“Animal Farm” by George Orwell, published in 1945, is a satirical allegory of the Russian Revolution and the rise of Stalinism. The story is set on a farm where the animals overthrow their human oppressors, led by the pigs who symbolize the ruling class. Initially, they create a utopian society based on equality, but as the pigs gain power, they betray these ideals, turning the farm into a dystopian regime similar to the human oppression they overthrew.
Orwell’s novella critiques totalitarianism and the corrupting influence of power, reflecting on the cyclical nature of political revolutions and the dangers of blind obedience. The animals’ quest for freedom and equality mirrors historical events, making the work timeless and thought-provoking.
“Animal Farm” has been adapted into various films and plays, with the 1954 animated film being particularly notable. These adaptations help maintain the novella’s relevance in discussions about politics, power, and corruption.
Summarised by CoPilot, from SparkNotes.
George Orwell, orig. Eric Arthur Blair, (born 1903 , Motihari, Bengal, India —died Jan. 21, 1950 , London, Eng.), British novelist, essayist, and critic. Instead of accepting a scholarship to a university, Orwell went to Burma to serve in the Indian Imperial Police (1922–27), an experience that changed him into a literary and political rebel. On returning to Europe, he lived in self-imposed poverty, gaining material for Down and Out in Paris and London (1933), and became a socialist. He went to Spain to report on the Spanish Civil War and stayed to join the Republican militia. His war experiences, which gave him a lifelong dread of communism (he would later provide British intelligence services with lists of his fellow British communists), are recounted in Homage to Catalonia (1938). His novels typically portray a sensitive, conscientious, emotionally isolated individual at odds with an oppressive or dishonest social environment. His most famous works are the anti-Soviet satirical fable Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty-four (1949), a dystopic vision of totalitarianism whose influence was widely felt in the postwar decades. His literary essays are also admired.
Sourced from Britannica.