【英語で読書感想文】Animal Farm by George Orwell ジョージ・オーウェル『動物農場』
Title: Animal Farm
Author: George Orwell
Recently, Audible’s algorithm suggested the book Animal Farm written by George Orwell, for me to read. I’ve never read the renowned classic and I felt that it’s time to see what the book was really about. After finishing it, like a gazillion readers, I was intrigued.
The story is set in an animal farm where animals are forced to work hard and are exploited by humans. They are sick and tired of the unfair and abusive treatment they receive, so one day they are teamed up to rebel against the firm owner. After kicking the owner out of the firm, the animals try to establish their own dream land led by a pig named Napoleon.
It’s well known that George Orwell wrote this story as a satire of the Russian communism and Stalinism. However, I was astonished by how the story, written in 1945, could easily fit to the current political climate. Moreover, the methods of brainwashing and mind controlling illustrated here are often seen not only in the political world but in smaller units such as the household. In Animal Farm, Orwell illustrates well the point of the ability for those in power to change the rules at their whim. These rules usually punish the masses and benefit the few. The tragedy in this book is very universal.
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”
This is one of famous quotes from Animal Farm and it illustrates mind-controlling and hypocrisy very well. Firstly, the animal leaders said “All animals are equal”, but converted it into the above sentence deliberately. I feel we have to keep our eyes open so that our voices will not be distorted like this.
By the way, the story is not long and simply written and it’s very smart of George Orwell to express his concept this way (he even named the subtitle as “a fairy story”) because these types of message should reach everyone, but I really don’t want to read a super large book full of political ironies and preaches!
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ハードル高そうな名作はオーディオブックで聞くとよいと気が付き始めた２０２１年ごろ。
元の投稿はコチラ↓です。