Animal Farm question

I believe the bias you are talking about, Vanessa, can be found in the reporting of any news network, not just Fox. They are all biased one way or another.

Orwell wrote Animal Farm in such a timeless fashion that even as I was reading it recently, I felt like he was writing about most governments currently in power in my continent. But besides politics, this book was a reflection of human's manipulative nature especially when they acquire power and transform their manifestos as is convenient. This book is very relevant in present day and will most likely be applicable to future generations.

Animal Farm is one of those few books apart from Shakespeare's works which retains its relevance in every age. Why? Well if you look at animal point from a non literary point of view it deals with two primary things 1)Politics and 2) Human faults.And most importantly what happens when both these elements are brought together.Take a look at today's communist states, they all begin with this Utopian society in mind but some where along the way they falter and stumble and finally fall only because of fallacies in human character.

With the message being "power corrupts" I'd say yes, it's incredibly relevant today.

I think it's just like asking whether psychology still relevant. Sadly, animal farm described a basic human tendency that's set to remain forever.

I believe in fact a book such as Animal Farm will always be of relevance simply because of human nature.There will always be those who genuinely want to help and commit good deeds and their will always be those driven solely on nefarious desires without considering the consequences and how it will affect people and things around them. This can be seen right before our very eyes in regards to the food industry, the health industry, etc. There is always an initial intent to do good, but for many the lure of the possession of people's minds and money just seems to be too much to overcome.

Absolutely. Animal Farm wasn't just an indictment against the Russian Revolution, it was a timeless commentary on all revolutions that began with one goal but quickly became hijacked by people with a different agenda, be it personal power or creating their vision of a "perfect society". How he described the process whereby the revolution moved father and father away from its original principles until such time that it was indistinguishable from the dictatorship of old was nothing short of brilliant and universal. I do hope you argued that point in your essay. As a teacher, I would have been most harsh if you didn't ;)

It is valid in every way. His satiric cynical masterpiece is a reflection of today's governments and our politicians.

while reading the book I was replacing the names by some politicians and it was amazing that all the words even , were exactly appropriate and there wasn't any difference between today and that time and I think that every revolution ends like this unless it happens with deep thoughts ( and as you know it almost never happens )

Animal farm is so relevant because the first time I read it, was as a serialized version issued in one of my country's newspapers. I thought (and probably most people) it was a recently published book by a local author and was a parody mocking the situation in my country. So you can understand my shock when I realized that it was written by someone who had died some fifty years ago and that he was writing about another country. A European one no less!

As someone who lives in a dictatorship, I say its very valid today and will remain valid until dictatorships are eradicated,which is probably never. Those things prop up like weeds!

S a g e wrote: "For an essay for school, (don't worry, I already finished it, I won't plagiarize, I just want to hear your opinions) I have to answer this question:

Is Animal Farm still valid today?

Well, is it?"

As long as there is class difference, power by one group over another, and little room for individualism in any group setting, then it's still valid. As many here have pointed out, Orwell wrote this story in such a timeless way that it always rings true. I think that once you have actually read the book, you will have plenty to say on this topic. Good luck with your essay.

I can relate with this book so much at the present political scenario of my country Nepal. We had a King (comparable to the farmer), then came the political parties to out throw the King (comparable to the pigs), they worked well together well at first, gave us big hopes and dreams and then started fighting between themselves for power (like Snowball and Napoleon). And the thing i can relate with the most is that the hardships and other situation during the rule of the King as well as now is the same. The same political parties who complained about how we had to treat the King as our superior, how he got privileges to go where he pleases without any queue and how the roads were blocked to let the King travel are not enjoying these things plus much more now that they are in power (comparable to the pigs enjoying the man's luxuries). "Windmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had always gone on--that is, badly" that pretty much sums up everything the commoners face.

„The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”

I still look from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but it is still impossible to say which is which.

S a g e wrote: "For an essay for school, (don't worry, I already finished it, I won't plagiarize, I just want to hear your opinions) I have to answer this question:

Is Animal Farm still valid today? Absolutely Yes

It is even more valid today. United States is becoming Police State. You know about NSA More than just Mass Media.

Well, is it?"

This book will never stop being relevant.

And... :) it is not a book about about comunism. It is a book about the fragility of the ideas of men.

S a g e wrote: "For an essay for school, (don't worry, I already finished it, I won't plagiarize, I just want to hear your opinions) I have to answer this question:

Is Animal Farm still valid today?

Well, is it?"

It certainly applies today and always will. Forget about it even being about Communism. It's really about governments: Communism, Monarchies, Democracy. Democracy is supposed to be "by the people for the people", but the "bys" get a little more than the "fors". The story certainly applies to our Congressman who are there "for the people". But when they finish their term(s), they get pensions few of us get, medical insurance few of us get and all the other perks none of us get. "Everyone is equal, except some more equal than others". I don't care what kind of government you have, this is always the case. Animal Farm is a timeless fairy tale.

"Is Animal Farm still valid today?"

i would say yes, because although it is an allegory to one specific event, the focus is on the corruption that comes with power, and THAT is alive and well

Love the question. And Yes, definitely. The world has never been completely at peace. And in the course of history, the events that Orwell used as a kind of "satire" really happened not that long ago. Animal Farm is very relevant.

Things similar to what happened in Animal Farm are happening right now. Just because it may not seem relevant to where one lives, does not mean that we shouldn't pay attention to what is going on in other parts of the world.

Also, what goes on in Animal Farm depicts, to a smaller scale, human characteristics. Humans all lie, and we all make things out to sound better than they really are.

I'm not going to go into politics here, but it definitely is necessary to read A.F. I loved A.F., but even if I hadn't I would still force myself to read it just to learn more about the world we live in. :D

Absolutely! Any time someone uses language or emotional appeals to create biased language in order to subtly promote their own agenda, this is propaganda similar to what was used in Animal Farm. Watch any politician on TV, religious zealots, tyrants, or Fox News, and you'll see the modern-day version. "Fair and Balanced"?? As if. Orwell's work remains a warning against accepting authority without question.

It's still an interesting and compelling read. Is it relevant? many of it's concepts can be said to still be in practice, i.e propaganda to the sheep, all that was shall stay the same belief.
So sure, communism is dead (except for some rare examples) but the concepts of the book are alive and well.
And besides, it's an interesting read even without being outright relevant.

Animal farm is still relevant today. animal farm is still as relevant to today as history is to us today. animal farm is an important piece of american literature. animal farm shows tyranny, communism and fascism in an satiric way.

its not just governmental, it tells us about humans in general and how are motives can become debauched by power. So, yes its very relevant.

the simplest message is what happens to a human who suddenly is in power, and this on remains valid in today's society too and not in just politics.

It is very much still relevant. I apologize to other posters but I think hat saying it is about "politics" or "human faults" is way to vague. It is an incredibly apt observation of the phenomenon of revolution. Think of the events of the last two years in North Africa. When you turn out a dictator, you create a vacuum for another dictator to fill. Unless the revolutionaries are vigilant to fill the power void with democratic institutions another dictator will arise to take its place. ( I am not speaking about any particular leader here, I am making a general statement.) The Who said it wonderfully in their song “Won’t Get Fooled Again” Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

I think you need only look at a country like North Korea to see that Animal Farm is still incredibly relevant. The book reads like a blueprint for the communist take-over there.

Without a doubt.

Gets me every time....

It's very relevant. I lead a few organizations and there is a tendency for executive to separate themselves from membership. In one sense you have to, in order to deal with the minutiae and program development, but it gets tempting to say that we serve our members but we deserve x from their resources. It's about the inflationary nature of government more than it is about tyrannical despots in my opinion.

It's an exercise in running a point to the absurd, as is most of Orwell's post purple writings. Orwell's message to the led is watch the leaders, because change creeps, and his message to leaders is watch your status because status creeps; and because the change is never sudden, when it is finally realized, it'll be beyond taboo to change it.

Yes it is still relevant. So many leaders approach a process with the best of intentions, in fact I think in the US all do, only to see their intentions get corrupted by power and avarice and granting of favors. Couple that with news outlets like FOX or MSNBC or magazines like MOTHER JONES or THE WEEKLY STANDARD. These places all have an agenda and a cause and politicians, despite their best intentions, are often left to make deals until they get caught up in something and they don't even realize it (much like the pigs slowly changed to the point they didn't even realize it)

Animal Farm is specifically relevant to the Russian Revolution; many of the details of its composition make more sense when viewed in that light than when viewed in the light of revolution generally.

However, the Russian Revolution was not an exceptionally unique event. It was the first lasting, successful coup by a Communist party and it had many peculiar events, but it wasn't the last, and it had parallels with other ideological revolutions that came before.

I don't think Orwell would have written Animal Farm if he thought he were merely describing a unique case that would necessarily be invalidated if the Soviet Union were to fall, or even if Communism itself ceased to exist. Revolutions will continue to happen, ideologies of one stripe or another will continue to prompt justify them, and cynical people will continue to take advantage of them.

But I generally think all the people here talking about media bias are missing the point. I don't read Animal Farm as a commentary on mass media, particularly in a country where much of the media doesn't speak for the government and may in fact be highly critical of it.

I believe it is still valid but some people don't realize that it's an example of what's coming to us if we try to do something that could affect us like how animal farm affected the animals.

Without going into the depth of Orwell’s life – it can be seen and researched fairly extensively on the internet – the man had incredibly varied experience of people in extreme situations of deprivation and political ambition at various times. It must have given him deep thought to re-evaluate the true motivations of people without power, and how they would aspire to reign and conduct their rule. His experience in the Spanish Civil War could well have been a spur to these thoughts, when siding with what he believed to be the protagonists of freedom, but who turned out to be inter-squabbling factions intent on their own aims. I think he was criticising (parodying), the ideology of communal freedom and equality, particularly strong as a theme in the 30s 40s 50s, in which he may have truly had faith - until experience stripped it away. Possibly he had also in mind Lord Acton’s famous quote "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Just my thoughts.

S a g e wrote: "For an essay for school, (don't worry, I already finished it, I won't plagiarize, I just want to hear your opinions) I have to answer this question:

Is Animal Farm still valid today?

Well, is it?"

I think Animal Farm is still valid today. Just like how Napoleon ran a dictatorship, there are still dictatorships today. One notorious dictatorship is North Korea, known to brainwash their citizens as Napoleon and Squealer's team did. North Korea has brainwashed their citizens into thinking that their previous leader Kim Il Sung is basically the best. Napoleon got Boxer to think that Napoleon is the best.

The book is definitely still valid and can relate to modern day, because of the propaganda and the man deceiving nature this book would still be considered valid.

Animal Farm is still valid today because, people can become corrupt very easily. Even if someone has good intentions, if you give them a taste of power, they`ll be corrupt.

Of course it is still valid. In some parts of the world some people are still more equal than others.
Why else do you think it was such a scandal when beaches in the US were covered in oil while this still happens in Africa with the media not covering it in great detail? Where's the worldwide outcry for Africa? Why is the UNO not doing anything about Putin's homophobic human rights violating laws?
Animal Farm is still a valid piece of work that should teach us to look at the world with different eyes. Just because something is good in your country, doesn't mean it's good in all the others. It's not even so much about dictatorship, it's about how the powerful ones sell out the not-so-powerful ones.

Sage wrote: "For an essay for school, (don't worry, I already finished it, I won't plagiarize, I just want to hear your opinions) I have to answer this question:

Is Animal Farm still valid today?

Well, is it?"
Yes

when i read this i coercd to believe that it is specifically written for my country the way in which party manifesto was changing by pigs same, our political parties now a days indulge and they are always busy in trying to afraid us from uncertain as in Animal farm (you do not want Johns back )

Dictatorships can happen at any time. It doesn't take much. Why right here in this country--if you hadn't been paying attention--we just recently came close to one of our own. VERY close. The Republicans quite nearly dismantled key parts of the democratic process while they were in power. They did their best to pull this off and very nearly got away with it. If they'd had their druthers--through gerrymandering and appointments and poll-tampering--there would have been a one-party rule in this country for a very long time, at least 100 years--maybe a one-party system for perpetuity. They had a psycho leader they were following blindly..I mean, it was all right there, hanging by a thread.