Tuesday, January 10, 2012

"The Animal Farm" by George Orwell

I read this book for the first time in school and I did not like it much, but recently I have reread it more carefully, discovering a sweet pleasure in reading, in fact, in my opinion, it is always better to read books 2 times.
THE BOOK (BRIEF SUMMARY)
This book is about an old man named Jones who owns a farm animal, but he does not behave well with his animals, he ill-treats them all the time, so that they are subjected to rebel. They decide to evict the owner of the farm and to govern themselves in perfect equality. The pigs, who were leaders in the fight to the expulsion of the master, not only take the leading positions of the new government, but they begin to treat others in a despotic, authoritarian, and day after day they reserve powers and benefits lard fatigue other farm animals, just as men did, in this case the old Jones, before their "revolution" .
I must say it was pretty funny to read some passages from the book, especially those referring to "after the revolution" of animals. The first thing they did, for example, was to change the sign by the entrance of the farm. They named it ANIMAL FARM instead of MANOR FARM, and also they instituted 7 commandments.
THE SEVEN COMMANDMENTS :
1) Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2)  Whatever goes upon four legs or has wings, is a friend.
3) No animal shall wear clothes.
4) No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5) No animal shall drink alcohol.
6) No animal shall kill any other animal.
7) All animals are equal.
Instead, other parts of the book blend a kind of irony and sadness. With the passing of years the pigs that had seized power became more and more similar to men, smoking their pipes, began to walk on two legs, began to play with their cards and meanwhile mistreatments of their fellow continued.
CONSIDERATIONS
A good book, sliding, a brilliant story, witty and sharp, where the author uses animals to speak of the man / power and to understand that power is something powerful, that is able to change everything, his personality , his way of being, his thoughts, anyone who is swept from power is transformed by it. . The animals had believed that was enough to be in the same "species" to ensure equality, but it was not in that way, because the thirst for power and the ability to feel better than all the other made so that although the same species they were not equal. The book concludes with an addition to the commandments, one eighth commandment in a sense, not formed by the desire for equality of the animals, but by a sad reality : 
8) All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.