POLITICAL SCEINCE

REVIEW OF ANIMAL FARM


WHAT TYPE OF BOOK IS ANIMAL FARM?
It is an animal story written for adults. It is not so different from Watership Down or Dunction Wood. There are in fact, some similarities between all three- the most obvious being that in these books animals are given many of the characteristics of humans. The most significant thing about Animal Farm is that it is an allegory. An allegory is similar to a fable in that the story has two levels of meaning. In a fable the writer may use animal characters to make a point about human behaviour. An allegory is read and enjoyed for its surface meaning as well as for its more significant underlying meaning. Other important stories which are also allegories are Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift and The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. Animal Farm takes events and ideas which might be thought abstract and theoretical and makes them concrete, readily understandable and entertaining. It makes a simple tale of rebellion on a farm into a complex story with a powerful message.


WHAT THE ALLEGORY IS ABOUT.
It is not just a story bout animals rebelling against the farmer and setting their own farm. It is about Russian Revolution of 1917 and the history of that country in the half century following. It is about what happen to ordinary people when other people have power over them and what happens to people when they get absolute power over others.
The Russian revolution overthrew the Tsar (Emperor) in 1917. The Russian Empire was replaced by a state run on communist principles called Soviet Union. In it, the workers and peasants, who had no power in the old system and had been badly treated for centuries were supposed to have power themselves. That was the ideal.
Those in power in other countries were scared by this event. What if their workers seized power? What if the ideas of the Russian revolution spread? The revolution was followed by a civil war between the new government (the Reds) and the supporters of the Tsar (the Whites). Foreign (including Britain) sent troops into Russian to help the Whites but in the end, they were beaten. The leader of the Red army, (Trotsky), the man largely responsible for the defeat of the Whites, the other main leader was a man called Lenin.
In the years that followed the Soviet Union tried to modernize and industrialize, it also sought to make its agriculture more efficient and to do away with the class of land owners by collectivization. There were many disagreements in the ruling communist party about how it should best be done. Eventually, after the death of Lenin in 1924, Stalin emerged as leader. Trotsky, who differed from Stalin on many issues, was exiled from the Soviet Union and later murdered in exile.
Stalin wanted to industrialize the Soviet Union whatever the cost to the Soviet people. He also pursued a policy of establishing communism in the Soviet Union alone, rather than trying to get other countries to have revolutions too, which was Trotsky’s policy. Many ordinary Soviet citizens suffered during these years from the enforced labour on industrial projects and from food shortage which were partly due to the harsh way collectivization was carried out.
Stalin grew increasingly powerful and would not tolerate any opposition. People who disagreed with him- even those in high positions and who had fought with Trotsky and Lenin in the revolution- were either exiled to labour camps in Siberia or killed. Stalin became increasingly paranoid- he suspected almost everyone of plotting against him and thousands of people were arrested and tried and executed for crimes they did not commit.
In 1936, the Soviet Union’s greatest enemy, Germany (under Hitler) made a non-aggression pact with the soviet government. This meant that the Soviet Union was not involved in the first two years of the Second World War. However, in 1941 Hitler attacked the Soviet Union and conquered vast areas. In a bitter campaign in which millions of Russians died, the Germany army was eventually pushed back in 1945. The Soviet Union joined the Britain, France and the USA (amongst others) as the victors of the Second World War. There was some improvement after the death of Stalin in 1953 when many of the labour camps were closed but not until the late1980 were there any signs of deeper changes.


SUMMARY OF THE BOOK- ANIMAL FARM.
After the drunken farmer Jones has gone to bed, all the animals of the farm assemble for a meeting. The meeting has been called by Old Major, a boar who is the oldest and wisest animal on the farm who had a dream and wanted to communicate it to them. In his speech, de drew the attention of the animals to their miserable, laborious and short lives “…our lives are miserable, laborious and short”. He attributed this as the cause of man. He painted man as their enemy and suggested that if their enemy is taken away, their miserable, laborious and short lives would be over “ only get rid of man , and the produce of our labour would be our own”. He urges the animals to fight the humans at every turn, and tells them that rebellion is the only possible solution to their situation and also urges them to pass the message of rebellion to those who come after them.
Old Major finally gets around to telling them about his dream, but the first thing he tells them is that he cannot describe the dream, except to say that it reminded him of a song that he learned in his youth called “Beasts of England.” He sings the song, which tells of the day when Man is finally overthrown, when there is no more slavery or cruelty, and when the animals are finally free. The animals in the barn respond rapturously to this, and sang it through together five times in succession, until they are interrupted by a blast from the farmer’s shotgun. The farm quickly returns to normality.
Old Major dies three days later. The animals set out to prepare for the rebellion. The pigs, being the most intelligent animals on the farm, take the lead on this. The task of working Old Major’s ideas into a more formal system falls to three pigs, Napoleon, Snowball and Squealer. These three organize regular night time meetings with the other animals to explain the principles of their system, called Animalism. Without any planning, the rebellion happens on Midsummer’s day, just before harvest. Farmer Jones gets hopelessly drunk the night before, and neglects to milk the cows or feed the animals all day. One of the cows breaks down a door to the store-shed, and several of the animals begin to help themselves from the bins. Jones now awakes and seeing this, he and his four farm hands begin whipping the animals out of the store-shed. The animals attack the humans spontaneously and furiously. They shocked men react by almost immediately running down the laneway and fleeing the farm. The farm now belongs to the animals.
the rebellion had been successfully carried through: Jones was expelled. Snowball, Napoleon together with the animals changed the Manor farm to Animal Farm; they reduced the principles of Animalism into seven commandments;
1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal.
After the rebellion all the animals worked diligently according to their capacity. As the weeks go by, it becomes clear that Napoleon and Snowball rarely agree about anything. Snowball puts all his energies into forming various committees, each of which is responsible for improving some or other aspect of life on the farm. Napoleon sees no value in this, and prefers to concentrate on educating the young. For example, when two of the dogs have litters, Napoleon takes the puppies away from their mothers and secludes them in an inaccessible part of the farm, so that he can educate them properly in the principles of Animalism. Snowball reduces the seven commandments to the single maxim “Four legs good, two legs bad!” which they can remember more easily. The pigs issued a decree stating that all windfall apples are to be gathered up and given over for the exclusive use of the pigs. Some of the animals are puzzled by this, and wonder why the apples are not to be shared out equally. Squealer goes before them to explain. He tells them that the pigs, as the leaders, must keep their brainpower up, and that science has proven that milk and apples are essential for this. Squealer goes on to remind them that the alternative to the pigs is to have Farmer Jones back. This settles the animals, who agree that, whatever happens, they never want to live under Jones again.
Snowball and Napoleon are sending pigeons to neighbouring farms and beyond, to tell the animals about the rebellion. News of the rebellion has spread to the surrounding county. The farmers at first pretend not to be troubled about the rebellion, believing that the animals cannot possibly make a success of the farm. But as time passes the farmers become more and more troubled, and their animals become more and more emboldened. The tune of Beasts of England is now known by nearly every animal in the county. The farmers were thoroughly frightened by the rebellion on Animal Farm and very anxious to prevent their own animals from learning too much about it.
Early in October, Jones, all his men, and half a dozen others from the neighbouring farms, attack Animal Farm with the objective of getting the farm back. Jones and his men were once again defeated by the defensive operations of Snowball. The animals celebrate their victory. The flag is raised, Beasts of England is sung. A medal for “Animal Hero, First Class and Second Class” is created, and awarded to Snowball and a sheep that died when Jones fired his gun.
With the land now frozen solid, it is impossible to do any farming. A lot of time is spent on meetings of all the animals in the big barn, where the future policy for the farm is discussed and voted on. The divisions between Snowball and Napoleon are becoming more pronounced, and it seems that they now oppose each other on every proposal. Snowball’s eloquence allows him to control the meetings, However, Napoleon works quietly behind the scenes building support, and succeeding in getting all of the sheep onto his side.
Snowball is forever proposing new plans and schemes for the improvement of the farm, all of which are opposed by Napoleon. Snowball’s most ambitious plan is for the construction of a windmill, which he says can provide heat and electricity to the farm.
Napoleon is completely against the idea, and makes his opposition clear. Snowball continues to work on his plans. The day comes when all the animals will gather in the big barn to vote on whether or not the windmill will be built. The farm is divided into two factions at this stage, the “Vote for Snowball and the three-day week” faction, and the “Vote for Napoleon and the full manger” faction. Snowball has convinced his faction that the windmill will lead to increased leisure time for everybody, while Napoleon has convinced his faction that the distraction of the windmill will cause the animals to lose time on the harvest and starve.
The meeting begins. The sheep heckle Snowball as he explains his plans for the windmill, and why it will be good for the farm. Napoleon then rises and gives a very brief and curt address, advising everyone to vote against the windmill. Snowball then speaks again. He talks passionately and eloquently, and creates a vision of a mechanized farm with heat and light, with electrical threshers and ploughs and reapers, where the animals do little or no work. It is clear that Snowball will win the vote.

Just then, Napoleon stands and emits a queer sound, a kind of whimper. At this signal, nine huge dogs, rush into the barn and charge at Snowball. They chase him from the barn and off the farm. He is never seen again.
The other animals, who had left the barn to watch the chase, now return to the barn, where Napoleon addresses them. He tells them that Sunday Meetings are henceforth abolished, and that all decisions in future will be taken solely by the pigs. Any dissent is silenced by growls from the dogs, and the meeting finishes to a fifteen-minute chorus of “Four legs good, two legs bad” from the sheep. Squealer follows up in the aftermath, explaining to the shocked animals of the farm that Napoleon has taken on the leadership with great reluctance and with great sacrifice to himself. The animals are soon won over when they are reminded of what life was like under Jones.

Three weeks after this fateful meeting, Napoleon announces that the Windmill will now be built. The animals are warned that this will mean lots of extra hard work, and a reduction in their rations. Another year passes. The animals work themselves to the bone on the harvest and on the windmill, all under the supervision of the pigs. The animals are asked to work on Sunday afternoons as well, on a voluntary basis, though any animal that did not work on Sunday had their rations halved. Progress on the windmill is laborious and slow. The stones with which it is to be built have to be hauled to the top of the quarry and thrown from there to the bottom, so that the stones can be broken into the appropriate sizes.

Napoleon announces one day that Animal Farm will henceforth enter into trading arrangements with some of the surrounding farms. Hay and wheat from the farm will be sold, and the hens are told that they will have to give up some of their eggs, a sacrifice that they should be proud to make. Some of the animals are doubtful about this move, seeming to remember an agreement in the early days after the rebellion never to have anything to do with humans. Squealer puts any doubts to rest in the following days, informing them that such a resolution was never written down.
From then on, Napoleon engages a local solicitor to act as the middleman between Animal Farm and the outside world. The solicitor comes every Monday, and his presence makes the other animals very uneasy, but their doubts are eased by their pride in seeing Napoleon give orders to a human.
Shortly afterwards, the pigs move into the farmhouse. They eat in the kitchen, relax in the drawing room, and even sleep in the beds. Some of the animals are very doubtful about this. Clover consults the seven commandments on the gable wall, and asks Muriel to read out the fourth commandment, which states, “No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets.” Muriel cannot remember sheets being mentioned before. However, helped by the smooth words of Squealer, she assumes that she must have been wrong; she and the other animals accept his argument that the pigs, as the leaders, must have as much comfort as possible to facilitate their brainwork.
The work on the windmill continues. The animals are all extremely proud of their progress so far, except for Benjamin, who expresses no opinion for or against the windmill. By November, the windmill is half finished. However, disaster strikes when a night time storm destroys it. Napoleon is silent for a long time, before making the sudden and dramatic announcement that the windmill was destroyed by Snowball. Some pig footprints leading away from the farm are discovered, and Napoleon confirms them to belong to Snowball. The other animals are shocked that their former leader could do such a thing. Napoleon announces that work on rebuilding the windmill will commence immediately.
At a Sunday meeting, Squealer announces that the hens must give up their eggs, so that they can be traded with the outside world for grain and meal. The hens are stunned into rebellion. They take to laying their eggs from the rafters of the coop, allowing them to smash to the ground. The pigs respond by stopping their rations completely, and threatening death on any other animals that shares their food with them. Eventually the hens relent, and they are forced to give up their eggs as soon as they are laid. All the while, the pigs spread terrible rumours about Snowball. Every mishap and misfortune on the farm was now attributed to Snowball.
An assembly of all the animals in the yard is now called. Napoleon, who now rarely leaves the farmhouse, and is never without his escort of dogs, stands before them. At a signal, the dogs charge into the crowd and drag four of the more troublesome pigs before Napoleon. At the same time, three of the dogs attach Boxer. Boxer easily fends them off. The miserable pigs are forced to confess to having been in league with Snowball, and are murdered on the spot by the dogs. Other animals come forward to confess various crimes against the farm, and each in turn is slaughtered. These are the first killings of other animals since the rebellion. The animals creep away from the meeting. Boxer, in trying to understand why this has happened, resolves that the only possible solution is to work harder. Clover, not as strong but more intelligent, has deep misgivings about what she has seen, but she cannot put them into words. She remains faithful to Napoleon, but deep down she knows that this state of affairs was not what they fought for in the rebellion. Squealer now tells the animals that the song is henceforth abolished. It is to be replaced with a song called Animal Farm, composed by one of the pigs. The animals take up the new song faithfully, but are aware that it does not compare to Beasts of England.
Squealer exhorts them to greater efforts, telling them that productivity on the farm has improved enormously since the rebellion, though many of the animals secretly feel hungry. Napoleon, who is now known as “Our Leader, Comrade Napoleon,” now employs a cockerel as a herald, as well as being accompanied at all times by his dogs. Relations between the neighbouring farms, Frederick of Pinchfield and Pilkington of Foxwood, remain complex. Napoleon, through the middleman, has been trying to sell off a pile of timber to one of the other neighbour. At this time, rumours abound that Frederick is about to attack the farm. A plot to murder Napoleon is uncovered. Three hens confess that Snowball, said to be living on Pinchfield, put them up to it. The hens are executed.
The windmill is completed by autumn. The animals forget their worries temporarily to celebrate this magnificent achievement. The animals are all congratulated by Napoleon. Two days later, he calls them to a meeting and announces that the wood is to be sold to Frederick. The animals are astonished, but Squealer easily explains this away as part of Napoleon’s strategy, to appear friendly with one neighbour while secretly courting the other. The sale goes ahead, and the solicitor organizes the transport of the wood off the farm, and the delivery of the banknotes to Napoleon. Three days later, the notes are discovered to be forgeries. Napoleon assembles the animals again and pronounces the death sentence on Frederick. At the same time, he warns them that Frederick and his men may be about to attack the farm. The attack comes the next morning. Fifteen men, six with guns, approach the farm, and the battle is joined. The animals are driven back to the farm buildings. While they are trapped there, the men plant dynamite around the windmill. In the ensuing explosion, the windmill is obliterated. The animals react to this by forgetting all about the guns and charging headlong at the men, who after a brief struggle, run for their lives. The animals are dejected at the loss of the windmill, but the pigs quickly set about the task of rebuilding morale by reminding them of the magnificent victory they have won. The day will be forever commemorated as the Battle of the Windmill. In the ensuing celebrations, the forged banknotes are forgotten.
Rebuilding of the windmill begins immediately after the celebrations. Boxer works harder than ever, despite carrying an injury from the battle. His thoughts are now turning to retirement, for which, under the laws of Animal farm, he is due the next year. Napoleon now introduces a weekly event called the Spontaneous Demonstration, where every animal would leave their work to march in military procession around the farm, so as to instill pride in the animals in the achievements of the farm since the rebellion. It comforts the animals to know that, no matter how hard their lives, at least they have the benefit of being their own masters. The building work around the farm continues through the summer, heavily dependent on the extraordinary efforts of Boxer. He is showing some signs at this stage that his strength is failing. One summer evening, he collapses. All the animals rush to his side, unable to bear the thought that anything might happen to him. He barely has the strength to get back to his feet and to struggle back to his stall. Squealer promises to send him to the town so that the veterinary surgeon can treat him. Clover and Benjamin spend as much time as they can over the next few days nursing him. Then, while the animals are all at work, the van comes to take Boxer away. The animals rush to the yard in time to see the van begin to pull away. They start to wave goodbye to Boxer, but Benjamin is very agitated, and tells them to read the letters on the van. Muriel reads out the sign on the van, which describes the van as belonging to the local horse-slaughterer. The animals try to warn Boxer, who tries to kick his way out of the van, but he has no strength. Three days later, Squealer announces that Boxer died in the hospital. He makes a moving speech in praise of Boxer. He explains the sign on the van by saying that the veterinary


surgeon bought the van from the horse-slaughterer, and had not yet replaced the sign. The animals are very relieved to hear this, and are greatly consoled by Squealer’s further descriptions of the wonderful care and treatment that Boxer received in his final hours.
Napoleon pays his respects to Boxer at the meeting on the following Sunday, attended only by the pigs.
Years have passed, and many of the animals are dead. Only Clover, Benjamin, Moses and some of the pigs remember the days before the rebellion. Clover is by now very old, well past retirement age, except that no animal has actually managed to retire yet. The windmill has finally been completed. It is used for milling corn, rather than for generating electricity, and brings a good profit to the farm. Another windmill is now being built to generate electricity. There is no more talk of the three-day week, or any of the other luxuries that Snowball originally promised would accrue from the windmill. The farm is growing richer, but the animals themselves do not seem to benefit much from it. There are many pigs and dogs on the farm now. The pigs are all involved in the bureaucracy of running the farm, and are not available to do any actual work, though Squealer makes it clear to the others that what the pigs do is of vital importance to the farm.
One day, the pigs invite a number of the local farmers to inspect the farm. After the inspection, the pigs and the farmers return to the farmhouse for a celebration. After a time, loud noises of laughter and singing are heard through the windows. The other animals are overcome with curiosity, and they approach the farmhouse to see what is going on. They look through the windows to see the pigs and farmers seated around the living room table, playing cards, making speeches and congratulating one another. Mr. Pilkington makes a speech telling the pigs how impressed he is with Animal Farm, especially with the hard work and poor rations of the farm animals. Napoleon makes a speech in return, expressing his happiness that the mistrust between Animal Farm and the others is now at an end. He furthermore announces that the animals will cease to address each other as “Comrade,” and that “Animal Farm” will now revert to being called “Manor Farm.” As Napoleon finishes his speech to great applause, the animals outside seem to notice something changing in the features of the pigs, but what?
As the applause dies down and the card game is resumed, the animals creep away from the window. However, they hurry back when they hear a furious argument break out. The argument is because Mr. Pilkington and Napoleon have both played an Ace of Spades at the same time. But as the animals look from Napoleon to Pilkington, from man to pig and from pig back to man, they find that they are unable to tell the difference.


ANIMAL FARM IN CONNECTION TO GHANA
The situation in Animal Farm can be likened to the fight of independence by our dear country (Ghana) who was under the oppression of their colonial masters (the British). Old Major can be compared to Dr. Kwame Nkrumah who was one of the governed. He stood out of the lot and with the help of others decided to fight for the freedom and liberty of the governed. He made the natives to realize that the British were only using them for trade and for their selfish gains which were against human rights. Base on this realization our forefathers stood and fought against their colonial masters until they achieved independence. As Manor Farm was changed to Animal Farm likewise Gold Coast was also changed to Ghana.
Since 1957, the Republic of Ghana has gone through a variety of governments that all preached of a stable and vibrant economy that will surpass that of its former colonial masters. Out of the four Republics that Ghana has gone through not even one has been able to hit the fifty percent (50%) mark of economic stability and the vibrancy that it promised the people when it was pleading to switch seats from the governed to govern.
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana had a glassy ray of light in his mind for his people but the taste of power made him much more than a human being. Despite his contributions on obtaining a significant improvement in the country’s economy and social growth, his distasteful acts as history says outweighed his good deeds.(Absolute power corrupts absolutely) and led to his abrupt end of service when he was overthrown in 1966 by a military unit. Since then, Ghana’s sovereignty has been gambled by military and democratic governments.
At present, political parties mount platforms to state publicly the dreams and aspirations they have for the country. They promise quality healthcare, comfy economic environment, an increase in jobs among others to get the peoples vote. After power has entered them the tide turns upside down. The promises are vanished into the thin air. The good ones are kicked out with all sorts of accusations and the bad heralded into office. Sadly enough, our leaders are able strategize into using some people in the country. These people like the youth representatives of the government in power, information ministers, some journalists and many others. These people get close to the people in order to persuade them to believe in the government who in the real sense is not helping the people just like Squealer in Animal Farm.
Political parties are now back biting each other but the saddest thing is that when they emerge as governors they go back to the same policies they criticized about the other when they were in opposition. Now, there is no difference between the political parties. They just criticize to paint the other black in the sight of the people and when power is given to them they adopt the same policies. Just like the way the animals could not see the difference between the pigs, their so called leaders and the human beings so is the way the governed people of Ghana are not seeing the difference between the political parties.