himself
calls this a fairy tale, so that's one genre. It's also a , so there's genre number
two.
A fairy tale is a story in which the characters aren't particularly well
developed--just enough to make the story believable. They are often caricatures or stereotypes
(i.e., a wicked witch or a sleeping beauty or a handsome prince). They are generally pretty
black or white, good or evil, without much gray in between. The story usually has a moral
ending--moreso in modern fairy tales than in, say, the old Brothers Grimm Tales--where the wolf
in Little Red Riding Hood ends up in the cooking pot, for example. The
modern fairy tale is more polished and certainly more kid-friendly. To some degree,
is, then, a true fairy tale.
We usually classify this
work as a fable, though. A fable is similar to a fairy tale but usually has animal characters.
Those characters often have the physical characteristics of animals but the also the more human
qualities of speaking and thinking. That's exactly true in this novel. The four-footed animals
cannot, for example, walk on two feet--until they learn. They do, however, speak, think, and
react as humans would. They are also symbolic caricatures, in that they represent something
beyond the actual (i.e., Benjamin represents the intellects,is the symbol of the working
class). The best examples of fables come from Aesop's Fables, of course, where animals learn
lessons and present morals for the reader. To that extent, Animal Farm is
also a fable.
I've included some more detailed sources below.
Hope that helps!
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