Animal Farm

In order to correctly understand and interpret the content of literary works, it is necessary to know in which period and under what conditions they were written. Even if you have no idea about the dates of some works and the social developments that took place at that time, you can make sense of the literary work you read with the developments of the period you live in, and perhaps make inferences about each time period. Some literary works have the ability to appeal to all times.

You may know before reading the novel that George Orwell's novel Animal Farm is a criticism of Stalin, and that it is a stance taken against the British government of the time due to the closeness established with Stalin. However, by reading the novel with the ideas you have gained from some of your political observations and without knowing anything about the Stalin period and without knowing that Animal Farm is a criticism of the Stalin period, you can make inferences about the message the novel wants to give.

Animal Farm begins with the animals rebelling against human kind. The animals establish a government among themselves. They gather the basics of being an animal in seven articles. They make a kind of constitution. They also have a song, a national anthem, that describes their common characteristics. They also make a flag and after killing Jones, the owner of the farm, they plant the flag on the farm. Napoleon, the pig, becomes the leader, the president, of the animals. The article of the constitution that states "All animals are equal" is adopted as the most important article.

The animals embark on a big project on the farm. All the farm animals are mobilized to build a windmill. Later, another pig named Snowball is declared a "traitor" by Napoleon.

Napoleon's communication with other animals gradually weakens. He begins to wander around inside a very strong protective wall of dogs. No animal can get past this protective army and approach Napoleon anymore. Napoleon begins to live in the most protected and comfortable part of the farm.

Horses and sheep work hard on the animal farm under Napoleon's management. Each animal has a retirement age and a daily retirement salary. The salary is a certain amount of corn, barley and wheat.

In time, the pigs' departure time is brought forward one hour compared to other animal species. The constitution is changed, a sentence emphasizing that Napoleon is always right is included in the new constitution. The old anthem is abolished, and a new anthem praising Napoleon is declared in its place. The pensions of animal species are no longer paid. On the other hand, Napoleon's life becomes increasingly comfortable. Finally, with the words "all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others", Napoleon and his own species, the pigs, are given constitutional protection.

At the end of the novel, a development occurs in which all animal species secretly watch Napoleon and the other pigs and are shocked by the sight and experience great disappointment. The farm has been taken over with a philosophy that they express as "four-legged good, two-legged bad". However, the pigs secretly practice standing on two legs. Despite having previously fought with Frederick, the owner of another farm run by humans, Napoleon eats a meal with Frederick and his men at a very sumptuous table. The other pigs of the farm are also at the table and the dogs perform their guard duties.

Napoleon became the leader of tyranny as he tried to save the animal species from the tyranny of the human species.

The preface of the Turkish version of the novel is signed by Celal Üster. Well-written prefaces increase the meaning and value of the novel. We learn from this valuable preface that George Orwell tried to find a way to pay Hitler royalties for the BBC, where he worked during World War II, in response to Hitler making a program every week quoting excerpts from his book Mein Kampf. Since England was at war with Germany, Hitler could not be contacted directly regarding the copyright. However, Hitler was paid royalties through a connection established through Norway.

Napoleon, one of the characters in the novel, represents Stalin. However, when you look at the content of the book and see what Napoleon started with and what point he reached, many questions arise in your mind. Changing the constitution and rewriting it in line with the interests of a person and the group around him. Making secret negotiations with another farm that was declared an enemy. Despite a person and the group around him living in very comfortable conditions, other animal species are not even able to receive their retirement salaries, and are being economically crushed.

When we remove Napoleon from the identity of Stalin, don't we get meaningful results for today's world?

George Orwell's novel 1984 is also a political novel. Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World also provides political criticism from another perspective. According to Margaret Atwood, during the Cold War, there was a world more like 1984. In 1989, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the global political environment began to resemble more like Brave New World.

When it comes to political criticism, we cannot ignore HG Wells. His novels were in the science fiction genre, but there was a political philosophy represented by every living thing in them. The movies made based on Wells' novels were only in the action genre, and they failed to convey the political emphasis given by the books to the audience. Wells was an author whose book Atatürk did not leave unread.

There are many examples of political novels that are enjoyable to read.

Note: There is also an animated movie of Animal Farm for those interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcW02VgQ1Qc