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"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present
controls the past."
Stats:
Born June 25, 1903 in Motihari, India
Died January 21, 1950 in London, England
Bio: George Orwell, the pen name of Eric Blair, an Englishman
born in India, educated in Eton in England. After service with the British
colonial Indian Imperial Police in Burma, he returned to Europe to earn his
living writing novels and essays. |
Bitterly opposed to social injustice, political oppression,
and verbal cant in every form, he was a socialist who attacked both capitalism
and communism, a literary critic who savaged all that he saw as false to
life as it was lived and reality as it was, and a novelist who merged his
profound political concerns with superbly honed narrative artistry. George
Orwell died in 1950, of a neglected lung disease.
(bio courtesy paperback Signet Classic print of Animal Farm) |
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This Book at Amazon.com |
First printed: March, 1956
Reference Tools:
Animal
Farm Notes
Wonderful essay on the symbolism of Animal Farm. Complete with character
descriptions and explainations of their real human counterparts.
NovelGuide.com - Animal
Farm
A much more long-winded analysis of the book. If you're looking for millions
of details, this is the place for you. |
Calculo Review
Animal Farm is basically an analysis of the effects of communism,
but Orwell was rather subtle in the way he presented it. He turned Stalin,
Trotsky, and Marx into pigs, and the whole of Russia into a farm once
run by Mr. Jones, or in other words, the Czar. The plot revolves around The
Manor Farm, which was once an ordinary farm, run by a farmer, whose
animals were beaten into submission. But, one day, Old Major (Karl Marx)
speaks of a dream: revolution. Snowball and Napolean (Trotsky and Stalin)
lead the way, running Mr. Jones off his own farm, claiming victory for
all of animal kind.
The wonderful thing about Animal Farm is you don't need to understand
all of the symbolism to enjoy it. It's one of those rare novels that can
be read on so many different levels. A child will enjoy it for the "fairy
story" it tells of how animals are smarter than adult humans (in a much more
mature way than "Babe"), and adults will be entertained by the hidden
jokes and symbolism that constantly poke fun at government. And, for
the rest of us, it beautifully and honestly illustrates the true outcome
of a communist society.
An all around entertaining novel. I highly recommend it for both its
enjoyable characters, and its politically enlightening plot.
A word of advice: If you purchase the paperback version referenced above,
you must, by all means, read the preface by Russell Baker. However, read
it after you've finished the book itself. It gives away far too much of the
plot, but it helps illustrate Orwell's intentions when writing Animal
Farm.
- Megora McGonagall, Senior Calculo |
