La Fattoria degli Animali - Animal Farm by George Orwell

 La Fattoria degli Animal - Animal Farm by

George Orwell is undoubitedly one of the best books about dictatorship that you can find around; dark humor, there is no escapism in this story, and there is not an auto-liberation of the animals by their conditions of slavery. In this sense it is very sad. 

Written in a few months, it was started in November 1943 and completed in February1944, its success has been immediately solid. It is one of the most lucid books about the logic of power dictatorship and propaganda that you can read.

The farm of mr.Jones in England is not different from the farms of the rest of Englad or, let me add, the rest of the world; sometimes animals are killed for the common weekly consumption of meat; eggs are great gifts for men because they are good and their proteins precious; seasons means precise appointments; during the winter-time pigs are killed; in spring lambs.

One day an old pig of Jones's farm with great reputation, organizes a meeting with the rest of animals; it's necessary soon or late to make a revolution so that the power, an equal and democratic power, will pass to the animals.

Animals won't leave anymore any kind of injustice and they will live a wonderful existence.

The old pig can't see the Revolution, later conducted by other two pigs, Napoleon and Snowball.

Napoleon thinks very soon that he must destroy Snowball. He puts in a special place some puppies that will be grown up in the total violence, and adoration for their pig-owner Napoleon; once defeated Snowball, no one knows where he went once that he escaped away, Napoleon drastically changes the rules of the Animal Farm; the democracy and equality seen before become something else; he wants to build a big mill and asks to the rest of animals of working pretty hardly also during the sunday. 

Best places where to rest and live are taken by him.

The mill will live a sad destiny, in both cases; animals become always more unhappy because they don't have anymore good food in their stables; nothing if not hard work; pretty quickly apples, milk and other food is directed only to the pigs, because it was told to the rest of  animals that this food necessart for pigs's purposes; their thinking, elaborations of new plans, and ideas.

Animals were shocked to seeing that most of the commandments, the values written for everyone the days after the Revotion, rapidly changed, modified for the Orc that was commanding all of them; Napoleon. They maybe didn't understand well the real message spread in the Commandments.

Animals don't have any kind of strength for fighting against Napoleon and his loyal pigs; a sensation of terror is established by Napoleon who will kill whoever, also phantomatically, invent stories of meetings with Snowball. 

At the same time the sheep must learn a new song, because the old one not anymore good. At first they repeatedly chanting per hours: "Four legs good, two legs bad", after that they had defeated mr.Jones, but at the end the mantra will become "Four Legs good, two legs better."

Not only but...Animal Farm at first was born for not having anything to do with men; a situation that slowly slowly changed; the case of the mill is a first one, but also the ones of Boxer, the beloved horse, brought in a butcher's shop for being killed. Propaganda said something else also in these cases.

But the most traumatic act when Napoleon and his men started to walk in in their hing legs, wearing clothes, and smoking pipes, and what men do, including drinking beer or other kind of alcohol.

There wasn't anymore any kind of differences between men and pigs, absolutely. Who knows: maybe men would have been better owners.

The last phrase is fantastic: "The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."

What I found scaring was the inability, impossibility, probability of these poor animals of escaping away from this system. It is a claustrophobic sensation, where nothing can changes and the existence remains the most miserable ones ever seen as also told by many Russian writers.

What maybe it was different in Russia, if I compare folk with these animals  is that there was a solid erudition in the country, and all social classes studied till the university; so in Russia  it wasn't because of ignorance or short intelligence that people didn't change their existence, but because they lived in a spiral of horror where, also a whisper would have meant a horribe end.

Yes, but...You'll ask: Who are the various characters? Because George Orwell animalized the various russian leaders ( and facts as well) with a lucidity and a humor absolutely excellents.

Jones the Farmer Tzar Nicola II

Major Marx and Lenin

Napoleon is aStalin

Snowball Trockij

Frederick a Farmer Germany

Pilkington A Farmer England

Boxer the Horse Stachanov

Mollie The Russian aristocrats who repaired in other countries after the Rurrian Revolution

Squealer a horrible activist guy

If  you want to learn much better what happened during the Russian Revolution till at the end of the Communism there is another book that you should take in consideration: the one of Nino Haratischwili The Eighth Life (For Brilka). Kostja, Stasia, Ida, Christine, Kitty...A superb book and a fresco of Tblisi, Georgia and the system created by the Communism and unforgettable characters!

Shockingly beauty, Animal Farm is published in english and italian by Marsilio, so it is also good if you want to learn english, or if you are a british or American in Italy and you want to improve our language. When you can be lost or you experience difficulties there is also the original english version.

Highly recommended, this book is for children, adults, thinkers. Everyone! And I highly suggest a serious discussions about all the topics treated in the book, in particular in the familiar contest. 

Anna Maria Polidori