This is a book that takes a look, from a satirical point of view, at the rise and excesses of Communism in the former Soviet Union. Written from the point of view of animals in a farm, itstarts with the 'vision' of a boar, Old Major, who dreams of a time when all animals are free fromdomination from humans and are equals. Eventually, the animals revolt, driving out the farmer and setting up their own society.However, from the start, things slowly start to go wrong. The pigs set themselves up as leaders('first among equals') and began to 'allocate work' to the rest of the animals. TheCommandments set up just after the revolution began to be distorted and all questions on theleadership of the pigs or the commands handed down are swiftly deflected by theirspokesperson. The parallels to the rise of Communism are obvious in this book. People who knowsomething about the history of Communism will have no problems figuring out who representsKarl Marx, Stalin, the KGB, etc. However, even if you don't, or are not interested in findingparallels to Communism, the book is still an entertaining book to read. The gradual erosion of theinitial ideals of the animal society, the rise to power of the pigs (unopposed by the other animals),and the eventual horror as the animals realize they have replaced one master with yet anotherare well written in this book. CharactersOld MajorOld Major is the wise old pig whose stirring speech to the animals helps set the Rebellionin motion- though he dies before it actually begins. His role compares with that of Karl Marx,whose ideas set the Communist Revolution in motion. Napoleonis a "large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar, not much of a talker, but with areputation for getting his own way." And so he does. Instead of debating with Snowball, he setshis dogs on him and continues to increase his personal power and privileges from that time on.What counts for him is power, not ideas. Note his name: think of the o...
