Arianna Vargas

Animal Farm Themes

POWER: LEADERSHIP AND CORRUPTION

The pigs no sooner weasel their way into power than they start taking milk for
themselves—and pretty soon, they've moved on to harder stuff.

POWER: CONTROL OVER THE INTELLECTUALLY INFERIOR

Pigs take control because they're the smartest animals on the farm and then
turn right around and start abusing that power.
But you can't just blame the eggheads. The pigs would never have succeeded if
they other animals hadn't blindly gone along with it.

LIES AND DECEIT

Animal Farm runs on pig fat and lies. By the end, "truth" has become so
malleable that the animals can't even remember what actually happened. A lie
is something that contradicts the pigs' agenda; a truth is something that
supports it. Napoleon might try to justify the lies by thinking they're for the good
of the cause, but his propaganda machine is still cranking out the myths.

RULES AND ORDER

The animals get rid of an old set of rules just to find themselves oppressed by a
new one. At first, new commandments and traditions are supposed to energize
and unite the animals. But these rules turn out to be not so much rules as easily
changed suggestions—especially because most of the animals don't read so
well (and don't remember so well, either). Instead of preserving order, rules are
used to deceive and abuse.

FOOLISHNESS AND FOLLY

Talk about blaming the victim: it sounds a lot like Orwell is faulting the lower-
class animals for not being smart enough to realize what's going on. Either they
fail to recognize their oppression, or they ignore it because they want to wear
ribbons in their hair. But you could also see the pigs as having follies of their
own.
Arianna Vargas

DREAMS, HOPES, AND PLANS

Animal Farm may be a specific criticism of one dream—the dream of a
communist Russia—but it's also a criticism of utopian ideals in general. The
problem is people. No matter how great your manifesto, it can only be put into
action by people—flawed, selfish, stupid, and vain people.
CUNNING AND CLEVERNESS
the communist revolution quickly sours when it turns out that the animals all
have different innate gifts—and some of those gifts, like cleverness, are
particularly good at oppressing animals with other gifts, like brute strength.

VIOLENCE
Old Major may have dreamed about animals frolicking in green pastures, but
the reality is more like bloody corpses and split hooves. From the violent
Rebellion to the violent Battle of the Windmill to the violent executions,
Napoleon's reign is one big ick-fest.

PRIDE
The animals in Animal Farm don't have much in the way of food, dignity, or
leisure—but they do have pride. They take pride in banding together to
overthrow their first oppressive leader, and that common feeling makes them
willing to endure their second oppressive leader. Napoleon is smart enough to
use that pride to manipulate the animals into obedience and then to convince
them that the whole system isn't just failing and corrupt.

RELIGION
Karl Marx may have said that religion was the opiate of the masses, but he also
said that it was the "sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless
world, and the soul of soulless condition."
Moses might be a manipulative liar, but his little tale about "Sugar candy
Mountain" is also the only thing that keeps the animals going after a long day of
hauling hay.