The world knows Animal Farm by George Orwell as one of the most controversial dystopian allegories. Yet, it’s still sold and bought, even taught in public schools for its political satire. And for good reason, the book’s message still holds meaning today. The theme of the book is that power is corruptible. Once someone with good intentions takes over, the power of being on top gets to them, and their morals and ideals drift off at the back of their minds.
The book was controversial at the time of the Russian Revolution in 1917. The revolution against the reign of the Romanoff family was set to bring a new, better change in the government. However, the new regime turned into another form of people’s oppression, similar to Animal Farm. But if you haven’t read the book, this is a brief summary of this political satire.
Animal Farm by George Orwell
In Animal Farm, the three main pigs, Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer, carry on the dying wish of Old Major, a boar who introduced the pigs to the concept of Animalism. It’s an ideal where animals reject all things human and believe that all animals are equal. They put this principle into reality by fighting Manor Farm’s proprietor, Mr. Jones, off the property. Subsequently changing the name to Animal Farm. The peace that comes to the farm doesn’t last as Snowball and Napoleon bicker over how to govern the farm. Their clashing views sets the farm’s community for the worst. Readers will note that a new cycle has come full circle. The only difference is the controlling animal in charge.
You might want to give this book a read. Then, after, you’ll want to dive deeper into this eye-opening genre. If so, these are the books to read that are similar to George Orwell’s Animal Farm with their own take on human freedom and political intrigue.
Watership Down by Richard Adams
If you enjoyed the animal concept in Animal Farm, then this traumatizing book will work for you. After being displaced from their rural countryside land by the construction of man, daring rabbit brothers travel from their Sandleford Warren homeland to the far edges of the countryside. They find themselves fighting many predators and dealing with the destruction of man, looking for a new place to call home. I say traumatizing as children’s first introduction to the book might’ve been its movie adaptation from directors Martin Rosen and John Hubley. I’m not sure how that movie was made for kids, and best to stick to the book first.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The fear of technology was prevalent even during the 1930s. Huxley creates a dystopian world where freedom is exchanged for the sake of safety. Think Captain America: The Winter Soldier if Hydra were to succeed in their plans with the Helicarriers. In this book, humans are genetically made and forced to be pharmaceutically anesthetized to follow the authoritarian rule of the future. Scaring people who read the book in the 1930s will send deep shivers today. With technology being so advanced, something identical could come true.
Glory by Noviolet Bulawayo
A recent book, Glory, was inspired by the 2017 Zimbabwe coup against President Robert G. Mugabe, with Bulawayo using animals as the main focus of the rebellion. In the setting’s fictional country, its animals are determined to overthrow their current government. With immense optimism that matches their rage for a better way of life, the animals stand proud while also trying to keep the will to succeed.
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Like Animal Farm, this book carries controversial weight, but only by its last chapter. A Clockwork Orange questions the good and evil of humans. Burges’ writing is his take on a scary possible future. Alex, a teenager, lives in this scary future, talking in a way that’ll leave you wondering as his friends do in the world they live in. Is human freedom without fault? What people do in the dark is questionable. Does it truly mean freedom is the best?
Invitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov
Cincinnatus C. is sent to prison for his immediate execution. His crime: imaginary. The term for this given by Nabokov is “gnostical turpitude,” or a crime that has no definition. Accepting his upcoming death, Cincinnatus C. enjoys what his prison has to offer. With good food, a nice room, and a well-filled library, the prison is better than the outside, irrational world the author has created. The major sign that Cincinnatus is scared to die is when he tunes out from reality when he heads to his execution. The story then is readers seeing what Cincinnatus imagines, making everything disappear to fit his own imagination.
George Orwell created Animal Farm as an allegory based on real life. After the Russian Revolution, the book continues to be a cautionary tale of greed. Similar to books such as Waterdown Ship (environmental damage) and Invitation to a Beheading (unfair execution), greed in the hands of powerful control is a dangerous position to be in.
For more in-depth knowledge of Animal Farm, check out Bookstr’s The Significance of George Orwell’s Animal Farm!
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