Animal Farm Essay

“The vision for the animals at the start of the novel is a stark
contrast to the ending”. In the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell,
the animals had a vision presented to them by Old Major, in which he
discussed the future they could have on the farm. The vision had to do
with making all animals equal so they would no longer have to work
and not enjoy the fruits of their labour. In this essay I would be
describing the dream of equality on the farm, the commandments that
was put in place for the dream to become a reality and finally examine
the technique of irony used in the novel.
In the beginning of the novel the animals lived on Manor Farm
which was controlled by Mr. Jones. However, life on the farm for the
animals wasn’t easy, they worked long tiring hours and were often
neglected. Mr. Jones was a drunken and spent most of his time either
drinking or reading the newspapers often forgetting to feed the
animals. One-night Old Major an old boar called a meeting to share
with the animals about a dream he had about standing up to Mr. Jones
and not settling for the unfair treatment they were encountering on the
farm. He told them that they should not work at the hand and mouth
of Mr. Jones and not reap the fruit of their labour. That humans
consume but do not produce. He portrayed Mr. Jones and all humans
to the animals as the enemy and blamed them for the conditions that
they lived under. Old Major’s dream was for the animals to start a
rebellion to overthrow Mr. Jones resulting in all animals living
peacefully in harmony.
In life when someone has an aspiration or goal that they are
working towards, they always have a plan or steps in place that they
would need to follow to stay on the right track. In this case the
animals were given a list of commandments by Old Major that they
would have to follow. Commandments including; No animal shall
sleep in a bed, No animal shall wear clothes, No animal shall kill any
other animal but the most important was that all animals are equal.
The commandments were not just a list but a lifestyle the animals
would have to conform to which was animalism. Animalism could be
described as by being a living example of the commandments. By
following animalism, it meant you agree that all animals are equal.
Sadly, not all dreams come true. Despite the animals having
the proper foundation for this vision to be complete along the way the
lines were blurred. It is ironic how without Old Major the animals
would probably have never thought about rebelling or standing up for
themselves. The idea of animalism would not have been a thing. At
the beginning the animals were drained and did what they were told.
Until they were given hope from Old Major that their future could be
different. The animals rebelled and took control of the farm and
ultimately their futures. For a time, they were happy they had
overthrowed Mr. Jones and were living independently they were
finally enjoying the fruits of their own labour with no one taking it
away or controlling them. Unfortunately, that didn’t last long as the
pigs started to take control naturally seeing that they were the smarter
ones of the bunch. Merely, power is a funny thing so much so that
when the two pigs were in charge one of them wanted more. So much
so that he kicked the other pig off the farm so he could rule for
himself. Everything went downhill from there; animals were fed less
than when Mr. Jones was in charge, and they worked twice as hard.
The worst part is that Napoleon is one of their own, but he didn’t care
about that he saw himself and the other pigs as superior. He even
allowed the commandments of animalism to be altered to fit their new
lifestyle better all while manipulating and deceiving the other animals.
Even though they started off bad they ended up worse.
In conclusion, although the animals had the foundation, they
were not able to get the outcome they hoped for because they broke
the number one commandment that all animals are equal. In this essay
the dream of equality for the animals was described, the
commandments put in place to achieve this dream was discussed and
the technique of irony was examined in this essay.