Animal Farm Essay, Research Paper

There has been numerous events or objects that have influenced me in one way or another. Although some of these may not have had a noticeable influence on me, , many have directly influenced my attitude, personality, or personal opinions. One of these noticeable influences is a book entitled “Animal Farm.” Prior to reading this book, I had little or no opinion on certain government. The book basically addressed the ideas of the dangers of ignorance in a society, the governments ability to manipulate, and the corruption and/or falsehood in which a government can evolve into by keeping its citizens ignorant.

The danger of ignorance is shown when the pigs and their closest follower changed the law of the farm, and the rest of the community did not say anything, because they could neither read nor write, and had no possible way of realizing that the law as being changed without their consent. In other words, because the animals were ignorant and could not read, the pigs (government) were able to change the law whenever they wanted to, and the animals did not even realize what was going on. This basic idea of ignorance can be proven in the real world by simply looking back at Hitler. Since the common in Germany was too ignorant to see past Hitler?s ideas, he easily became dictator of Germany.

Manipulation in government is shown when the animals were forced to build the windmill. The pigs manipulated the animals into thinking that it would be beneficial, when in reality it turned disastrous. This idea is also incorporated in the famous quote, “All animals are created equal.” When the pigs first introduce this idea of equality, all the animals praise them, however, the pigs started to play favorites while still claiming “All animals are equal.” The pigs did such a good job manipulating the animals that the pigs finally stated, “All animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others,” and the animals thought that nothing had changed since the beginning. This idea is shown in reality by numerous crusades, where the government would manipulate the soldiers into thinking that they were fighting for their religion, while in truth they were fighting for the wealth and welfare of the country. Another example of this is yet again with Hitler. Hitler basically manipulated the German population into thinking that the Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, etc. were responsible for Germany?s downfall, while the people themselves were responsible.

The third and final idea this book incorporates is corruption. In the beginning of the book, the farm was in reality working an equal society in which an animal helped out his fellow animal. Yet, as the book slowly progresses, the leaders become greedy and corrupt, which enables them to almost enslave the animals and completely exclude them from any political meetings or discussions. Although this was true, as the animals became more aware the situation, they became violent and began to revolt. This event proves that people are not afraid to revolt and that in essence, the common man does have the ability to make a change. This idea can be shown in almost any revolution, such as the American, French, and the recent Russian revolution.

The book “Animal Farm” added a part of me that would have otherwise been left out. This, like may other objects or events have molded me into the person I am now, and without this book, I would have been a different person