Animal Farm

  Equality is a relationship between man and man. It’s one of mankind's ultimate ideal. In an equal society, there is no division of classes, wealth or power. This was the predominant goal of the Russian Revolution as well as the animal revolution in the story Animal Farms. The thought of having an equal society is admirable, though it’s only a fantasy.

  In the story Animal Farms, 7 commandments were established soon after the fleeing of Mr. Jones, with the 7th- all animals are equal, being the most important. Later on, bit by bit, the 7 commandments were soon deformed, and the equality which the commandments promised and protected perished.

  Why doesn’t animalism work? Why did the equality the seven commandments promised vanish? The key is the natural division between intellectual and physical labor. It’s true that after the expulsion of Mr. Jones, the animals worked together happily as though equality was established. The “honey moon” of a revolution would never last long. There wasn’t anyone in charge of the animals, so a power vacuum was naturally created. It was only a matter of time the next group of animals assumes totalitarian control. It’s not that the animals in charge would necessarily have more rights; in fact, an eminent leader would drive a society forward, for his commands would be for the people’s sake. It’s the corruption of the leader that obliterates the society. A leader who is selfish, and craves for more power and privilege would do anything to fulfill his wants. Usually, he who craves power would take advantage of the naivety of the labor force, contorting the commandments rather indistinctly until it becomes what he desired. By then, there would be no more equality and he would, of course, become the next oppressor. It is only a matter of time an ambitious and malevolent leader comes to power. An equal society is very fragile and modifiable; it’s not at all a perpetual one.

  The other more perspicuous reason is that the animals were born to be different. All men are created to be somewhat equal; it is only men themselves who place themselves above equality. On the contrary, there’re various kinds of animals in a barn yard with distinct differences. There are, for instance, simple animals such as horses and cows, are naturally manipulated by the so-called “Brain Workers”. Larger animals such as horses and cows would be the only ones feasible to carry a heavy load-you can’t expect a cat or dog to do such heavy labor. Characteristic of the animals plays a huge role in inequality as well: selfish animals may attempt to work less than the more diligent ones; pompous and pretentious animals would think that they deserve more, therefore taking more rations. There are lots of chasms to animalism that prevents it from becoming a reality, but in summary, the main flaw that causes the idea of an equal society to be escapism and crumple is the fact that it neglects the animal nature. As Frank Zappa once said,” Communism doesn't work because people like to own stuff.” For an equal society to work, people have to be robotic, programmed to work without complaints or ambition.

  The animals will never be equal, nor will our world. Fortunate was we are, we mustn’t forget the inequality and the discriminations that still exist globally. By contributing some of our surpluses to the world, it won’t cure the imparity, but it will certainly help.