Animal Farm

Yesterday, I read the entirety of George Orwell's adult fairy tale, Animal Farm. I have always been fascinated by political fiction, such as Orwell's 1984 or Huxley's Brave New World because of the perspective they show on the future of both Muggle and magical societies. It's currently too early for an explanation of how modern-day politics appear to set the stage for many of the atrocities perpetrated in these books, but nevertheless, the parallels are there and I challenge you to look for them. To me, the most striking aspect of Animal Farm was the ease with which the innocent, good animals who truly hoped for a better future for them all, were manipulated by the pigs into monsters. The pigs lied to them again and again, eradicating history and tampering with their own memories. For the first time, I grasp the importance of learning an unbiased account of history (even History of Magic taught by Prof. Binns, who is so incredibly boring that he did not even realize he died). History is the rubric by which the present day is graded. If it is either not taught, or worse, is taught with an agenda, there is no way to accurately view the present. To me, the innocent animals represented all those who commit terrible atrocities, such as the Nazi soldiers in World War II, without full awareness of the consequences of their actions due to near brainwashing by authorities. The majority of people in any organized, statewide movement, such as Nazism, had no intention of harming others. Fear of authority obviously drove their actions, but so did man's natural propensity to obey. One look at Milgram's controversial experiment on obedience uncovers the atrocities man can commit simply because they are told to. Animal Farm is a great choice of book for anyone who wants a short book, easy to read, that provokes a great deal of thought.


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Quotes of the Week:
This week, all quotes will follow an Orwellian theme, essentially because Animal farm is still fresh in my mind.

"All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others" Animal Farm by George Orwell (133)

This satiric parody of America's proud Declaration of Independence summarizes the general theme of the book and condemns not only Communism, but also the democratic-republic that the West is so proud of.

"I will work harder" Animal Farm by George Orwell (75)

This is a tribute to Boxer, the best character in the entire book, and his tragic fate.

 Great nations rise and fall. The people go from bondage to spiritual truth, to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back again to bondage. --Tytler

Where do you think your country falls on this continuum?