• Jayasimha. B. R

Abstract George Orwell’s slim little novel, Animal Farm, has been a staple of American schools and culture since it was published. It has become a cultural touchstone around which misinformation has dominated. The novel has grown far past its original context to take on new meanings and interpretations. Beginning in the classroom, many students are given flawed information about the novel and the author’s intention. This narrative around Animal Farm has extended to its use in the political arena. George Orwell’s slim little novel, Animal Farm, has been a staple of American schools and culture since it was published. Animal Farm, a political allegory by George Orwell,1 remains one of the most widely read and influential books in our culture, in part because it is a staple of the high-school English class. Animal Farm was written for a specific time and place: expressly as an allegory for the formation of the Soviet Union. And yet, the novel has captured our cultural imagination far beyond that pocket of history. References to Animal Farm can be found across decades and mediums of art, from comics to Pink Floyd. It has become a cultural touchstone around which misinformation has dominated. The novel has grown far past its original context to take on new meanings and interpretations. Beginning in the classroom, many students are given flawed information about the novel and the author’s intention. This narrative around Animal Farm has extended to its use in the political arena. Parallels have been drawn, for example, between the novel and an eclectic collection of issues, from Obamacare to the 1%. These disparate connections demonstrate the novel’s peculiar vulnerability to appropriation. The social context in which any book is read changes the reader’s perception of its meaning, but Animal Farm seems more flexible than other works. It has been misused by many political movements, but I will examine three of particular interest: western propagandists from the Cold-War era, neoconservatives from the 1960s who were opposed to communist ideals, and the modern left who support elements of democratic socialism. Finally, after examining these three movements in relationship to Animal Farm, I will posit that Animal Farm is vulnerable to this kind of appropriation because it is an allegory, a form that is predisposed to misinterpretation, and because it only provides negative political commentary. By this I mean that it does not offer any solutions or constructive insight. This is a peculiarity of the book, not necessarily a flaw.

KEY WORDS: Animal Farm, cultural touchstone, interpretations, movements, Political Allegory, propagandists.

" Some Interpretations on Misinterpreting George Orwell’s Animal Farm", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.5, Issue 3, page no.286-290, March-2018, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1803461.pdf

" Some Interpretations on Misinterpreting George Orwell’s Animal Farm", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.5, Issue 3, page no. pp286-290, March-2018, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1803461.pdf