Animal Farm: Corruption of an Inspired Vision George Orwell's Animal Farm epitomizes man's sordid nature in his relentless pursuit of dominance over others. This satire was written not only against communism, but also more generally in opposition to totalitarianism. In fact, Eric Blair, penname George Orwell, claims the main objective of this novel was to illustrate the speciousness of the popular belief that Soviet Russia was a pure socialist state. In other words, he desired to save socialism from communism. Eric Blair was born in Bengal, India in 1903; and, as soon as 1917 he attended school at Eton, located in England, where he faced popular liberal and socialist ideas for the first time. By 1921 he, and instead of attending a university Blair joined the Civil Service where he was transferred to Burma as a sergeant. He later moved to Paris where he intentionally lived among working-class people and wrote his first book about his experiences there.
English: Grave of Eric Arthur Blair (George Orwell...
Another version of the flag of Animal Farm, based ...
Version of the flag of Animalism, in Animal Farm, ...However, as soon as the Spanish Civil War broke out Blair enlisted on the Republican side and joined an anti-Stalin militia. His many experiences during this service time affected his attitude toward government and is the basis for becoming a long-time socialist. By the 1940's Orwell began publishing many books including one of his most well-know novels, Animal Farm, in 1945.
Old Major, the respected old boar whose vision of a superior life is the inspiration of the founding of Animal Farm, formerly Manor Farm, encourages the animals to rebel against their drunken human master, Mr. Jones. He feels that the animals could accomplish much more without the disturbance of man. In fact, Old Major says, "Only get rid of man, and the produce of our labor would be our own. Almost overnight we could become rich and...