My Experience in an Animal Farm

  

Eric Arthur Blair is considered one of the most important English writers and essayists of the 20th century and some even see him as one of the best authors of all time. 

Born in Motihari during the British Raj, most of us know him by his pen name George Orwell; his life is full of intrepid experiences (from his period as a representative of the forces of colonial order in Burma against British imperialism, to his participation on the Republican side of the Spanish Civil War) that are reflected in one way or another in his work. 

And the 3rd A ESO students of 2022 had the opportunity to read one of his best known books in class: Animal Farm. 

 I remember that almost every student had their character; we had to read our dialogues and lines and, of course, there was also a narrator. 

I also remember quite vividly that some of us would get very attached to our respective characters, which only made the experience of reading this magnificent book even more memorable and entertaining. For example, I read everything that Snowball, one of the main characters of the book, said, whereas a friend of mine read the lines of another very important character: Napoleon. And we were constantly «fighting» and «arguing» as a result of the dynamics between these two characters; it was really fun. 

 In addition, we learned a lot about the Russian Revolution and some relevant figures in history such as Leon Trotsky, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, etc. Since, one thing I have not mentioned so far, is that Animal Farm works as a satire for the events leading up to the Russian Revolution as well as the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union. Therefore, each animal (it could be a pig, a goat, a sheep, a rooster, a donkey, etc.) represents an entity, whether it is a person or a group of people. So, apart from being a very entertaining and amusing work, it has a trascendental meaning that is very cleverly fused with its story. 

 In conclusion, I am very grateful for reading this book with my class, because it was both a really fun experience and a productive one, since I learned some history and I read one of Orwell’s greatest works, which is always a productive experience.

Ricardo, 1º Bach