Animal Farm

Although often seen as an allegory of the failings of the Soviet Union (though a rather simplified one), this story, I think, examines the corruption by power in a general sense and shows how people can accept even the most awful situations if the change happens gradually enough. The reason I like to extend the allegory is because what happened in Soviet Union has nothing to do with Communism, but it has everything to do with greed and hunger for power. Any ideology, really, can succumb to this if a societal structure changes suddenly, too much power is placed in the hands of few, and people rush to establish their utopia. You cannot rush a utopia; that's one way of how dystopias are born...