BOOK REVIEW-ANIMAL FARM

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.