What does the ending of Animal Farm signify?

The
ending scene of carries with it one of the most brutally cynical and
fatally hopeless messages about the nature of man ever put to paper. It signifies
that mankind may be doomed to be stuck in the same cycle of oppression and revolution for as
long as men are given power. After a long and miserable struggle from first
establishing their own sovereignty over themselves, the animals find that they are not in a more
preferable position than the one they started in. In fact, due to some deaths in the ranks of
their comrades, they may be worse off than if they had never opted for revolution in the first
place.

Indeed, this seems to be a subtly made distinction. Farmer Jones was,
at the very least, only negligent and lazy in regard to his keeping of the farm.
The rule of the pigs, in hindsight, seems noticeably more exploitative and
iron-fisted. It can be easy to think that this was some master plan on the part of the pigs all
along; however, it's more likely thatwas trying to convey a narrative of a corrupting power, and
that the pigs did truly have good intentions from the start.

The pigs began
as revolutionaries, steadfastly clinging to the teachings of . They truly believed that they
could create a utopia where the division of labor and wealth was completely equal. However,
oncegot a taste of worship from a populace and the sense of importance and paranoia it brings
with it, he began to see enemies everywhere, even among the animals he had promised to fight
for. He began to see his closest comrade, , as a usurper bent on taking his power from him,
something that had become more precious than his opinion in the eyes of the animals. Ironically,
the opinions of these animals are the only things that give him power in the first place, as he
himself proves by overthrowing Jones at the start of the book.

Through his
mouthpiece, , Napoleon makes one amendment to his original Utopian vision at a time. These are
decisions that, taken on their own, seem rational enough. When the end result of all of them are
placed side by side with the original vision, however, it is as clear of a difference between
utopia and dystopia, socialist paradise and totalitarian wasteland. This all works together to
signify the uncomfortable truth that Orwell meant to convey: no matter how honorable,
no matter how well intentioned, revolutionaries who win and become leaders quickly fall into the
same habits and evils of their previous oppressors once power corrupts them.