Animal Farm

CM
Comprehensive English 10 Honors
8/10/2013

Interpretive Questions
1.
In the human world, the people of Russia felt that they weren't being treated fairly. Their leader, Czar Nicholas, was a poor one who corrupted their economy and caused a shortage in population by initiating the war with Japan. The lack of people caused issues in factories and farms which then resulted in a shortage of food and material. The people rioted against the poor conditions and low pay but Czar Nicholas did not agree and came back at them with violence. This is what caused the Russian Revolution.
In Animal Farm, the animals of Manor Farm felt that their farmer, Mr. Jones, was treating the animals of the farm poorly by letting them go hungry for days, lashing out at them, making them work long hours, and not providing warmth in the cold weather. The animals came together in the barn and came to the conclusion that they weren't going to stand for these conditions, causing their revolution.
2.
The Seven Commandments of Animal Farm were made to form the basic structure or the new government. As the pigs became more and more hypocritical, they added onto the original rules. In example, when the pigs execute the animals who had done wrong, the rule “No animal shall kill any other animal” had “Without cause” added onto the end. This means that their original belief was being altered by the higher government to their liking. Their society was evolving into something much worse than what times were like before.

3. Snowball who was one of the pigs, made the Seven Commandments, was one of the pigs who made speeches , and drew up the plans for the windmill. Napoleon saw Snowball as a threat and called his dogs on him while presenting his idea for the windmill. After Snowball was gone, Napoleon used him as an excuse for everything bad that happened, whether it be caused by nature or by the remaining pigs. He used Snowball as a way to manipulate the other animals.
4.
When the animals’ lives become more and more difficult due to the pigs decisions and manipulation, the pigs tell them that it could be worse, they tell them that they could still be living under Jones’s care still and the animals believe it. A majority of the animals are very dull and don't quite understand things on their own.
5.
The song “Beasts of England” was actually banned, not because the rebellion was over, but because the pigs were making sure the other animals did not realise what they were doing and try to rebel against them.
6.
Comrades, do you not realise that Boxer, our most sedulous worker, would never get to continue working in the state he is. Surely you can see that he would be miserable seeing the rest of us continue laboring away while he remains retired. Therefore, we did Boxer a favor by setting him to rest. He actually told me before he left that he felt it was his time to go. So do not fret, my fellow animals and be happy knowing that old Boxer passed knowing he had done his part to lead us to our freedom from the humans.
Applied Level Questions
1.
In the story “Animal Farm”, George Orwell shows that power can go to ones head, causing them to consider themselves better and use the ones lower than them to advance in what they covet. He show that with power, you can become the thing you once despised most.
2.
Boxer is a very loyal and hardworking character who worked harder when things were looking bad. Boxer represents the factory workers of Russia. The Sheep were blindly loyal to the pigs’ ideals and don’t think for themselves. The sheep represent the people of Russia who were easily manipulated and were too dull or simply didn't care about what the leaders were really up to. Mollie, the white horse, craves the pampered life and didn't handle the fact that she would have to work, often making stories up to skip out on work. Mollie represents the majority of Russians who fled a few years after the Russian revolution.
3.
Napoleon uses Squealer to spread half truths among the population to make them believe that everything that the pigs is for the good of Animal Farm when its only the pigs who are benefiting. He gives excuses for all the hypocrisy that comes from the pigs with speeches where he twists the truth. Squealer also uses the sheep for his propaganda by having them chant “Four legs good. Two legs bad/better”.
4.
The role of education in this book is it gives people power, the pigs were the smartest of the farm, the brains of the group, it made them the leaders. Benjamin the donkey was as smart as the pigs, if not smarter but he only used his knowledge when he really cared or needed to. Benjamin was smart enough to realize what the pigs were up to but only rebelled when they did wrong to his best friend, Boxer. Ignorance on the other hand, gave the educated more power. The stupid sheep were used by the pigs to stop the other animals from getting onto the pigs’ plan.

Constructed Response The corrupt nature of power: In Animal Farm, Orwell shows how both the leaders and the followers of a society can act in ways that destroy freedom and equality. Corruption through power reaches its zenith when Napoleon becomes a tyrant more oppressive than Mr. Jones. Two examples of this theme can be shown.
The pigs gradual abandonment from the idea of all animals are equal would be the first example. In the book, they begin by taking more rations than the other animals and justify it with the idea that they were the brains of the group and needed more energy. Throughout the story, the original seven commandments are altered by the pigs for their own selfish purposes. The pigs continuously become more like the humans, the thing that the once despised.
Example two comes from the followers involvement of the downward spiral that led to the twisted version of their once seemingly perfect plan. The animals could see what was happening but they chose not to speak up because they were scared. They were scared that everything would go back to the way it was, back to the time of Mr. Jones. The pigs had them convinced that the way they were living was much better than what it was before. Their ignorance and fear gave their leaders, the pigs, more and more power to do what they like without having an opposing voice.
In conclusion, it wasn't just the evil side that caused the problems on Animal Farm, equal blame can be put onto the animals who chose not to stand up against what they knew was wrong and not what they had initially rebelled for.

Dialectical Journal

Character
Quote
What it reveals about them
Napoleon
Pre-eminent among the pigs were two young boars named Snowball and Napoleon, whom Mr. Jones was breeding up for sale. Napoleon was a large, rather fierce-looking
Berkshire boar, the only Berkshire on the farm, not much of a talker, but with a reputation for getting his own way-”
This reveals that even before the revolutions, Napoleon was already somewhat feared and that he was known for getting what he wanted.
Snowball
After much thought Snowball declared that the Seven Commandments could in effect be reduced to a single maxim, namely: "Four legs good, two legs bad." This, he said, contained the essential principle of Animalism. Whoever had thoroughly grasped it would be safe from human influences.
For snowball this shows where his priorities are. Instead of “All animals are equal” being the maxim, he chose “Four legs good, two legs bad”. He favored to target the enemy.
Mollie
As winter drew on, Mollie became more and more troublesome. She was late for work every morning and excused herself by saying that she had overslept, and she complained of mysterious pains, although her appetite was excellent. On every kind of pretext she would run away from work and go to the drinking pool, where she would stand foolishly gazing at her own reflection in the water.
This shows that Mollie is a selfish sort of animal who rathers the spoiled life instead of the good feeling of having freedom.
Boxer
"I do not understand it. I would not have believed that such things could happen on our farm. It must be due to some fault in ourselves. The solution, as I see it, is to work harder. From now onwards I shall get up a full hour earlier in the mornings."

This reveals about boxer that he more often than not thinks that as long as he works hard, that everything will be better.
Clover
As Clover looked down the hillside her eyes filled with tears. If she could have spoken her thoughts, it would have been to say that this was not what they had aimed at when they had set themselves years ago to work for the overthrow of the human race. These scenes of terror and slaughter were not what they had looked forward to on that night when old Major first stirred them to rebellion. If she herself had had any picture of the future, it had been of a society of animals set free from hunger and the whip, all equal, each working according to his capacity, the strong protecting the weak, as she had protected the lost brood of ducklings with her foreleg on the night of
Major's speech. Instead--she did not know why--they had come to a time when no one dared speak his mind, when fierce, growling dogs roamed everywhere, and when you had to watch your comrades torn to pieces after confessing to shocking crimes. There was no thought of rebellion or disobedience in her mind. She knew that, even as things were, they were far better off than they had been in the days of Jones, and that before all else it was needful to prevent the return of the human beings.
Whatever happened she would remain faithful, work hard, carry out the orders that were given to her, and accept the leadership of Napoleon. But still, it was not for this that she and all the other animals had hoped and toiled. It was not for this that they had built the windmill and faced the bullets of Jones's gun. Such were her thoughts, though she lacked the words to express them.
This quote reveals that clover knew that what was happening on the farm is not what she fought for. Even though she knew about how everything wasn't going how it was promised, she continued to work for Animal Farm and take orders from the pigs. Clover didn’t know how to voice what she believed in, she couldn't find the words.
Squealer
Now when Squealer described the scene so graphically, it seemed to the animals that they did remember it. At any rate, they remembered that at the critical moment of the battle Snowball had turned to flee. But Boxer was still a little uneasy.
It is revealed that Squealer had a special talent for manipulating the small minds of the other animals and used it for the pigs’ benefit.