Animal Farm: What It Represents and Why It's Wrong

Animal Farm: What It Represents and Why It's Wrong

Beasts of England, Beasts of Ireland,

Beasts of every land and clime,

Hearken to my joyful tiding

Of the golden future time. (Orwell 9)

The quote above is lyrics to a controversial song taken from the book Animal Farm, and it is based on the communist anthem "Internationale" (Pottier) Many parents had argued that Animal Farm by George Orwell was inappropriate in schools due to its notably obvious similarities to Joseph Stalin, the Russian Revolution, and, most importantly, communism. There are many important events in the book that are clearly analogous to Stalin's rule in the Soviet Union. One example is when Napoleon violently excommunicates Snowball from the farm. Similarly, Joseph Stalin got rid of Leon Trotsky, his right hand man, when he felt threatened (Yemenici). Communism, although important in history, should stay out of American literacy. And even if it's not a direct reference, it should still stay out of the classroom. This paper will provide a summary of the book "Animal Farm," show evidence it's resemblance to Joseph Stalin and Communism, and give reasons why the book should stay banned.

George Orwell was born in 1903 in India. His family moved to England in 1907 and in 1917 Orwell entered Eton, where he contributed regularly to the various college magazines. In 1922 he joined the Indian Imperial Police in Burma. At the end of 1936 Orwell went to Spain to fight for the Republicans and was wounded. He never got fully better. During the Second World War he served in the Home Guard and worked for the BBC Eastern Service from 1941 to 1943. He published many books, but in 1945 he published Animal Farm and "Nineteen Eighty-Four" in 1949 and they brought him worldwide fame. He died in London in January 1950 (Davison).

The book starts with Old Major, the oldest and considered wisest animal on the farm, giving a speech to all the animals in the barn. In his speech he talks about how the animals' lives are "miserable, laborious, and short." and that "No animal in England is free" (Orwell 4-5). He talks about a dream he had in which all of the animals got together and overthrew the humans. He sings to them the song "Beasts of England"(Orwell 9). Three nights afterwards, Old Major dies in his sleep. The animals then prepare to carry out his dying wish of taking control of the farm from Mr. Jones. Two of the pigs, Napoleon (antagonist) and Snowball (protagonist) work together to lead the preparations. They come up with "Animalism" to get all the animals to come together (Orwell 10-17).

One day, Mr. Jones gets too drunk and all the animals chase him and his men off the farm. The animals then spend