Although not a favorite, reading George Orwell’ s Animal Farm with my teens was definitely not a waste of time. It allowed for many discussions about  the evils of communism,  the importance of freedom of speech and thought, and even the value of education without indoctrination.  Animal Farm is a classic  and one to consider reading as a family during highschool years because it allows for yet one more world view lesson before homeschool graduation.

While reading Animal Farm the proverb, “Power corrupts but absolute power corrupts absolutely” comes to life through a barnyard of animals who decide to start a revolution and overthrow their human owners replacing them with a whole new system led by the more intelligent and “educated”  pigs who eventually evolve into evil tyrants.  This short novel if read like a literature professor would,  is actually a history lesson about the failures of communism or if simply read without analysis; a silly fairy tale about barnyard animals.  Read this novel with your family and talk about liberty and how it can easily be lost.  Talk to them about our leaders today and decide which ones resemble the lazy dictator pigs in this story. Talk to them about the elitist attitudes prevalent in our society today and about those who actually still believe in the utopian communist ideal. Although this was not my favorite book…. it was an important book and worthy to have in one’s library…one to discuss around the kitchen table…perhaps while eating bacon. 😉

 

 

“All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others”