Animal Farm or Tyranny?

I took a class called Forbidden Books which is a Humanities class. In this class, we discussed why different things were banned in different places and the effect that the ban has. I learned many new things during this class that had to do with many topics such as religion, culture, etc. During this class, we took a couple different FE's (Field Experiences). The first one was to a bookstore called Women and Children First which we visited. At the bookstore, they talked about why they hated that Donald Trump tried to get a book banned. They also talked about how they banned two books from their own library. The second FE was to a mosque which was very interesting, the man who gave us the tour was very knowledgeable and talked to us about his religion and how it worked. I found the second FE to be very interesting. For our last AP, we needed to write an essay about a banned book we needed to read. I talk below about why Animal Farm shouldn't be banned.

DS
Forbidden Books
March 17, 2018

Animal Farm

          What if an author wrote a book, and then it was banned across the Soviet Union, Cuba, and China? This, unfortunately, is exactly what happened to George Orwell, the author of Animal Farm. This book is focused on a pig named Napoleon who is the head of a farm. The farm that Napoleon leads is called Animal Farm. Animal Farm used to be lead by humans but the animals didn't like the circumstances, so they decided to rebel and take over the farm. Over the course of the book, the pigs (who are the leaders) become more and more assertive, and they eventually start to become human. During the process of the pigs becoming human, the animals start to question what is going on and if they are truly living a better life then they were before. This book technically takes place in England, but it represents the rise of the Communist party which took place in Russia. There are a few different themes in this book, but the one that stood out was the corruption of power. This book is banned in a few different places such as China, Cuba, and mainly the Soviet Union. It was banned because it would have shown the people what communism was and could have caused an uprising. Despite this book being banned in so many places, Animal Farm should not be banned anywhere.

          In the book, Napoleon symbolizes Joseph Stalin (Dictator of the Soviet Union) who wanted to keep information from the people which was bad because it kept the people from being educated about their situation. As stated by David Gerrard, “It is a direct allegorical attack on the Soviet Union.” The Soviet Union wanted it banned because it directly symbolized what they were and what was happening to the country. If the people got ahold of the book then they would understand what was happening to them and could start a revolution. As George Orwell said, Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." The Soviet Union, at the time, was at a point where the people knew that what was happening was bad, but they didn't know what to do. The book gave them a perspective that afforded them a bird’s-eye view of the situation which would have made them dangerous to the government. The government was scared that the people would push back and they would lose power. That is the reason it was banned in Russia and there are other places that banned it for similar reasons. This reason for being banned would be attributed to politics.

           The entire book is a recreation of the Soviet Union, and so there are countless quotes that show why the book would have been banned. One that stood out was, “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which” (Orwell 42). This quote is closer to the end of the book when the pigs in charge of Animal Farm have a dinner with humans and all the other animals are watching and wondering what the difference between the original oppressors and the pigs was. This quote played into to banning of this book because it explained the fact that the new government was not any better than the old one and would show the people of the Soviet Union what was really happening. Another quote that was important was, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others” (Orwell 40). While this is a simple quote, it means a lot because this is the point where the new government starts to make excuses for their behavior, and the animals start to see the truth. This would have played a part in the book being banned because it would have been another eye opener for the people of the Soviet Union. These two quotes played a huge role because they both would have been moments that the people of the Soviet Union would have connected to the reality they were living. These quotes were both political because they were directly linked to the government.

            Animal Farm should not be banned. The first reason is that every person should have the right to education. Stalin had a clear goal of making sure that his people were kept in the dark about certain things. As it turns out these things most likely meant life or death for most of the people. That leads to the next reason it shouldn't have been banned because not only was he keeping the people from being educated, but he was keeping them from understanding their situation and doing something about it. This meant life or death for the people, and so by banning the book, he killed countless people. The last reason Animal Farm, shouldn't have been banned was it kept people from having their own opinion on the government. What is meant by this is that when they didn't allow people to read this book, they basically gave the people a one-sided view of the government which meant they couldn't create their own opinion on the matter.

          In conclusion, Animal Farm should not be banned because banning it violates people's rights and liberties. People deserve to become educated, they deserve to live and finally, they deserve the right to form their own opinion. Banning books has existed throughout history because people in power have always wanted to control the people below them. There will always be people who want to take control of weaker people and a way to do that is by not allowing them to be educated. 

Citations:

Gerrard, David Barr. "ANIMAL FARM: BANNED BY THE SOVIETS, PROMOTED BY THE CIA". 24 Sept 2014. Pen America. Pen.org. https://pen.org/animal-farm-banned-by-the-soviets-promoted-by-the-cia/

Orwell, George. Animal Farm. Londen. England: Secker and Warburg, 1945.

“Animal Farm.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Mar. 2018, www.wikipedia.org/.