A REVIEW OF ANIMAL FARM

INTRODUCTION
Eric Arthur Blay who goes with the pen name as George Orwell wrote a very classic and political book he called Animal Farm.  The book was published in England on 17th August, 1945. It could be said that the allegorical novel brings to bare issues of colonialism and other significant issues the affect and influences a country and its citizens.
It gives a vivid presentation of what may be seen as the pre and post liberalization of a nation. It considers the struggle for self rule and authoritative nature of the cream of the crop class once freedom is achieved.
Reviewing “Animal Farm” with viewpoint to political Ghana, it is necessary to outline the colonial and post colonial antecedents that took place as examples to justify the political nature of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”. In so doing the review seeks to touch on Colonialism, Fight for Independence, Coup D’état, Dictatorship and Propaganda as was witnessed in this allegorical in relation to The Republic of Ghana.

COLONIALISM
“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals” (p. 4).
This shows that the animals felt oppressed in their situation where they had to work for someone whom they see as portraying himself as master and recognizes them as servants or better still slaves. They work as hard as is determined by their master who is known as Mr. Jones in the book.
The animals saw Mr. Jones as a colonial power that maltreats them and takes away the fruits of their labor to enrich his self. It is in this same light that the people of Ghana viewed the British. The people of Ghana were made to work laboriously for their masters; the British. The British took their lands and its mineral resources to build their nation and became lords over them in their own country.

FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE
The fight for independence always starts with motivational messages, setting up of movement groups guided and goaded for a common and identifiable of self rule. And there wasn’t an exception in George Orwell’s ‘’Animal Farm’’. Old major a middle white boar began stirring up the fight for independence from a strange dream he had. He began his rhetoric with a revolutionary song titled “Beast of England” (p.7). Upon his death, the course was taken up by Snowball and Napoleon two young boars (p. 10-15). The revolution eventually took place on a Sunday afternoon and surprising to the animals they had won their independence though blood was shed.
As steps to claim their right to own their new state, they changed they name of the farm from “Manor Farm” to “Animal Farm”. They also used the famous revolutionary song “Beast of England” as their National Anthem. The animals instituted “seven commandments” to guide them to exercise self restraint, moderation, compromise and peace (p.14 & 15) which served as a constitution. For a national flag, the animals hoisted a green cloth with a hoof and a horn in white painting embossed on it (p.18).
When Ghana won its independence, she hoisted the Red, Gold (with the black star embossed on it) and Green flag to promulgate the birth of a new nation. A new constitution was written and a national anthem titled “Raise High the Flag of Ghana” was sung. Though the animals used force and anarchy to gain their independence, Ghana’s had elements of dialogue.

COUP D’ÉTAT
“But just at this moment Napoleon stood up and, casting a peculiar sidelong look at Snowball uttered a high-pitched whimper of a kind no one had ever heard before.   At this there was a terrible baying sound outside, and nine enormous dogs wearing brass-studded collars came bounding into the barn. They dashed straight for Snowball, who only sprang from his place just in time to escape their snapping jaws. In a moment he was out of the door and they were after him” (p.33). This is a clear depiction of a coup d’état in the “Animal Farm”.
Coup d’état is a sudden unconstitutional change of government which is often violent. The action taken by Napoleon was aimed at getting Snowball out of the way so that he could take over the sole leadership of the farm. Snowball was a threat to him and his supposed rule. He used the dogs as armed soldiers with orders to kill.
This action was reminiscent to all the coups that have taken place in this Ghana. The first coup was against Kwame Nkrumah which sent into exile just like Snowball.

DICTATORSHIP
 Dictatorship is a form of government in which absolute power is concentrated in one person known as the Dictator and/or a small clique. The clique or the dictator becomes take decisions without consulting the people they govern.
“Napoleon acted ruthlessly. He ordered the hens’ ration to be stopped, and decreed that any animal giving as much as a grain of corn to a hen should be punished by death” (p 48).
Napoleon started ruling in the “Animal Farm” by using decrees and whatever he says is not challengeable.
This form of government existed during the Nkrumah era when the Public Detention Act was implemented. Dictatorship also became the order of the day during the military regimes. Citizens were not permitted to speak freely for they feared arrest or facing a brutal punishment. During the rule of dictatorship regimes in Ghana, the Constitution is suspended and most democratic practices are abolished.

PROPAGANDA
Propaganda is information, ideas or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement or a nation. In the “Animal Farm” false information about Snowball was communicated by the Napoleon-led administration through Squealer to the animals in other to influence the thinking of the animals
 “”Comrades!” cried Squealer, making little nervous skips, “a most terrible thing have been discovered. Snowball has sold himself to Frederick of Pinchfield Farm, who is even now plotting to attack us and take our farm away from us! Snowball is to act as his guide when the attack begins. But there is worse than that. We had thought that Snowball’s rebellion was caused simply by his vanity and ambition. But we were wrong, comrades. Do you know what the real reason was? Snowball was in league with Jones from the very start! He was Jones’s secret agent all the time” (p.49).

The same thing is being done in modern day Ghana. Political parties in the country spread unsubstantiated rumors about other political parties or the people in the party so that Ghanaians will form negative opinion about those parties. Some of the parties even go to the extent of creating an executive office for Squealer’s equivalence, which they explicitly call Propaganda Secretary.

CONCLUSION
The book which was published on the heels of World War II tells the story of the political atmosphere that existed which is now of relevance to modern day Ghana. The history of Ghana can be told using “Animal Farm” as a symbolism. The days of colonialism, the fight for independence, the dictatorship regimes that sprang up, coup d’états and the use of propaganda are all stages through which “Animal Farm” went through and so did Ghana. It is right to conclude that George Orwell’s Animal Farm is an iconic representation of Ghana’s political history.

By: Andrew Tetteh