Conceived and written as satire, Animal Farm is generally acknowledged as presenting many of Orwell’s views on humanity and politics. The novel relates the overthrow of a farmer’s tyrannical rule by the animals in his barnyard and the animals’ aborted efforts to establish an “egalitarian” society. Clearly alluding to political events in Russia from the Revolution to World War II, Animal Farm primarily attacks the extremes of Stalinism, yet goes beyond to dissect the anatomy of revolution and the lure of power. The ponderous political implications of the novel, however, are deftly interwoven into a fantastic tale of animals that talk, walk on their hind legs, write laws, spout propaganda, and commit crimes, all in the name of equality. Once the animals attain their freedom and begin to organize the farmyard, it becomes obvious that their behavior parodies human political and social hierarchies.
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