Transmissions From Mars 1

Greetings. I'm Teenager_From_ Mars.

So, What is the purpose of this entry? 

To discuss the literature of the utmost importance, of course. 

I'm referring to George Orwell's, Animal Farm. 

George Orwell was an odd man. After moving to France and writing about his time living in Paris slums, he declared that he was a socialist and later a communist. When Orwell was in Spain to write about the civil war and joined the Republican Militia, he ended up fighting against a communist uprising that caused him to flee from Spain. 

He had a bit of a conservative streak in Coming Up For Air. But then, he wrote the two books that defined Orwell and became the dread of American high schoolers.

In 1944, Orwell wrote Animal Farm, Orwell's dramatized retelling of the Russian Revolution. 

So what is Animal Farm?

Oh boy. I have read Animal Farm 6 times, and every time I find something new to think about. 

Now, before we dive in, I will never talk about 1984. Ever. I hated that book. It was long, rambling, boring, confusing, disappointing, pretentious, and has poisoned Communist discourse ever since its inception. Talking to anti-communist people is tough when they just want to be like " BUt lIke gEorgE OrWell sAid cOmMuNiSm bAd!". That's a whole can of worms that I don't have the energy to sort through

However, I do have the energy to discuss Animal Farm. Animal Farm is actually a good book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and found its story short, entertaining, and compelling. My first few reads were like the honeymoon period. I loved this damn book so much. I found the characterization of each class and station of the Russian Revolution interesting and clever. 

As time went on, and I became more well-versed in both marxism and history, I began to question the characters. 

The main pigs (Old Major, Napoleon, and Snowball) represent Karl Marx, Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin. Now, right off the bat, the most amusing thing about Old Major/ Karl Marx, is that he literally tells all the farm animals about revolution, sings a song, and then dies. He just dies. Karl Marx himself was a very active guy outside of just writing the communist manifesto. He did other stuff. additionally, homie completely forgot about LENNIN. let alone Engels. All of these guys were (believe it or not) different guys. WHY DID ORWELL MAKE THEM THE SAME CHARACTER?

It was a little confusing to me, but now, I've come to realize that Orwell wasn't an expert on the Russian Revolution. That's disappointing, but ultimately okay. It doesn't make the whole book bad.

However, the way that Animal Farm is used in discourse is s t o o p i d 

I have heard SO MANY people use Animal Farm as a primary source that singlehandedly debunks and owns my dumb liberal bs. 

But honestly, I doubt that these people have read into the book. There's a difference between reading the book and reading into the book. If you're going to use a book as an argument, be familiar with the author and the subject matter, goddammit. 

Orwell was still a slightly conservative guy, but he wasn't a staunch anti-communist. He didn't write this book to own the libs. The original cover of the book (And most copies I've seen) has the words: "A Fairie Story" on it. 

So what is my major thought on this book? Its good. Its a classic for a reason. i loved the book from a story perspective, but I don't think that it is the crazy statement both communists and anti-communists think it is. 

Best Wishes,

-Mars