Deceptively short, with a story simple enough for a child to understand, Animal Farm is a cleverly crafted satire that packs a wallop in allegorical meaning. Written in the 1940s, the author appears to target Stalinist Russia, with the feuding pigs, named Napoleon and Snowball, representing Stalin and Trotsky (though some debate that conclusion). Readers and commenters have widely applied the book's messages to criticize totalitarianism, attacks on freedom of all kinds, ill-conceived dreams of Utopia and political naivete.
The story works on many levels, powerfully showing, for example, the brainwashing effect of propaganda and how leaders make "the masses" believe just about anything. The tale effectively captures the progression of a failed revolution from the early days of idealistic optimism to the time when the revolution's leaders become indistinguishable from the oppressors they originally ousted. I had our children read this classic; it provided much fodder for discussion and a vivid picture of the failings of communism.
Animal Farm is not without pitfalls, however. Orwell was a socialist, and his ideology shows. Despite enduring the most oppressive tyranny, for example, the animals still rejoice that they own their own farm, unlike the animals on surrounding farms, and are not under the tyranny of humans. (My take on humans, in this allegory, is that they represent capitalism, which Orwell strongly decries even while pointing out the failings of the communist version of socialism.) The emphasis on Napoleon (seemingly representing Stalin) falsely blaming Snowball (Trotsky) for all the ills on the farm, leads me to believe that Orwell, while decrying Stalinism, was sympathetic towards Trotskism.
Orwell's criticism of the church is also clear. Represented by the raven, Moses' false "pie in the sky" tales are all he offers. In fact, the bird is asleep in the barn when the Major gives the initial speech calling for revolution. Although they deny it publicly, it suited the pigs to have Moses around. so that the ill-fed, over-worked animals could grasp at the hope of a better life to come, perhaps making them more content with their present lot. All this can, perhaps, be forgiven as an accurate portrayal of the church's role in Stalinist Russia, but the fact that Moses tells a story of a place that does not exist, and that these tales comprise the total of his message, reflects, I believe, much about the author's own views.
Though written in easily understandable "fairy tale" form, in my opinion, this book is suitable only for youths and adults who will understand its deeper meanings, navigate safely through some leftist philosophy and handle the violence and other elements (including the emotional distress when the faithful work-horse, who has given his all to the cause, is disposed of at a glue-factory).