About the story
Animal Farm tells the story of Farmer Jones’ animals who
rise up in rebellion and take over the farm. Tired of being exploited for human
gain, the animals—who have human characteristics such as the power of speech—agree
to create a new and fairer society. The novel reads like a fairy tale, and
Orwell originally subtitled it as one, but it is also a satire containing a
message about world politics and especially the former Soviet Union.
In a satire, the writer attacks a serious
issue by presenting it in a ridiculous, funny way. Orwell uses satire to expose
what he saw as the myth of Soviet Socialism. The novel tells a story that people
of all ages can understand, but it also tells us a second story— that of the
real-life Revolution.
Since the Bolshevik Revolution of the early
1900s, the former Soviet Union had captured
the attention of the world with its socialist
experiment. This form of government had some
supporters in Britain and the United States,
but Orwell was against this system.
About the author
Orwell began life as Eric Arthur Blair (George
Orwell was a name he adopted later). He spent his early years in India as a
lonely boy who liked to make up stories and talk with imaginary companions. He
began to “write” before he even knew how. At the age of eight, Orwell’s parents
sent him to a boarding school in England. He began to write poems and short
stories as a way to deal with his boredom and loneliness.
Later, instead of going on to university, he
decided to take a job in Burma with the Indian Imperial Police. Orwell wrote about
this experience in Burmese
Days (1934) and in the essay “Shooting
an Elephant.” Returning to England to recover from a chronic lung illness,
Orwell began his serious writing career. Over the next two decades, he wrote
newspaper columns, novels, essays, and radio broadcasts, most of which grew out
of his own personal experience.
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