Animal Farm 7
Freedom and Happiness 125
Why I Write 133

Commentary on the work 145
Author's Chronology 159

The birth of an ideal society and the process of its decay

At Manor Farm, run by Mr. Jones, a white man, various animals such as pigs, sheep, dogs, horses, cows, and chickens work like slaves and live each day.
One night, an old boar named Major gathers the animals together and begins to give a speech.
When he calls for a revolution, pointing out each and every one of the vulgarities of humanity, all the animals become enraged, and with the pigs at the forefront, they start a revolution and drive out all the humans from the farm.
After that, the animals build an ideal society of equality called "Animal Farm" under the slogan "Four legs good, two legs bad" and establish the Seventh Commandment, but the pigs begin to enjoy more and more privileges in the community because they can read and write.
Then, after the young boar Napoleon frames and ousts his rival Snowball and seizes power, the society falls into a dictatorship once again.
The pigs repeat human vices and change the Seventh Commandment to their advantage, and the animals, with their poor memories and ignorance, are deceived by their leader and begin to suffer even more severe exploitation than before.
As time passes, the animals that participated in the revolution die one by one and disappear, and the animals of Animal Farm live each day again under the tyranny of the pigs.

An allegory that transcends contemporary political satire and captivates modern readers.

From the perspective of historical political satire, Animal Farm deals with the political situation in the Soviet Union from the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 to the Stalin era.
The Bolshevik Revolution, which overthrew the Tsarist regime of Nicholas II and seized power, is the so-called first socialist revolution in history.
The Bolsheviks set out with the goal of building a new society that was fundamentally different from the institutions of Western European countries in all levels of social organization and operation, including the realization of equality through the elimination of the exploiting class, rule by the proletariat, public ownership of the means of production, abolition of the inheritance system, and a centrally planned economy. Whether or not this was successfully realized was a matter of keen interest to Europeans in the first half of the 20th century.
These Europeans were the primary readers of Animal Farm, and when the book came out, it was not difficult to determine who the characters and events really were.

However, this work does not fail to provide a fresh shock to modern readers, especially those who have encountered the political realities of the Stalin era not through experience but only through historical records and testimonies.
This work is fundamentally a fable, and because the fable genre can utilize the rhetorical device of allegory more effectively than any other narrative genre, it does not lose its meaning in another time and space.
There can be corrupt dictators in any era, and there can be power pigs in any era.
The reason why Animal Farm retains its relevance and appeal even in the present age, after the collapse of the Soviet system, and even in the future, is because it contains an enduring allegory about the fundamental dangers and contradictions that corrupt the power reality of human political society.

A work that fully embodies George Orwell's literary goals and beliefs.

What Orwell wanted to say in Animal Farm was that a revolution that aims only at power itself would only end up changing the owners and would not bring about fundamental social change, and that a revolution would only be successful when the masses are alive and awake and can monitor, criticize, and reprimand their leaders.
What becomes clear here is that the problem he tackles throughout his work and essays is not socialist revolution per se.
His interest was in the 'betrayal of the revolution', that is, failed and corrupt revolutions.
In 『Homage to Catalonia』, he fully captured his experiences during the Spanish Civil War, and in 『Animal Farm』 and 『1984』, he delved deeper into the corruption of socialism.
Do all human revolutions necessarily betray their initial promises? Do the fruits of all revolutions end up in the hands of the ruling elite who seize power? Is the corruption of power an inevitable condition of human society? Orwell's approach, which began with these questions, goes beyond mere pessimism and also contains insights into what is needed to prevent the corruption of power.
Throughout his career as a writer, George Orwell expressed his critical perspective on society not only through novels but also through essays and essays, opening up a new dimension to the tradition of British satirical literature by grafting his perspective onto the fable format, which allows for an easy and clear style and excellent black humor, in "Animal Farm," unlike in his other works.