Animal Farm Context Essay

Animal Farm on the surface seems like a crazy animal story. And it seems like all of Napoleon’s actions are unjustified and wrong. Other than the fact that this is a work of fiction, there are cruel, twisted scenes that many readers may find peculiar. In order to understand Animal Farm, like Foster says, you should not read from the one perspective the author offers to you, you must see the historical context when reading. Animal Farm is not just an animal story for it speaks volumes about the struggles that come with socialism and the hardships and succession Russia had gone through in the 1930s. Orwell has an abnormal scene when a group of pigs interacts with humans, interacting as a human would to another human. The farmers and the animals were “enjoying a game of cards”,

This particular scene has a history behind it. Orwell was writing Animal Farm towards the end of the Second World War. He was a socialist, and as a writer, he wanted to speak about the warnings that come with socialism. In his allegory, readers can see a striking resemblance to the socialist country, Russia. Orwell uses Russian history as the basis of Animal Farm because it was just the example he needed to tell his message about socialism. In this particular scene, there is a historical resemblance to the interactions between the countries of the allied powers. Orwell did not randomly insert an abnormal scene. The scene is somewhat like a political cartoon. Although the cartoon may seem fictional, the situations of the characters are similar to that of historical situations. Like a political cartoon, Orwell inputs this scene not to be peculiar but to reference a historical happening or situation. This scene resembles the time when the United States and Great Britain became allies with Soviet Russia. The pigs “drink” to “a toast”, agreeing to Pilkington’s statement (Orwell 136). The pigs, like Soviet Russia, agree and interact with