73 pages • 2 hours read
George OrwellA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Through the fortunes of Animal Farm, Orwell argues that it is difficult to sustain the ideal of equality before one particular group is tempted by corruption, claims a special privilege, and dominates the rest of society. The pigs begin by proclaiming the equality of all animals. However, right after the Rebellion, the pigs hoard the fresh milk for themselves, claiming their superior brainpower requires it. This is an early sign that the pigs would prefer to live a more luxurious existence and that the temptation of corruption can often outweigh the ideals of equality.
The foodstuff the pigs hoard reflects the message about the temptation of corruption. While they initially hoard milk, a staple on the farm and a common resource among the cows, they move on to the sweeter foodstuff of apples. Their products of consumption become even more luxurious when they begin to drink whisky and grow barley purely to distill it into beer. The more abundant their diet becomes, the richer the products they want to consume.
Orwell hence presents the temptation of corruption as a process that begins slowly but increases exponentially as a particular group becomes more and more accustomed to luxury. In Chapter 10, the pigs’ lifestyle escalates as Orwell describes a plethora of items that connect them to humans: magazines, whips, telephones, pipes, and clothes.
By George Orwell
1984
George Orwell
A Hanging
George Orwell
Burmese Days
George Orwell
Coming Up for Air
George Orwell
Down and Out in Paris and London
George Orwell
Homage To Catalonia
George Orwell
Keep the Aspidistra Flying
George Orwell
Politics and the English Language
George Orwell
Shooting an Elephant
George Orwell
Such, Such Were the Joys
George Orwell
The Road to Wigan Pier
George Orwell
Why I Write
George Orwell
Allegories of Modern Life
View Collection
Animals in Literature
View Collection
Audio Study Guides
View Collection
Banned Books Week
View Collection
British Literature
View Collection
Challenging Authority
View Collection
Community
View Collection
Equality
View Collection
European History
View Collection
Fantasy
View Collection
Fantasy & Science Fiction Books (High...
View Collection
Goodreads Reading Challenge
View Collection
Philosophy, Logic, & Ethics
View Collection
Politics & Government
View Collection
Power
View Collection
Satire
View Collection
Science Fiction & Dystopian Fiction
View Collection
SuperSummary Staff Picks
View Collection