My name is Juvena, just an average 18-year-old girl still trying to find the goal in life. Sailing diversely in life’s vast ocean, I try to experience, see and feel the most I can, with “Live a life with no regrets” as a motto to live by. I live with an open mind and like to venture into the unknown, hoping that the route I chose to sail can one day lead me toward success. I keep in mind that life’s greatest treasure is not the destination, and is the journey that comes priceless.

Animal Farm is a satire written with a political purpose by George Orwell, which reflects upon the events of the 1917 Russian Revolution and the Soviet Union. The book uses the story of farm animals revolutionizing and bringing down the original farm owner, the Jones, creating a new regime where it seems as if every animal there could be set free from harsh labor and small rations.

Animal Farm was published in 1945, but while reading it, the story constantly reminded me of China’s Great Leap Forward in the late 1950s, which echoed the same scenes written even though the Great Leap Forward took place years later. One of the scenes was the exaggeration made about food storage. Though there was not enough food to go around, the pigs, who were the decision-makers of the farm, still made claims to a plentiful harvest to prevent outcomes such as cannibalism—which eventually happened in both the story and in the Great Leap Forward. Another similarity being the fruitless policies like the building of the windmill in the story matching with the production of steel during the Great Leap Forward. Both did not work out as they had first imagined; instead, the process led to much-wasted labor. Orwell’s story became a prophecy, concluding that "life would go on as it had always gone on—that is, badly" (P56), and pursuing Communism would only end up as a failure.

At the tail of this fable-like story, the wall once written with seven commandments, now only remains with one: “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others” (P123). The animals revolutionized for an easier life; however, it seemed as if the pigs were the only ones who lived better than before. The only difference for the others is that “everything that they did was for the benefit of themselves and those of their kind who would come after them, and not for a pack of idle, thieving human beings” (P63). The pigs describe themselves as “brain workers,” that’s why they have special privileges—all for the reason that everything they do is for the good of Animal Farm, of course! Even if some do question the pigs and their orders, a simple “You wouldn’t want Jones to come back would you?” is a good enough reason to suppress dissent (P42).

The book ends with the rest of the farm animals not being able to tell pigs from men, for the pigs now drank wine, wore human clothing, and walked on two legs. Animal Farm became another form of the same tyranny against which they rebelled (P128). So, this question throws itself at me: Does being in control of power all lead to the same doom of becoming… human? Once the pigs were in control, they started to misuse their privileges for their satisfaction. One by one, they broke the commandments and altered them to have enough gaps to pass through, making their actions seem reasonable. The commandments were used to prevent the animals from doing things their old human owner did, but later it seemed as if they were only used to restrict the others, but never the pigs themselves. After being corrupted by power, their actions slowly began to exhibit those of a human, which the author portrays as a selfish, money-loving bastard, who couldn’t care less about those besides himself. Likewise, after Stalin and Mao enjoyed the unchallengeable power, they soon took on a relentless drive for absolute dominance.

In the end, the revolution resulted in a society no better than the one before. Every part subtly connects to traits of Communism, and every animal represents special roles in it, too. By being able to fuse these small details into his work, Orwell proves himself to be a praise-worthy writer, inducing readers to feel the same ironic feeling he felt when coming across the expansion of the Soviet Union. Animal Farm served as a warning from Orwell to fight firm against lies and resist being easily overcome by fear which obstructs the path to freedom—for everyone is equal, none more equal than the rest.