It was impossible to read this in 2026 and not draw comparisons to our current administration and—some—of its lunacy (not to mention the rekindled Socialism movement in NYC and beyond). And I suspect that’s what makes this a classic — a fable that is so reflective of human nature that it can be a mirror of whichever era it is read in. While it is unfair to critique the animal rebellion as unrealistic or physically impossible (for the purposes of this fairy tale, it’s expected that one will suspend disbelief at pigs that can suddenly negotiate trade deals and animals, in general, that wield farming tools with hoofs), there was a heavy sheen of Looney Tunes corniness that I failed to appreciate. As someone not fully steeped in Stalinist Russia or Marxism or the history of totalitarianism, I took away a more generic point. Or maybe more accurately, I chose to connect the story to a more generic belief that I can get behind: that too much government involvement in the running of society hurts people more than it helps them.