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How does Animal Farm portray the betrayal of revolutionary ideals?

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George Orwell, c. 1940 — George Orwell Known best for his powerful anti-utopian novels *Animal Farm* (1945) and *Nineteen Eighty-four* (1949), English author George Orwell came to be regarded as a prophetic voice in 20th-century literature.

In George Orwell’s novella Animal Farm, the betrayal of revolutionary ideals is portrayed through the gradual subversion of the animals' egalitarian society by the pigs, who emerge as power-hungry leaders.12

Initially, the animals unite to overthrow their human masters, establishing a system based on the principle that "All animals are equal". However, the pigs—led by Napoleon—systematically consolidate power, replacing democratic debate with a dictatorship that becomes more oppressive than the original human rule.123

This betrayal is illustrated through several key mechanisms:
* Manipulation of Language: The pig Squealer uses propaganda to justify the pigs' preferential treatment, such as consuming milk and apples, by claiming they are "brainworkers" essential to the farm's survival.3
* Revision of Principles: The Seven Commandments of Animalism are surreptitiously altered to suit the pigs' interests.3
* The Final Corruption: The founding ideal is ultimately reduced to the cynical maxim: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others".12

Ultimately, the novella serves as a satire of the Russian Revolution, illustrating how power can corrupt and how revolutionary movements can devolve into totalitarianism.1