Revelation of Animal Farm: How Russia government is using propaganda to blocking news of the war

Book “Animal Farm” starts by narrating animals’ rebellion to overthrow the control of humans, live off of the central doctrine of rule, and build a new world in which all animals are equal. It is a miniature of Soviet Union history, from its transformation of Communism, which held high idea of “equality,” to totalitarianism, in which a single dictator and his chief propagandists exploit its civilians. 

As the story develops, we also witness the collapse of “idealism.” In the very beginning, the leaders of the animals, the pigs, claimed: “all animals are equal.” While with they gradually abuse their power, impose their will on other animals, and make them work harder and harder. In contrast, those pigs thus live more extravagantly. First, they did not do laboring work but directed and supervised the others. They command other animals as a human being used to do it. The missing apples turned out to be mixed into the pig’s daily mash, for they assert themselves need milk and apples to process those brain works. Here, it suggests that the working class is being manipulated and exploited, while their steadfast belief in governance makes them blind to their situation. 

 

For me, it is incredible to see that a book with merely 152 pages can portray the whole picture of ruling from ambition to deception. One of the most important commitments of animal farms, “all animals are equal,” ends up being revised for the dictator’s interest to “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” The book illustrates the peril of government that people all have to face. If we stay apathetic, like the donkey Benjamin, who always holds a cynical attitude to the governance and believes that “nothing will change,” we’ll eventually be used as bargaining chips in the fighting of power.

Reading how the pigs use propagandists to control their regime reminded me of a debate held in our school. The discussion invited international students to share their opinions about the war between Russia and Ukraine. Students all have different thoughts about this issue, but what impressed me the most was a Russian girl in the debate. She told us that most Russians actually didn’t get the complete and correct information about the war. The Russian government uses propaganda to justify their deeds, proclaiming that Russian soldiers are decorous and careful about preserving Ukrainian civilian life, and Ukrainians greet those soldiers as liberators. With further realization about how Russian is using propaganda to cloud Russians’ understanding of the war, I also found that the country is cracking down on free speech, which means many independent media outlets have to leave the country, shut down, or they’ll face prison terms. 

   What struck me is that, after the book Animal Farm was released almost 80 years, the plots in this book are occurring again nowadays, corruption, exploitation, deception, etc. History repeats itself, and it seems that we are all animals somehow on the animal farm. Different animals symbolize different classes and kinds of people. At the same time, what remains the same is that being indifferent and blind to what is happening around the world is just a behavior awaiting our doom.