The theme of Animal Farm is timeless to the extent of getting its main message across. I do not consider that knowledge of Russian history is an absolute prerequisite for an understanding of the novel. With no background information of Russian history I was able to understand what was happening in the novel. It cannot be ignored that if you have knowledge of Russian history you will have a deeper understanding.

With no previous knowledge of Russian history you can still understand the messages presented in the novel. One message is that if a group of people can obtain power slowly greed sets in, and that group becomes `pig like'. In their society everyone is equal but some are just more equal than others.

The main message that is evident in the novel to anyone that reads it is good versus evil. It shows the pigs as evil...