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Homework Help: English: Books, Novels & Plays: General Notes on Animal Farm
by Emily McPherson
Animal Farm is a novel by George Orwell.
Both the title and subtitle of Animal Farm- A Fairy Story offer
many preconceived expectations. This simple titling of Orwell's book
makes it appear to be a fictional work with animal characters appealing
especially to the young. The title seduces readers into believing that
the text will be entertaining and not involve much brain stimulation.
The subtitle 'A Fairy Story' undercuts the initial expectation to
make the book seem like an epic that has been told for generations that
is simple, short and to the point.
Though the obvious story of Animal Farm is reassuringly an Old
English fairy tale with little truth, it has another side to it which
conveys a universal fable in respect to politics that will never be out
of date.
Animal Farm is set in an area which belongs firmly in the British
landscape. These kinds of English farms, when mentioned in fairy tales,
are conceived to be neat, tidy, quaint and safe. They are cliched to
have little hedgerows; brick barns with stacked hay piles; and cut grass
with a windmill in the middle. They are always cared for by a farmer and
his wife. This is appropriate to the 'Manor Farm' as it resembles a
place that is somewhat isolated from everyday society, yet we can
identify with it as a safe environment.
The English farm is also used by Orwell to construct a microcosm of
society. Within this relatively small farm, we see the animals reacting
to one another in a way that universal truths about human society and
relationships are revealed.
When reading Orwell's text, the real world is suspended and the reader
is taken into the fairy tale fantasy. We are forced to suspend our
disbelief and to enter into the spirit of the animal fable. The tone is
comforting and reassuring as it unfolds in the expected fashion. The
expectation arouses that the beginning scene is setting up a story.
However, there is a slight feeling that not all is well.
In the first page of the text, even though it is not very evident, we
are introduced to the Manor Farm in a deteriorating situation. This is
shown through Mr. Jones, the 'king of the farm', who was one night to
drunk to care for his animals any longer. From here, trouble begins.
In the opening chapters, the reader tends not to question the book's
truthfulness. It appears to the reader that 'Animal Farm' is a
reasonably mellifluous text as it does not leave any unanswered
questions nor hinder the release of information. This is achieved by
having uncluttered sentences, verbal metaphors, plain Anglo-Saxon based
words, and avoiding the passive voice.
George Orwell has written the book in such a style so that it reminds
the reader of a simple children's narrative that may be similar to a
story read to them by their parents. This too provokes the reader to
believe the make believe.
Given the polemic nature of this book, it is important that the
reader understands and believes every word of it. This book teaches us
of controversy and selfishness in a setting which we know to be secure.
George Orwell has written his work in this way, as he doesn't want to
make the test so obscure that the whole meaning is lost, nor so true to
life that we don't believe it anyway.
Readers find the book entertaining through the humorous presentation
of animals who behave, however imperfectly, in a fashion that all humans
can relate to.
Homework Help: English: Books, Novels, and Plays
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