Animal Farm Questions

Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.

George Orwell put a subtitle (A Fairy Story) underneath the title of Animal Farm. This story is a parallel to the Russian Revolution. Why would Orwell choose to make it such a "fairy story"? Or is this truly ironic, as in fact the book is the opposite of a "fairy story?" Why use animals and exaggeration instead of just writing a political essay?
Orwell’s tone in the text is very tongue-in-cheek, and presumes innocence as he details what is obvious to us, his readers. What is the effect of such a tone? How does it add to our experience of reading the story?
What might Animal Farm say about our own time? You might answer this question on a large scale or on a smaller one (for example, our country, government, our world, or your own personal life and the events in it…or both).
Who suffers the most in Animal Farm? Is it worse to suffer in ignorance, or to actually know how all-around awful your situation is?