Since time immemorial, humans have sung songs about how Mother Nature has bestowed upon us the highest intelligence ever known to humankind and the greatest responsibility of maintaining equality among the world’s residents. To say that we have fulfilled Mother Nature’s wishes would indeed be hilarious. Through centuries, we have come across divisions in our society, cracks in the immaculately built foundations we would like to present to society.To maintain the impeccable facade of our foundation, we have silenced those who decide to question us. A book that showcases the hypocrisy of humans and our avarice for power is Animal Farm, one that I recently read. It was infamously known to be banned for rather well, vague reasons in many countries. By the time I had reached the end of the book, I wondered why anyone would prohibit reading such a book. Animal Farm is a parable and dystopian story published in 1945 and written by George Orwell. The novel portrays a group of frustrated pigs who overthrow their callous masters in rebellion and indignation. The book was a dig at the Soviet Union’s ideals and communism. Russia was enraged at the comparison of the national hero Stalin to a paltry pig. We humans have indeed evolved; however, we can never let go of our superiority and our inherent trepidation of our abating power. So, to overcome it, Stalin who was not exactly famous for his sense of humour, banned it. Following lead, the United Kingdom who was afraid of severing ties with the USSR, prohibited publishing too. Another form of dictatorship we may observe, however subtle it must be. It must come to notice that although the United Kingdom prohibited publishing of the Animal Farm, it did not ban it. The difference was that somewhere, in some tucked away corner of the country, Animal Farm’s smuggled copies were empowering people to stand up for themselves. With dictatorship must always come rebellion and with rebellion comes reformation. So, the pigs reformed, but with reformation came another form of dictatorship among the pigs. The book is a reflection of the real world and the ban on the novel proves it. Animal Farm was also shockingly banned in North Korea where you would not dare to whisper a word of rebellion. Moreover, it was also banned in the United Arab Emirates where pigs communicating was seen to be against Islamic morals. George Orwell shrewdly delineates the dictatorship and rebellion which are ways of the world and the hypocrisy that comes with it.
Pari Bhansali
XI C1
