Animal Farm

I didn't get to see the end of the movie, but from what i saw the movie was rather bad. It skipped half the "important" parts that linked the book to the Russian Revolution. As well, the animations were rather over-exaggerated like animals getting shot and Boxer's death.

Seeing as the BLOG is rarely being updated, I decided to create a topic:

What'd you think of the film?

I think the film could've been much better, especially if the film hadn't been so different from the book. : (

But that's just what I think.

Is anyone other than me displeased with the ending of the book? The ending seems too unrealistic compared to most of the book (if you ignore the fact that the pigs are running a farm).

This might be the B word Mrs.Tuck is looknig for....

BOLSHEVIK

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolshevik

YAY! WHAT YOU WAITIN' FOR???

The P word is proletariat. Boxer and Clover, two hard working animals, are used to represent the POROLETARIAT. They are like the stupid slaves that believe anything they hear and don't really think their slaves, or as NovelGuide.com puts it, the unskilled labour class inRussian society. Since Squealer is such a good talker, the PROLETARIAT are drawn to Napoleon's ideas because they sound like they're beneficial. Also, they're kind of unintelligent, so they're very easily persuaded.

So, the real lesson here is that Boxer is gullible, and the P word is PROLETARIAT.
www.e-thug.net

Supah Cute in Japanese!

I hav'nt exactly read any of the posts yet, but i need to post five things so I might as well start. I was talking with someone as i came in from recess, they were saying how napoleon was such a bad character and how he was destroying the farm. Napoleon wasn't destroying the farm, he was just using the power he had over the other animals to his advantage. He altered their way of thing to improve his lifestyle and in turn, make theirs worse.

There's one thing that I don't get (and this provides an opportunity for procrastinators to post). I didn't get the impression that Snowball did anything wrong. Instead it seemed an excuse for Napoleon to instill hate in the animals so that they felt he was on their side in trying to help them beat the enemy and make them forget the fact that Snow ball was a good and fair leader. If thats the case, then Snowball wouldn't have told the animals to disrupt things. So why would animals lie and pretend that they were secretly in touch with him, especially since they knew they would be killed? Was there something that happened in the Russian Revolution that this represents, or is this just Orwell showing the stupidity and gulibility of the animals who came forth?

Oh god, I guess I did end up analyzing the story, oh well.

And I just wanted to add; I think that Orwell made pigs of all the animals to represent the loyalist and the wealthy people of the Russian Revolution, not because they represent greediness, but because pigs are one of the smartest animals on the planet…

# posted by Anna @ 8:05 PM 5 comments

It's really amazing how many people posted on the last day... tsk tsk tsk, procrastinating? At least you guys posted…

I thought of instead of analyzing the book, cause that’s basically what I have been doing the whole time, but actually give my own thoughts about the book (that aren’t negative). As Zack did before, I’d like to explain my favourite character: Napoleon. Although he is supposedly a bad animal, I find that he is the smartest animal in the whole book. He rose from an insignificant pig on a regular farm to a famous leader (and practically a human) in a farm renowned in all of England. For a pig, that’s a big accomplishment. Even though he was extremely cruel and horrid, but really, what successful leader isn’t? Any politician that doesn’t lie and cheat and make excuses (ect. ect.), isn’t a real politician!

So, you might say that he was greedy and whatever, but he has created advancements for the farm like the windmill and the school. The public will never be in total peace no matter who the leader is, because you can't make everyone happy. So in this case, he chose his own kind and the smartest ones to live life joyfully, which I find that decision to be the best and the obvious. He would choose his family and relatives over hens and sheep and horses. And choosing the smartest builds the country/farm. In Russia, had the Revolution not taken place; there would have not been any first man in space or other progressions (well there would have been, but it would have taken much longer). Like what Mr. Walker’s assistant (Mr. Goldenthaw) said, “War speeds up developments”.

Some of you say (Jillian) that the Revolution in Animal Farm didn’t do much difference because they ended up with what they started, but had the Revolution not taken place, they would be a poor farm, and sooner of later Jones would have died (and he had no children) so the farm would have been fought over by the neighbours, and since in that time these things will take long, then the animals would neglected and died anyway. OR, Jones didn’t die, but his drinking problem would only grow because the farm was poor, and as it happened a bit in the beginning, the animals would be neglected and die.

At least after the Revolution, the farm would still be working and although the farm will be mostly pigs, and other animals as slaves and dogs as “police”, they will continue advancing scientifically.

Below is a brief overview of how the pigs, namely Napolean broke the seven commandments over time to fit his wants and needs:
1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy."Four legs good, two legs better" Napolean breaks this rule when he teaches the sheep this chant which completely goes against Animalism. This law is also broken when humans visit animal farm and Squealer walks on his hind legs.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend. This law is broken when the dogs attack Snowball as well as when Boxer is sold to the Slaughter house.
3. No animal shall wear clothes. This law is broken when the pigs wear some of Mr. Jones' clothes and when the dogs wear collars.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed. The pigs sleep on beds inside the barn.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol. The pigs are seen drinking beer and whisky.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal. This commandment is broken when Boxer is sent to his death and when Napolean commands teh death of the animals who apparently have been communicating with Snowball-who was brutally chased out of the farm.
7. All animals are equal. In the beginning, this was easily the most important of all the commandments and in the last chapter, the animals begin to realize what has happened to the lives they once knew. The pigs and dogs are more intelligent than the other animals which immediatly creates an inequality. Furthermore, the pigs sleep inside the barn, recieve larger portions of food and trade with humans. This rule is than changed to "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." As I already mentioned in an earlier post, this is a terrible misuse of the word equal and takes advantage of the animals and their limited intelligence.
-i have seen the others and i have discovered that this fight is not worth fighting, and i've seen their mothers, and i will no other to follow me where im going....(The General-Dispatch)

I see Napoleon as a very smart leader. Firstly he trained the dogs for his own protection. Secondly he uses the dogs to chase away his only enemy Snowball, and then he rules the farm by lying to the animals. After some animals protests he uses his dogs again to execute the pigs and sheep, to cover up his own deeds he orders Squealer to change the seven commandments. Lastly when he got the farm in his control he does whatever he wants.
Napoleon is a bad leader, but a smart one…

I know this book represents the russian revolution, but some parts of it remind me of what happened in World War II. Hitler also used lack of education to take advantage of and control people, and blamed almost everything on one group of people as Napoleon did to Snowball. Many actions of both Hitler and Napoleon's followers were motivated by hate. And before people comment on how different the 2 situations are, may i point out the "some parts" in the first sentance.

As soon as a leader feels the need to use any sort of physical force to overtake whatever they are trying to control, you know there is something wrong. Napoleon went against everything "Animalisim" stood for as soon as he brought in the dogs, and it all went downhill from there.

So far, we have bassicly overlooked Benjamin (the goat). Even in the beginning of Animal Farm Benjamin is sort of against the idea of Animalism. It seems to me that he is the only lower-class animal on the farm that seems to comprehend the changes that take place. An example of Benjamins superior intellegence:
"Fools! Fools!' Shouted Benjamin, prancing round them and stamping the earth with his small hoofs. 'Fools! Do you not see what is written on the side of the van?'
That gave the animals pause, and there was a hush. Muriel began to spell out the words. But Benjamin pushed her aside in the midst of a deadly silence he read: '"Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughter and Glue Boiler, Willingdon. Dealer in Hides and Bone-Meal. Kennels Supplied." Do you not understand what that means? They are taking Boxer to the Knackers!'"-page81-82
I see Benjamin as the voice of reality and truth, even though no one truly responds to him. Pherhaps if other animals had taken his concerns to heart they would not be left in the terrible political mess that is Animal Farm.
"When love goes to the highest bidder there can be no trust, and when there is no trust, there can be no love"-Moulin Rouge (good movie)

First, I will explain what each stanza means.

1. This stanza is telling all the animals that a better future awaits them – “Golden future time.”
2. This stanza explains that sooner or later a time will come when man will be over thrown and beasts will rule themselves – “Tyrant Man shall be o'erthrown.”
3. This stanza convinces the animals that once men no longer rule them, they will be free – “Rings shall vanish from our noses”, etc.
4. This stanza informs the animals that food will be plentiful and everything will be theirs – “Riches more than mind can picture.”
5. This stanza gives the general idea that everything will be better once the humans are gone – “Bright will shine the fields of England”, etc.
6. This stanza lets the animals know that although man will someday be overthrown, they will have to work very hard to reach that point – “For that day we all must labour.”
7. Refer to stanza #1.

In my mind, the song Beasts of England does not refer to the Soviet national anthem, but to another song I found on the Internet. This song is called the Communist Internationale, and was sung by supporters of communism in the early 1900’s.

Arise ye prisoners of starvation Arise ye toilers of the earth For reason thunders new creation `Tis a better world in birth.

Never more traditions' chains shall bind us Arise ye toilers no more in thrall The earth shall rise on new foundations We are but naught we shall be all.

Chorus:
Then comrades, come rally And the last fight let us face The Internationale Unites the human race.

Hey. I just wanted to wrap everything up before we go back to school, which I very much look forward to...

I guess that we have all agreed the following. If not, I'm telling you now:

Characters:
Mr. Jones = Czar Nicholas II
Napoleon = Stalin
Old Major = Karl Marx
Squealer = The Pravda (newspaper)
Dogs = secret police (KGB)
Other animals = lower class workers
Snowball = Lenin or Trosky
Boxer and Clover = proletariat
Mr. Frederick = Germany
Mr. Pilkington = Allies of WW II (i.e. England, France)
Pigs = loyalists
Moses = the Church
Pigeons = Soviet propaganda to other countries
Wild animals = other political parties

In regards to Snowball, Sarah has convinced me that Snowball represents Trosky, mainly because Trosky was chased out of the country, and later assasinated, but Lenin simply died. Stalin turned everybody against Trosky through the media, not unlike Squealer blaming anything that went wrong on Snowball.

The revolution that went underway in Russia later crumbled because of poor leadership. The animals of Animal Farm set out to be rid of the ways of the humans, but they later did everything but that thing: to not be like the humans. Their leader and his followers became corrupt to the point of actually adopting human manners. They manipulated things (i.e. the commandments) so that it would benefit only them, because the pigs felt that being like the human was better than being an animal, so that's why they changed all of the rules to be more human-like.

Well, that's it. I'm done. I will now end this with a quote from The Grim Grotto, mainly directed to half the class who haven't even started

"He who hesitates, is lost!"

See y'all tomorrow.


Hold on. Did I just say "y'all"?! YUCK!

The rebellion had no point. Things on animal farm were fine until Napoleon unjustly expelled Snowball. It was around that point where the "government" on animal farm began to become corrupt, and as Chet said, the animals began to act like the humans they got rid of in the first place. The original idea the animals had about the animal farm was a good one but, as Fangda and a few other people have said, once you are in power it is hard to not take advantage (not necessarily to that extent but take advantage none the less). I think that if there were less animals like the sheep, who blindly follow and would probably kill themselves if Napoleon told them it would help keep Jones away, and probably saw no problem with the way Jones was treating them in the first place, someone would have stopped Napoleon as soon as he tried to chase out snowball. The main problem is that because of the dogs, the animals are afraid to speak up for themselves and say something when they know that Napoleon is wrong (re-writing the commandments to meet his needs without consent of the other animals). So now because of the threat of loosing their lives and lack of education the animals are back where they started. Under the control of greedy and corrupt leaders.

Firstly, as many people have pointed out, Napoleon represents Joseph Stalin. Both these leaders ruled with an iron fist and killed anyone who opposed them. Napoleon used his dogs and squealer to control the animals as Stalin used the KGB (Russia’s secret police) and media and propaganda to control his people. Napoleon, the cruel, selfish and corrupt pig, can also represent human weakness on a deeper level. No matter how good humans intentions are, power will always lead them down a path of corruption. This reminds me of a saying that I most likely heard from my father: “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This basically means that the more power someone has, the more corrupt they will become. This is exactly what happened in Napoleon’s case, as well as political leaders all around the world.

Throughout this story of lies, deceit and abuse, I grew to like one character. This character was Boxer, the horse. In the book, Boxer is a low class workman, forced to work long hours while getting little or no compensation for his labour. While this is true for the other animals in the book as well, Boxer has the best over all attitude. Whenever there is a setback, all he thinks about is working harder and getting the job done. He devotes his life to his work and never argues or has negative feelings about what must be done. While reading the book, I felt very bad for boxer because of how he was manipulated by the pigs. Because of his lack of intelligence, the pigs simply used him to help themselves and convinced him that what he was doing was for the better of the farm. Finally, when Boxer was no longer able to work, the pigs sent him away to have him slaughtered due to the fact that he could no longer produce; only consume. This was an evil thing for the pigs to do and it made me feel worse for Boxer than ever before.

About the dogs. My interpretation of them is that they worked for napolean like the KGB worked for Stalin. The dogs "expelled" Snowball, just like the KGB chased Leon Trotsky away. See how it all ties together? By the way, the KGB was the Russian Secret Police, like the FBI or the CIA. Ahhh the loveliness of history and literature.

Personally, I dislike this book; it has too much politics in it, and no interesting conspiracies. And the fact that it is suppose to relate to the Russian Revolution takes all the creativity because (if you studied the Revolution) you would know exactly what happens. And Animal Farm is too short and doesn’t really expand on any of the characters that much (like Clover). And when something happens, it just happens, there is no other info about that (what is the aftermath of Boxer’s Slaughter?). Any way, that’s just my opinion. I have to go; I’ll expand on this later.

have you seen those little piggies, crawling in the dirt....


Have any of you notice that Napolean is quite similar to Saddam Hussein?

Let start... they're both the leaders of a land that they took over by sending dogs out to eat they're opposition (not literally)

They both take advantage of the weaker, physically and mentally.

They both break the laws.

They kill the members of the other party.

They send other beings to speak for them in public.

They both have double chin.


I am basically summing up that piggies are evil, pink ruthless politicians that only care about the misery of others.

I think that one of the main "themes" of the book would have to be the need for questioning authority. It is extremely easy for a government to take advantage of the general population, if the population refuses to question the goverment's choices, due to how naive the population may be.

In the book, Boxer uses the maxim "Napoleon is always right." This basically gives Napoleon infinite power, as the rest of the animals look up to Boxer. If the questioning of authority is absent, the authority can do - pretty much - whatever they want, without having to accept any consequences.

Just to add on, Napoleon is luckier than most, as his working class was hard-working and loyal. So, knowing how gullible the animals were, he could order them to do whatever he felt, and expected them to not only do it, but to work hard at it.

http://rikku.soulcake.net/stuff/gojyone.swf

I think this link perfectly represents the book. Or not.

Just to add on to Robbie. I think too that it is weird what Snowball did, Napoleon (being smarter then Snowball) ordered his trained dogs to kill (or intended) Snowball for his own control over the farm. After Snowball got chased away, Napoleon simply made up a lie to the animals so he can remain as a leader, and killed animals who opposed him. Snowball (after got chased away) seemed to have given up on the farm, assuming he thought he was going to get killed by the dogs that Napoleon trained. Orwell didn’t make any more appearance of the Snowball, so Napoleon used this to frame Snowball. If Snowball really was better then Napoleon he should have won back (or at least try to) his trust over the animal and prove Napoleon wrong.

Overall I feel that Snowball isn’t better himself as a leader, or it would be same as Napoleon (or could be better, but you never know). So Napoleon would have eventually become a leader (because he, looked to me had a leader spirit) and ruled over the farm. (I think example for this is Hitler, but prove me wrong…)

Does anyone else find that the "expulsion" of Snowball was a bit strange? There were 9 dogs that suddenly appeared out of nowhere wearing something (i forget exactly what it is) brass. First of all, the book did not state them being fed and most dogs need food to live. Napolean didn't seem to care for them after taking them from the mother. And secondly, pigs don't stand a big chance running away from a dog. But he ran around from tens of yards and didn't get eaten. And it also states that he slid under a fence (or something similar) and wasn't hurt. If you can slide out you can surely slide back in.

Near the end of the book, (and this is to back almost all of my comments) the animals hear Mr.Pilkington saying 'You have lower animals to contend with, we have lower classes'. That is a direct comparison to life, so Harrison, life as you described it in you last comment is not it. The lower class IS exploited by the higher classes.

Hey, I just thought of a title: Response to Mrs. Tucker's Latest Question. Clever, eh?

Whenever you have a government, no matter what type, there will always be communal expressions of ideals and a common political language. In Animal Farm, other than the obvious things, there is the days when they shoot the rifle, in remembrance of the Battle of the Windmill, the formation of the rebellion, and Napoleon added his birthday into it. Other than the birthday part, this is closely related to some of our customs. We have Remembrance Day to commmorate those whi died in the war, and we celebrate the formation of Canada on July 1st.

For those who haven't said anything at all on this blog, you do realize that there is only two days left?

See you on Monday. Hooray.

Napoleon can be metaphorically related to Osama bin Laden- incredibly smart, deceptive, and manipulative. I guess Napoleon is somewhat better since his MAIN objective is to exploit others and not to kill them.

Though Napoleon leads a strong "army" of dogs, Orwell has made it clear in the book that a strong enough physical body of the "low-class" animals existed to overtake and "usurp" (though not really "usurp") the power of the dogs and pigs. However, because cunning pigs know this, they suppress the urge to revolt because they are forevermore conveying the message, the farm is improving. It doesn't matter if you have the awesome military might of The United States of America or the pathetic Timbit-chucking infants of the Canadian "army", if will is not there then the fight can never be won.

Because the animals are doing these "services" to the pigs on their own free will- giving up their eggs, building a windmilll, etc., then we can only admire the brilliantness of Napoleon for holding Animal Farm in his hand.

We can also shun the stupid animals who fail to revolt, and change the structure of their government as they see fit (mmm.... capitalism).

Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

The plot of animal farm greatly relies on the manner in which the characters speak and effect each other. The pigs learned that by repeating themselves and using certain techniques like presenting a sort of ultimatum (you dont want Jone's to come back, do you?) they could easily persuade the other animals into believing just about anything. The pigs learn to abuse the english language by changing some of the seven commandments-“all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” this is a pathatic, unrealistic use of the word equal which takes advantage of the lower class animals who are tragically uneducated. In doing this, the pigs are abusing their power which they also do in many other ways; like making excuses early on in the novel to take extra apples and milk, or to drink beer, sleep in beds, and wear clothing. They eventually morph into that which they were originally against (as earlier mentioned by chet). Essentially, Animal Farm may be part of a vicious circle which simply repeats itself again and again and again- animals are unhappy with the state of society, overthrow the government through much hardship and again some clever animal will take advantage of the others and live like royalty.
Anyways, happy new year see you monday.
And mrs tucker, so much for you posting "every other day"....

I considered all the animals except the pigs and dogs "lower class." I'll start with the horses, Boxer and Clover. As Sam already mentioned, Boxer is very dedicated to his job, which was doing most of the work on the windmill(s). If Boxer wasn't around for the middle part of the book where a lot of the work and trade was being done, the farm would have been in trouble. Boxer was a major part in the two main battles, and was the main animal in building the windmills. Without him, I don't think the windmill would have been built, and the farm would have probably not won the Battle of the Windmill. Boxer was a slave to Napoleon, and believed everything he said. Personally, I think Boxer should have seen right through Napoleon and realized what he was doing all along, and overthrown him, because he certainly had the power to. As for Clover, Orwell didn't really expand on her character very much. She also believed everything Napoleon said. Another group of lower class animals were the hens. They were forced to lay hundreds of eggs a week by Napoleon just so they could be traded off for money or other merchandise, which only benefit the pigs and dogs. So all in all, the hens were being robbed of their future babies just so Napoleon and the rest of the pigs could have some luxuries. The sheep were yet another group of underfed and underprivelaged animals on the farm. Besides Boxer, they did a lot of work on the windmills. One thing I noticed about the sheep was that Orwell would commonly kill them off be it in a battle, by execution, or just by natural causes, it seemed as though sheep were always dying. Orwell portrayed Benjamin the donkey as a quiet character. He did what he was told, like help build the windmills and fight in battles, but I had the feeling that he didn't really like Napoleon as a leader.

Overall, I felt that all these animals were slaves of Napoleon. In real life, when you do work for someone, you get paid. In the book, the animals didn't get any rewards for working hard. For all the work they did, it would always turn out that the pigs would get extra food, or some other kind of luxury.

I feel that Napoleon did what most "politicians" or "leaders" do in real life. At first, snowball and Napoleon ran Animal Farm together. When Snowball was expelled, Napoleon became the one animal in command. Before Napoleon was in power, he all the other animals abided by the Seven Commandments, without altering them. I don't think Napoleon realized how he would feel when he had total power over the farm. Without any consent of the other animals, Napoleon went ahead and did whatever he wanted, and in the end, he broke all seven of the Commandments, before changing what was engraved in the wall in the barn.

While I was reading the book soon after Snowball was expelled, I thought that Napoleon was acting as a relatively good leader. But as soon as he "got the hang" of being the leader, he started to do what he wanted, which in my opinion, was wrong. Personally, I liked Snowball, and how he ran the farm. I was upset to see him go, and I didn't like how Napoleon expelled him from the farm. When even the littlest damages were done, Napoleon put the blame on Snowball, which I don't think was right. Some of the things had to have been done by the animals on the farm, and Napoleon should have seen this before the day of the executions. But instead, Napoleon just put the blame on Snowball right away, just so he would look like a good leader in the eyes of the animals.

Now that I have finished the book, I have discovered that my suspisions were true; the pigs have turned into humans. Ivan claims they haven't, but I disagree. The pigs have gone against everything that they and old Major set up at the begining. Also, the pigs used the animals, like Boxer, just to get what they wanted. They did not care about their other "comrades," except that they did all the work for them.