Ég átti að gera ritgerð um Animal Farm fyrir ensku, og for some reason þá ætla ég að setja hana hérna



Animal Farm was written by George Orwell and was published in 1945, it is one of George Orwell’s most popular works, along with Nineteen Eighty-Four. It was the first of his works to receive international success, and is still widely read around the globe. The background of the story is a rebellion of animals against their human overlords and their independent lives on the farm, they face many difficulties and triumphs. I will discuss how they solve these difficulties and overcome the various obstacles, I will also talk about the main characters and themes.

They story takes place on a farm, in the English countryside, called Manor Farm. It does not mention the exact time of the story, but one can assume it happens around 1940-1950 and the course of the story is about five years. The story begins when Old Major tells the other animals of his dream about that all animals should live free and equal to men. After his death the other animals, led by the pigs because they are the wisest, start planning a rebellion against the human owners of the farm, Mr. Jones and his wife. The rebellion, led by Napoleon and Snowball, is a complete success, and all humans are banished from the farm. The pigs come up with seven commandments, which all animals on the farm are to abide. During the first years everything goes well, their lives are much better then with the humans, and the farm is making more progress than ever. But the pigs start to assume more power and become oppressive just like the humans before them and the farm becomes a tyranny.

The main characters are the pigs, which include Napoleon, Snowball, Squealer and Old Major the other animals are Boxer and Clover who are horses, Benjamin the donkey, Moses the raven and Muriel a wise goat.
Snowball is one of the main leaders of the revolution, but he is forced out of the farm on the ground that he is a traitor, but that was falsely suggested by Napoleon, in fact he was one of the few who kept true to the original concept of Animalism. He is iconic of Leon Trotsky, one of the main leaders in the Russian revolution, along with Lenin and Stalin. He is intelligent and conscious to the changes that Napoleon brings when he takes control. He is a man of great ideas and has big plans for Animal Farm.
Napoleon is also one of the leaders of the revolution, but he abuses his powers and banishes Snowball from the farm. He becomes a dictator of the farm, with his six attack dogs everyone is frightened to object him as he changes the meaning of Animalism. He is based upon Joseph Stalin. Napoleon is harsh and cruel, changes the commandments to suit him and the other pigs better.
Boxer is a strong and fast horse who stays loyal to Napoleon, but he is stupid and does not realise what Animalism is all about and he does not know who to believe and he always trusts the person who has authority. He is hardworking and strives to keep Animal Farm going although he does not know it’s meaning, he is still prepared to risk his health and possibly his life to support and defend Animalism. He overworks himself and his health diminishes to the state he is supposed to be sent to a veterinary surgeon, but in fact Napoleon had sold him to the butcher.
Benjamin is a donkey and Boxer’s closest friend, he is sceptical about Napoleon’s intentions and does not believe in Animalism. He most wise and old, he does not work much on the farm, because he is well over the age limit for donkey’s that may work on the farm.
Moses is a raven, he speaks of “Sugarcandy Mountain” as in heaven and paradise for animals, originally banished by Napoleon for his talks of animal heaven but he returned on the demand of Napoleon on the grounds that they needed faith, because they had lost hope in everything and were desperate.
Old Major was a pig who came up with the conception of Animalism, and told them of the dream he had, he was the main inspiration to the other animals, although he died early in the story, his ideas and dreams lived on long after his death, carried through by Snowball an Napoleon.

In the end the pigs become corrupted by power and break every single commandment, by sleeping in beds, walking on their hind legs, drinking beer and become friends with the humans and many more. They reduce all the commandments into a single one, “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.” They started acting just like humans, and now the other animals did not know which was which, they all looked alike from now one, pigs and men.

I found the book really good, it is definitely the most inspiring book I have ever read. The political references are very strong and play a big part of the plot outline. The message of the story is that you can succeed only with dreams, ideas and determination. I found this book not to be just entertaining but meaningful, it warns us of the dangers of tyranny and giving to much power to small regimes. Although George Orwell was a devoted socialist, he despised communism in the it was executed in the Soviet Union and this book is very critical of Stalinism and collectivism.


takk fyrir mig
-oRiley