Discrimination In George Orwell's Animal Farm

Throughout history discrimination has always been a major dilemma, whether it be race, gender, or religion, people have never stopped fighting for equality. George Orwell’s allegory Animal Farm revealed many injustices that emerged in Russia under Stalin’s rule from 1920-1953. While reading this in modern times many of the injustices that arose in the novel are closely comparable to injustices brought up today. Just as the pigs in Animal Farm were given more benefits than the other animals, men are paid more than women in the United States, revealing the continued need to improve discrimination inequalities.

Similar to the pigs receiving more rations, men are receiving more money than women in the same profession. After taking over Manor

Farm, the pigs rose to the occasion of leading the animals. In doing so, many animals began to notice that the pigs were the only ones allowed to drink milk and eat apples while they had to eat grains (Orwell 31). The other animals had more workloads than the pigs, yet because of power and knowledge the pigs received all the benefits. Similarly, studies have shown that when “men and women attend the same kind of college, pick the same major, and accept the same kind of job, on average, women will still earn 82 cents to every dollar that men earn (Coleman). Although a difference of 18 cents does not seem like much, when someone does not earn the amount of money they work for it can be disheartening and it will add up over time. This gender pay gap is unfair, dispiriting, and something needs to be done.
The animals in Animal Farm experienced mistreatment and were deprived of their earnings, in parallel women are not being treated as an equal and are receiving only part of what they earn. As times grew harsher on the farm, “rations were reduced in December and were reduced again in February… but the pigs seemed comfortable enough, and in fact were putting on weight if anything (Orwell 100). The pigs were considered superior and got away with a lot of things, including stealing food because nobody could stop them. For a long time men have been getting away with receiving more benefits than women. According to Melanie Varnell, a business student at Colorado State University, the gender pay gap is a form of inequality that dates back for centuries and stems from the common belief that since men provide for women and women take care of the home and children, men therefore are more efficient in the career chosen (Varnell). Today’s generations need to realize that women are receiving the same education, producing the same results, working just as hard as men. The idea of men supremacy is in the past and changes for equality are in the future.
The difference in treatment between the pigs and the other animals and men and women in the United States demonstrates our continued need for improvement. At the end of Animal Farm all the commandments were painted over and one saying was painted over, it read “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others” (Orwell 118).