Bobert, it is not true at all that "The bottom line of "Animal Farm" is don't try to do better, don't rock the boat, don't bother thinkin' that things can ever be better..."Meet the new boss, same as the old boss"..." George Orwell was very much a man of the left, but he was not a blind ideologist. These types he severely criticised (especially after his experiences in the Spanish civil war). And he certainly was no political conservative or surrenderer in the face of brutality, as you suggest. In other words, he would never give his critical faculties over to any party or any abstract idea: everything has to be critiqued in the light of experience; experience should never be twisted to suit the party line. That is the punch line of 'Animal Farm' and also the theme of '1984'.