Definition Essay On Animal Farm Animalism

When writing an essay regarding the philosophy of animalism, created by the author George Orwell, in his book Animal Farm, there are certain facts one should know.

Overview

  • In George Orwell’s book ANIMAL FARM, animalism represents the philosophy of living the animals set for themselves. 
  • It is created by Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer as a way of following the principles set by the wise boar, Old Major, in the speech he made just before he died. 
  • Old major’s vision, was that all animals helped in the labor of the farm and enjoyed the fruits of that labor equally.
  • It was a vision that focused on the last commandment set by the pigs, that “all animals are created equal.”

Key points to remember

  • The principles that animalism was supposed to represent were created so that the animals would not follow the selfish path which the humans lived by.  While this idea was great in theory, it immediately began to be corrupted by the pig Napoleon, who believed he was better than the other animals. 
  • The principles that Old major had originally set forth, were to keep the animals from being corrupted by the evil habits of humans.  He tells them these this;  that all humans are enemies, that they must never wear clothes, sleep in beds, drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, touch money, engage in trade, or live in houses.  When the pigs get together to discuss the principles Old Major has set for them, and how to tell the other animals, they immediately omit or change some of them.  So right away the original philosophy of animalism is corrupted. 
  • One by one, each resolution of the seven commandments of animalism, is changed by the pigs to suit their own agenda.  These changes turn the farm into a hierarchical society, ruled by a dictator, in which the pigs are the leaders and Napoleon is the dictator.  The basic theme of the book, regarding animalism, is to show that societies that throw off those who have been oppressing them, can become corrupted themselves if they allow the philosophies and principles that they believe in to be ignored.

How animalism was created

  • Orwell created the idea of animalism and the corruption of it, adapting it from the communist philosophy in Russia and how power corrupted the idea behind it. 
  • He uses the change in the animals, more specifically the pigs, to show how power can change and corrupt even those who had good intentions in the beginning.  How the principles of animalism were changed could be compared to how easily human nature can change from good to bad.
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