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If you remember one thing about George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm, remember this: This book is pure allegory. You didn’t really think that Orwell would insult your intelligence by writing a book that was merely about a bunch of talking farm animals, did you? Jenny has the scoop on the deeper meaning of _Animal Farm_—just press play.

Video Transcription:

There are animals that talk and a pig at the center of the story. But when you read Animal Farm, don’t expect another Charlotte’s Web. This book is pure allegory.

On a farm in England, overworked, underappreciated animals dream of a Revolution. They yearn to be free of human control and to live in an animal society in which everyone is equal.

Well, a Revolution these animals get, but equality? Not so much. That’s because Animal Farm was George Orwell’s not-so-subtle critique of what went on during the Russian Revolution.

In the book, as in real life, idealism quickly gives way to class stratification. In other words, some of the oppressed become oppressors themselves. Equality is traded in for a ruling class and a working class. And let’s not forget the brainwashing. Because the animals on the farm—just like the citizens of Russia—are strongly encouraged to believe that they have it better than before. So strongly, in fact, that they start to believe it—when, in reality, their labor is harder, their pay is worse, and their lives are ever so much more miserable.

Did I mention that this book doesn’t have a happy ending? But I guess that’s what happens when you’re reading about the hypocrisy of tyranny.