Animal Farm by George Orwell? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Cozy Cat Rating: ★★★★★