Derek and Melissa’s Family

Animal Farm

by Derek—2005.07.21 @ 2144

My Rating: 5 out of 5

I just finished Animal Farm by George Orwell and was really taken back by the message and gravity of the narrative. Written after the Allied victory of World War II in 1945, Animal Farm took on communist Russia with a vengence--even the animals are characterizations of Western views of the U.S.S.R. after the Russian Revolution under Stalin. Many critics consider Animal Farm a parable about totalitarianism and quote the slogan used in the book, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." While the message of totalitarianism rule is clear, I think the idea of "censorship" used throughout is more frightening.

The key to the farm's transformation from a socalist community of hopeful animals back to tyrannical rule, lay in the fact that only a few animals -- the smart animals -- could read, write, and had access to education and books. Over time, these "smart animals" began to withold information from the rest of the group and kept information from them. Knoweldge was funnelled through a single "chain-of-command" where information was twisted.

After years of slow, dis-information, the farm's entire history had changed -- hero's were turned into villans and cowards were immortalized. A complete 180 degrees of truth. By keeping back information, censoring what news came in, the pig-leaders kept the farm believing what they wanted them to believe. The pigs created a farm in subjection.

A week or more ago I was listening to a podcast in iTunes from NPR's "On The Media" about some journalists who had just returned from North Korea. They had taken some pains to get into the country and knew that their journalism would be censored to some extend. The report was chilling.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Knowing what you know about North Korea after your time there, do you think that was real? Or do you think that that was for show?

PETER TETTEROO: I think mostly it was real. On the day Kim Il Sung passed away I was sent as a reporter to Raymond Feddema because he is an expert, to interview him about how can they force that many people to mourn, you know, with a gun on their head, as a matter of speaking. And he said no, those people are not--all of them forced, this is the way they are brought up, they are brainwashed to a standard which we cannot imagine, and this of course, is even worse than being forced. And when he explained it to me, that was the moment I thought I want to go to that country.

There are so many stories of governments that control, warp, and keep information from the people only to manipulate it back to control the people they are suppose to serve. Reading Animal Farm was a chilling reminder that truth is found by having access to all information and having the opportunity to choose.

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