In a letter to Yvonne Davet, Orwell described Animal Farm as a satirical tale against Stalin (""), and in his essay "Why I Write" (1946), wrote that Animal Farm was the first book in which he tried, with full consciousness of what he was doing, "to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole".
ɪn ɐ lˈɛɾɚ tʊ ɪvˈɑːn dˈævɪt, ˈɔːɹwɛl dᵻskɹˈaɪbd ˈænɪməl fˈɑːɹm æz ɐ sɐtˈɪɹɪkəl tˈeɪl ɐɡˈɛnst stˈɑːlɪn"", ænd ɪn hɪz ˈɛseɪ "wˌaɪ aɪ ɹˈaɪt" nˈaɪntiːnhˈʌndɹɪd fˈoːɹɾi sˈɪks, ɹˈoʊt ðæt ˈænɪməl fˈɑːɹm wʌzðə fˈɜːst bˈʊk ɪnwˌɪtʃ hiː tɹˈaɪd, wɪð fˈʊl kˈɑːnʃəsnəs ʌv wʌt hiː wʌz dˈuːɪŋ, "tə fjˈuːz pəlˈɪɾɪkəl pˈɜːpəs ænd ɑːɹtˈɪstɪk pˈɜːpəs ˌɪntʊ wˈʌn hˈoʊl".