All tropes are subjective... [[MemeticMutation but some tropes are more subjective than others]].
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* AccidentalAesop:
** If things get bad, being apathetic will only make things worse. Benjamin is aware of what the pigs are doing, but his cynicism about things improving is what allows things to deteriorate on the farm. [[spoiler: Had Benjamin spoken up earlier, then poor Boxer wouldn't have been sold to the knacker.]]
** Never assume that your group isn't capable of doing the same as another when put under similar circumstances. Old Major's HumansAreTheRealMonsters view gets deconstructed throughout the story by showing Napoleon and his main associates - who are all the same species as Old Major - acting more and more like the tyrannical and abusive humans he encouraged the farm to rebel against and break free of, culminating in the final scene of the novel, which hammers the point in with the farm animals [[HeWhoFightsMonsters unable to tell the difference between pigs and humans.]]
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
** Is Mollie, the only one who doesn't submit to the new tyranny and manages to escape, really the most "foolish" animal on the farm? Is she trading the new tyranny for the old one, or, since she chose her new life and is happy in it, are her new conditions not so oppressive? For that matter, is her new owner just as bad as Mr. Jones, or is he a kinder person? Is her new job slavery like the old regime of Manor Farm, or is she free?
*** On that subject, why exactly did the animals choose to forget her? Did they choose to forget her because she went against Animalism, because she had the cushiest job on the whole farm when Jones was in charge, because she represented their loss of choice, or because, with what happened after she left, they didn't want to acknowledge that she might have been right in leaving when and while she could?
** The Cat acts like she supports Napoleon, but tends to absent herself from the farm for long periods, and appears to suffer far less than the other animals. Moses the Raven is similar.
** Just how evil (or good) Snowball is has been the subject of a lot of debate[[note]] This is rather fitting, since he's based off UsefulNotes/LeonTrotsky, he himself being a rather divisive figure[[/note]]. Interpretations range from him being every bit as much of a monster as Napoleon to a pragmatic WellIntentionedExtremist to a genuinely good but misguided pig. It's clear that he wasn't 100% a saint, since he, like the other pigs, didn't share the apples and milk with the other animals, but that alone is too vague to determine his overall personality. He's also incredibly cold towards Boxer's remorse over killing a human boy during the Battle of the Cowshed, but that can be expected in war, and at the time he was still bleeding from wounds inflicted on him by Jones' shotgun so his harshness is more than understandable.
*** Also, his complicity in hoarding the milk and apples is only mentioned in a single line and it's not said why he consented to it. Was he really that onboard with it, or did he have misgivings but went along with the other pigs out of pragmatism? The book notes that Squealer was sent to placate the other animals which suggests Snowball wasn't willing to defend it himself.
** Is [[BrilliantButLazy Benjamin]] simply too apathetic to warn his fellow animals about the evil and hypocrisy of the pig regime, or does he believe that the only thing he'd accomplish is being the next one to end up on Napoleon's hit list? The radio version penned by George Orwell himself hints that it may be the latter, as he at one point (shortly after the first executions ordered by Napoleon) expands on his CharacterCatchphrase by saying "Donkeys live a long time, and one reason why they live a long time is that they never talk politics." His OOCIsSeriousBusiness moment at seeing [[spoiler: Boxer]] sent off to be killed fits either interpretation; the shock of seeing his best friend set up to die could've shaken him out of his apathy, or if he was just keeping his head down to stay alive, make it so he didn't care anymore.
** Did Old Major truly want to bring about a world where all animals could live in freedom and equality, or did he know full well that the animals would simply be moving from one kind of tyranny and oppression to another, yet pushed them towards it anyway because he believed that his fellow pigs would be the ones to come out on top?[[note]]Interestingly, the entire Manor Farm revolution fits rather neatly with Orwell's opinion on revolutions (and why they [[FullCircleRevolution so often end up making things worse]]) in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', with the humans as the High, the pigs as the Middle, and the rest of the animals as the Low.[[/note]] Where the reader falls here likely depends on their view of the real Karl Marx.
** Was Napoleon [[EvilAllAlong always bad]], or did he start out good before becoming drunk with power? If the latter, why and at what point did he make his FaceHeelTurn?[[note]]Orwell claimed that the revolution did not become corrupted until the pigs arrogated the milk and apples to themselves, implying Napoleon ''was'' good or at least well intentioned at the start, and that the hoarding is the point where he turned evil.[[/note]]
** The book leaves implications whether Boxer was merely a loyal candidate worked to death by his ungrateful peers, or if the pigs intentionally drained him, since [[BewareTheNiceOnes his one defiance against them]] made it apparent he could be a threat to their power.
* BrokenAesop: The 1999 film tries to account for Soviet collapse by changing the ending so that Napoleon's empire becomes unsustainable and collapses on itself. Fair enough, but then the film concludes with a smiling human family driving onto the farm as the sun comes back out and Jessie happily explains, "Now we have new owners!", which somewhat negates the meaning of the allegory. Although she also says they won't let them make the same mistake, meaning if they start being tyrannical, they'll kick their butts.
* BrokenBase: The AdaptationalKarma in nearly every interpretation after the original book. Some think it ignores the powerful message of the novel in favor of {{Disneyfication}}. Others think it works in terms of updating the context, as in real life, the pigs' basis[[note]] Stalin and the Soviet Union[[/note]] had been slowly destroyed with each adaptation (plus seeing the pigs get what's coming to them is [[CatharsisFactor pretty satisfying]]).
* CommonKnowledge: While many people (both ones who've read the book and ones who only know about it) assume that Snowball was the "good" leader to Napoleon's "bad" leader, the reality is nowhere near that simple. To be sure, Snowball never does the terrible things Napoleon did... but then again, he never held the kind of absolute power Napoleon enjoyed; moreover, since Napoleon was largely able to keep his tyrannical ambitions under wraps until the pieces were in place for his takeover, it's entirely possible that Snowball would've also ended up as a dictator had he won the power struggle. The narrative takes some time to highlight his flaws (it's implied he has elitist or even outright [[FantasticRacism racist]] tendencies since one of the few things he agrees with Napoleon on is that milk and apples should be reserved for consumption by the pigs) and less-than-stellar actions (he yells at Boxer for feeling remorse over having killed a human in battle), as well as him being vague and evasive when it comes to the question of how he'd actually ''accomplish'' his grand plans, so he isn't meant to be seen as an unambiguously good figure who would've been a better leader than Napoleon. Orwell himself noted that the selfishness which ultimately subverted the revolution began when Snowball was still a leading figure on the farm and that Snowball could potentially have become as much of a threat had he ended up in charge, which was similar to his view of Trotsky.
* CompleteMonster: [[SinisterSwine Napoleon]] seems like a benevolent revolutionist at first, trying to make Old Major's dream a reality, but it quickly becomes clear that he is just a selfish, power-hungry tyrant, who cares not one bit about his fellow animals. He starts by rationing food exclusively for him and the other pigs, and secretly forms his own private squadron of [[AngryGuardDog attack dogs]], by abducting all the newborn puppies from their parents and raising them to be fully obedient to him. Later he [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness backstabs his ally Snowball]] and frames him for every wrong happening on the farm, while continuing to manipulate everyone into worshiping him and [[KangarooCourt mercilessly sentencing everyone to death who shows the tiniest sign of resistance]]. Merely in order to buy himself more alcohol, he sells the completely loyal, and extremely hard-working, horse Boxer to the knacker after he got sick. He justifies his actions by having [[PropagandaMachine Squealer]] constantly [[ScrewtheRulesIMakeThem alter the law]], and the past, to fit them. After a few years and a whole lot of more horrendous crimes, [[FullCircleRevolution the other animals can barely tell him and the other pigs apart from the humans, whose reign they so desperately tried to escape]].
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Benjamin the donkey is very popular for his cynical personality, loyalty to Boxer, and being one of the only animals smart enough to see through the pigs. The creators of the animated film seemed to realize this [[AscendedExtra and made him the protagonist]].
* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: Even here this trope crops up, mostly due to academia's use of it for teaching allegories. Much of the work is intentionally directly paralleling actual history; however, many essays have devoted time trying to tie every single minor character and scene into some kind of brilliant allegorical meaning where Orwell more than likely was generalizing and having fun with his BeastFable.
* HilariousInHindsight: The ending with Napoleon proclaiming that Animal Farm is going to revert to the old name of Manor Farm, while fraternizing with the other farmers in mutual agreement, seems a little hilarious when considering [[UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia modern Russia]] reversed a lot of Soviet names to Tsarist standards as well as taking back its old tricolor flag. Also when considering this was done by members of the former communist party (Gorbachev, Yeltsin and eventually Putin).
* HoYay: Boxer and Benjamin, particularly in the animated version where Benjamin remains glued to Boxer's bedside after his injury, adjusting his blanket and tenderly licking his head.
* ItWasHisSled: The final change to the Seven Commandments is one of the most well known quotes in the book.
* MemeticMutation:
** "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others". [[https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z-s-z9MC_Kc/VyEt95gmWWI/AAAAAAAACbs/r-7fBIEAy2gHEtaxZbeIbIU2VLQ7V8-iQCLcB/s1600/all-animal-equal.jpg Images of the wall with this text and with the medalled pigs from the 1954 film]] have since shown up online. It's often used to mock people and groups who claim they want equality, while wanting special treatment.
** "Four legs good, two legs bad / better."
* MisaimedFandom: As with ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', the book is often cited by conservatives as purely an attack on the evils of socialism. Orwell himself was a democratic socialist whose aim was to ''rescue'' socialism from the totalitarianism of Soviet communism, and the portrayal of the human farmers makes his view of conservatism clear. The point of the ending is that capitalism and Stalinism are, in Orwell's eyes, equally evil systems that oppress the lower class for the benefit of the upper one. ("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.") And earlier on, the happiest period on the farm is the brief span between the ousting of Jones and the pigs' takeover, which would be analogous to UsefulNotes/TheSoviet20s. Orwell wasn't exactly subtle; there's this line from Mr. Pilkington during the meeting with the pigs at the end that sums it up nicely: "If you have your lower animals to deal with, we have our lower classes!"
* MoralEventHorizon:
** Napoleon comes close to crossing the line several times, but when he gives Boxer, the most loyal and hardworking of all the animals, over to the knacker's because he is injured and no longer able to work near the end of the story, he finally crosses it and at that moment, it's quite clear that Napoleon [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim has become even worse than Farmer Jones]], the animals' original oppressor -- in the very first scene of the story, [[BigGood Old Major]], the one who set this whole revolution in motion, cites man's penchant for [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness callously slaughtering animals once their usefulness to him is at an end]] [[{{Irony}} as one of his very worst evils]].
** Orwell himself stated that he believed the turning point in the revolution comes much earlier, when the pigs take the lion's share of the milk and apples for themselves instead of sharing them equally with the other animals, under the flimsy justification that such foods contain nutrients vital for intellectual work. (This corresponds to the formation of the vanguard party in Soviet history.) That's the first time they put their own greed above their cause or their comrades, and from there on it's just a decline into [[FromBadToWorse more of the same, but worse]].
* {{Narm}}:
** When one of Snowball's "plots" is exposed, we're told that a gander confessed his guilt to Squealer "and immediately committed suicide by swallowing deadly nightshade berries." The mental image this creates, along with how casually it's said, is just too funny to take seriously.
** Napoleon decreeing that Frederick is to be boiled alive also comes off sillier than it was probably meant to.
* RealismInducedHorror: Despite the silly premise, barnyard animals kicking and running the farmer off the land, the book is still a bone-chilling allegory on revolutionaries becoming worse than the people they oppose.
* SignatureScene: The ending, when the animals watch the pigs and the humans argue over a card game and can no longer tell either pig or human apart.
* TooCoolToLive: Snowball. The most educated and charismatic animal on the farm and only rival to Napoleon is eventually exiled - and in the 1954 animated film, [[DeathByAdaptation murdered]].
* UnconventionalLearningExperience: Intended as one for the history of the Russian Revolution, but is now more often used to teach the concept of allegory in Language/Writing class. History teachers are less enthusiastic about using it for Orwell's intended purpose because of the work's clear biases and the removal of groups and figures they feel are important. [[note]]Combining Lenin and Marx into one character and neglecting to mention the pro-Tsarist resistance after the revolution at all.[[/note]] However it's not uncommon for English and history teachers to team up while a class is assigned this book.
* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The book ends [[TheBadGuyWins with Napoleon and his pigs still in power]], [[FullCircleRevolution having become indistinguishable from the humans they once resisted]]. But in the 1990s, the Soviet Union, on which the book was based on, would collapse under the weight of its inefficiencies. The ending makes sense when you consider it was written during World War II and published in the opening years of the Cold War when Stalin's Soviet Union was in control over half of Europe, and something like the UsefulNotes/HoleInFlag was inconceivable. However, [[WhyWereBummedCommunismFell the mixed fortunes of the end of communism]] still make the book's overall message on how political revolutions can degenerate timeless.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: It can be hard at times to actually feel sorry for the other animals as the pigs' tyranny increases, as readers can clearly understand what's happening while the characters are too stupid/ignorant to realize it themselves. Then again, this could be a case of FourthWallMyopia.
* ValuesDissonance: [[https://redsails.org/jones-on-animal-farm/ Some critics]] have pointed out how the story places a great deal of blame on the regular animals for how the farm ends up, portraying and calling them fundamentally stupid, and not just uneducated or politically repressed, (attempts to teach them to read fail, their attempts to get into politics result in nonsense, and the pigs get away with a lot of obvious villainy and lies before Napoleon becomes truly tyrannical.) Mapping this onto the USSR, it's a rather classicist idea as to why communism failed that matches some of Orwell's other writings about the poor, despite his good intentions.
* ValuesResonance: The ultimate lesson of the story: when fighting for social change, take care that [[HeWhoFightsMonsters you do not become as bad as, if not worse than, those you fight against]].
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: Despite featuring talking animals, this is a high school level book. The simplistic-sounding title doesn't help. Video shops often shelved the AnimatedAdaptation in the kids' section, despite its dark tone and being about the not exactly kid-friendly Russian Revolution.
* TheWoobie: Boxer is a hard-working horse and never stops even when he becomes wounded and eventually collapses out of being exhausted. Looking forward to being healed and then finally being put to rest after all the work he has done, [[spoiler: Napoleon instead sells him to the slaughterhouse, not caring about Boxer's loyalty]].
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