I remember Animal Farm being one of the only books I enjoyed from high school even if I'm sure I'd be mildly annoyed with the political undertones now.

[–] purpleworm@hexbear.net 12 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I like Animal Farm in HS too, but in retrospect the greatest problem in the story was fundamentally not pig Stalin, it's the fact that, according to Orwell, the people cannot be meaningfully educated and almost never produce their own ideas, even when invited to. Pig Stalin is the big villain of course, but he would never have been able to do what he did if not for this fact, and that's after being involved in trying and failing to educate the masses and have them participate in the political process. Any mildly intelligent and assertive individual could do the same, so systemically the problem is the masses, which Orwell pours derision on again and again and again. The book radiates misanthropy.

I'm paraphrasing a talk given by Jones Manoel, but I have read Animal Farm several times because I really liked it at one point, and I think his assessment of the book's misanthropy is totally accurate.

[–] DornerStan@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 1 week ago

Iirc same with 1984. The main character is a government functionary, proles are just peripheral non-actors.

[–] FunkyStuff@hexbear.net 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I read it twice in high school and thought I was so smart for liking it.

The biggest problem with it is the fact it's an allegory for the Stalin era USSR where Hitler, the Holocaust, and Lebensraum are completely absent. Why did Orwell leave them out? What does Orwell even think of Hitler, personally?

I should like to put it on record that I have never been able to dislike Hitler. Ever since he came to power I have reflected that I would certainly kill him if I could get within reach of him, but that I could feel no personal animosity. The fact is that there is something deeply appealing about him. […] One feels, as with Napoleon, that he is fighting against destiny, that he can’t win, and yet that he somehow deserves to. […] However they may be as economic theories, Fascism and Nazism are psychologically far sounder than any hedonistic conception of life.

(from George Orwell, “Review of Mein Kampf” (1940))

Hmm... maybe this guy kinda likes Hitler? (I owe this criticism to https://redsails.org/masses-elites-and-rebels/#george-orwells-very-british-antisemitism)

To your and Maoel's point though, Orwell substitutes class analysis for an elitism where big totalitarian dictators can totally hoodwink the masses because the masses are just too stupid. This misanthropy is fascist, it's the same energy that all forms of chauvinism use to turn people against themselves. It's all connected.

[–] RondoRevolution@hexbear.net 2 points 1 week ago

Well it is written in an entertaining manner, it is just a really shitty book that can be enjoyable for its writing style alone.