INTRODUCTION.
Eric
Aurther Blair whose pen name is Gorge Orwell authored the novel, “Animal
Farm” which is a satire and an allegory, to mimic the then USSR, now
Russia and also the political systems of most countries. It was first published
in 1945. It bothers on the social and political conflicts that exist or have
existed in any politically conscious society. It also portrays the favoritism,
mischief and inequality in every society under the sun. Due to its constructive
criticism of the political structure of the then USSR, it was refused
publishing for one year, from 1944-1945.
The
book combines both human and animal characters to draw the distinction between
the two classes of creatures. It begun with a fare well message from Major, a
twelfth year old and wisdom filled Boar on the farm to rebel against man for
freedom. He also taught them an anthem titled "BEAST OF ENGLAND",
which was long seemed to be forgotten.
The
farm as was managed by man, Mr. Jones, was called the “Manor Farm”. But after
acting upon the message from Major and successfully rebelling against Mr. Jones
the name of the farm was changed and called the “Animal Farm”. The book
is so lovely and a must read because it gives a clear picture of the economic and
political systems of Africa, Ghana and in the world at large.
The
review will be related to the colonial rule of Ghana, fight for independence, change
of name, authoritative rule, corruption and mismanagement of the affairs of the
country.
COLONIAL PERIOD OR RULE IN GHANA.
Animal
Farm,
just like most other countries and societies, has been under external dominion
or rule. In the book the animals labored to feed the master who was a man. He
never worked but ate the best of food on the farm. In their pain, the animals
made it clear that "no animal is free". They also
observed that "the life of an animal (under the tutelage of man) is full of misery and slavery: that is the painful truth ". The animals also
lamented that "man is the only creature that
consumes without producing".
Interestingly,
man ruled the animals on the farm through Old Major, a twelfth year old boar. The
story of the animals is not different from that of Ghana. The Europeans instituted colonial rule onto
the soil of Ghana cunningly. They initially ruled the people of Ghana through
our own chiefs, like man did through the boar in the novel. During the early
and mid-20th century when colonial rule in Ghana became intense, the colonial
masters, Britain, exploited the people of Ghana. We labored and the outcome of our
labor was shipped to Europe.
FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE
Old
Major, in the Animal Farm, noted that rebellion was the only means through
which the animals could gain freedom. He called for a meeting at a time Mr.
Johns was absent and revealed to them that man was the source of all their
problems and that until they got rid of man from the farm they could never be
free. Old Major said "Is it not
crystal clear, then, comrades, that all the evils of this life of ours spring
from the tyranny of human beings? Only get rid of Man, and the produce of our
labor would be our own." Old Major therefore imbibed into them the
need for a rebellion to overthrow human race and to take charge of their own affairs.
He said “Remove Man from the scene, and
the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished forever".
In
a bid to unite the animals for the rebellion, Old Major thought them an old and
almost forgotten anthem titled, "BEAST
OF ENGLAND". George Orwell
seems to be describing the political atmosphere of Ghana. Several political
movements were formed in Ghana geared towards gaining independence for the
people of Ghana. Dr. J. B. Danquah, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and
many more political activists became the pioneers of the struggle for
independence for Ghana. The animals eventually executed the idea of Old Major
to overthrow human race. The task was carried out after Mr. Jones was boozed
and failed to feed the animals. The agitated and hungry animals invaded the
barns and eventually attacked Mr. Jones when he tried torturing them.
Similarly
in Ghana, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah
who was then the general secretary for the United Gold Coast Convention, broke out and formed his own
party, the Convention People’s Party,
through which he won independence for Ghana. Just like the animals led by
Napoleon and Snowball, who did not fear whether they die or not, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah
and his followers did not equally fear death when fighting for independence. Dr.
Kwame Nkrumah said "we prefer independence in danger to
servitude in tranquility." Several strategies such as boycotting of European
goods, strike, etc., were employed to achieve this goal. The animals, after
gaining freedom from human rule rejoiced and set that day for remembrance. The
flag was erected on the farm to signify their freedom. In Ghana also, after Nkrumah
succeeded in his independence struggle, he proclaimed that "Ghana our motherland is free for ever".
The day (6th march, 1957) was set aside as a special day to be commemorated
annually.
CHANGE OF NAME
Fascinating
enough, the name “Manor Farm” was
changed to “Animal Farm” after successfully
overthrowing man. They assumed that the name of the farm must conform to their
own identity and that everything about man must be destroyed and
forgotten. The anthem Old Major was
adopted as the official anthem of the farm. The situation in Ghana is no
different. The former name of the country, Gold
Coast was changed to Ghana after
independence. The people of Ghana gave to themselves a national anthem as an
identity. Another element which can be vividly related to Ghana is the laws that
the animals gave to themselves, which according to John Locke, must exist to
ensure the security, peace and prosperity of the animals. Ghana after gaining
independence established the First Republican Constitution
which included all the rights and responsibilities of every person in Ghana.
POWER STRUGGLE
The
power struggle between Napoleon and Snowball in the “Animal Farm” represents
both the former and current power struggle among the various political leaders of our
country at every historical epoch. Napoleon had his own policies and projects
to implement just like Snowball who also had his policies to implement.
Napoleon, who could convince the passive animal to get through with his
policies, had to be exiled by Napoleon in order to have his way through
brilliant plans for the so called development of their farm. This can be
related to Nkrumah when he had brilliant plans for the development of Ghana but
had to be overthrown and put in exile by Busia
led National Liberation Council.
DISCRIMINATION AND CORRUPTION
Furthermore,
discrimination, nepotism, sectionalism and favoritism became the order of the
day after Napoleon became the leader of “Animal Farm”. The pigs were favored
because they belonged to the group of the leader. Similarly, in Ghana, it can
be realized that the leaders tend to favor their groups first before the
others. Thus Hon. Alban Bagbin once described the John Mahama led administration as that of "family and friends". Also, Napoleon who made secret
transactions with Frederick to sell the timber in the farm which belonged to
the animals can be likened to Ghanaian and Africa's leaders. Orwell said “two days later the animals were called
together for a special meeting in the barn. They were struck dumb with surprise
when napoleon announced that he had sold the pile of timber to Frederick.”
Likewise
in Ghana and other African countries, governments enter into contract with
other countries without the proper consent of the people, where budgets are
allocated to certain projects without clearly indicating neither the amount of
money nor the indicators for that project.
MISMANAGEMENT
More
prudently, it seems that George Orwell used “Animal Farm” to remind Ghanaians of
their inability to manage their own affairs. The animals fought for
independence, had it, but could not manage their affairs and for that matter
had to suffer hunger. Similarly in Ghana, we fought for independence from the
Britain, we had it, but could not manage our affairs, right from the time of Nkrumah
to present. Different regimes have been witnessed, some cruel and other
liberal.
AUTHORITATIVE RULE
“Animal
Farm” after liberation experienced authoritative rule from Napoleon, even worse
of Mr. Jones'. In the beginning Snowball and Napoleon were both ruling the farm
on the basis of consensus. They sought
the opinion of the animals before any decision could be taken. An example is
when the animals gathered to vote for or against the construction of the
windmill. George Orwell said "the
animals formed themselves into two factions, 'vote for snowball and the three
day-work' and 'vote for napoleon and the full manager' ". Later
however after Napoleon became the only ruler of the farm though illegitimate, things
turned the opposite direction. The regular meetings were no more held for decisions
to be taken, he only ordered them to do whatever he felt good. He became authoritative
towards the animals. It got to a time when he did not even appear in person to
the other animals to give them orders but delegated them to Squealer. Coincidentally,
Ghana after independence experienced different levels of dictatorial rule,
particularly during the military rule of J. J. Rawlings. It can be realized
that just like Napoleon, political leaders who came after Nkrumah and before
1992 dictated almost everything to the people, their views were not sought
before decisions were taken.
PASSIVENESS OF THE ANIMALS
In
the book, Orwell portrayed the animals as passive participants in the decision
making process. Some of the animals could not question certain actions taken by
Napoleon, but to only accept whatever he says and did. The few who could react
to some of his actions were shut down. Orwell indicated that “the four young pigs who had protested when
napoleon abolished the meetings raised their voices timidly, but were promptly
silenced by the tremendous growlings from the dogs” Similarly, in Ghana,
the people are so passive that they seem not to care about anything happening
in the country. Some dare not raise their “ugly” heads because they would face
the wrath of the political leaders. This is simply because they are members of
one political party or the other. Those who could take the bold steps to react
faced unpleasant attacks from the security. Example is the Let Our Vote Count Alliance who were maltreated by the police
during their demonstration.
CONCLUSSION
George
Orwell’s Animal farm was written to attack specifically the Russian government
at the time but, it contains general theme of oppression, suffering, and
injustice which is applicable to political and economic systems in the history
of time, that is, man is capable of managing his own affairs. However, looking
at the state of most African countries’ political and economic systems, it is
almost inappropriate to draw this conclusion. What actually goes wrong after
our quest and attainment of freedom and independence? African political leaders
tend to become power-drunk to the extent of exploiting and oppression their
subordinates. George Bernard Shaw once argued that there are two tragedies in
life, one is to gain your heart desire and the other is losing it. Losing your
heart desire is tragic but gaining it otherwise. After gaining freedom from our
colonial rule we tend to be enslaved by our own heart desires which has even
compounded our tragedy as Ghanaians. George Orwell’s piece is a true reflection
of both the oppression of capitalism and colonialism.
