Doubt is sweeping the animals. And I love it. They thought the remembered a commandment against killing so Clover asked Benjamin to read the sixth commandment and it read "No animal shall kill any other animals without cause," (pg 98). Unfortunately once they read the amendment again they were all like 'yeah okay, it's totally fine for Napoleon to murder our friends in front of us,' [MASSIVE FACE PALM] IT EVEN SAID EARLIER IN THE PARAGRAPH THAT THE ANIMALS DISTINCTLY REMEMBERED THE COMMANDMENT JUST BEING, "No animal shall kill another animal," WHY ARE THEY SO EASY TO ACCEPT WHAT IS CLEARLY BS??? These amendments to the commandments are just like 1984 and how they would literally change history.
Side note, they keep mentioning Benjamin even when there is no reason to and I need to find out why, they suspense is killing me.
I guess having a doubt to begin with is better than no doubt at all. The animals were also beginning to think that, "there were times when it seemed to the animals that they worked longer hours and fed no better than they had done in Jones' day," despite getting constant statistics about better food inventory. In fact, the animals were beginning to forget what it was like during Jones' time.
I guess having a doubt to begin with is better than no doubt at all. The animals were also beginning to think that, "there were times when it seemed to the animals that they worked longer hours and fed no better than they had done in Jones' day," despite getting constant statistics about better food inventory. In fact, the animals were beginning to forget what it was like during Jones' time.
It frustrates me to no end how simple the animals of the farm are. This is why the pigs were able to take them over. Yes, in the beginning the animals allowed to pigs to take some authority because they trusted them, that would've happened anywhere. That fact is, the animals never really gave a crap when the pigs started clearly favoring the well-being of themselves over the rest of the farm. Like when the pigs started keeping special food for themselves or when they moved into the farmhouse. Why did no one ever say 'hey, why should you guys get this special treatment?' The Seven Animal Commandments were created so something like this would never happen but it did.
All orders were now given by either Squealer or another pig, Napoleon sometimes wasn't seen for weeks at a time. When he did appear, not only was he surrounded by his goons but he was also led by a cockerel, which kind of acted as a bugle to announce his arrival. Napoleon was seen less even by the other pigs. He would occupy a separate room from them in the farmhouse and would take his meals alone from a Crown Derby dinner service. It was even decided that the rifle will be fired on Napoleon's birthday, as well as the two other anniversaries. Wow, isn't he special. He's so special that instead of calling him just Napoleon the animals began called him "our leader, Comrade Napoleon," amongst many other ridiculous titles like 'Father of All Animals,' 'Terror of Mankind,' and 'Protector of the Sheep-fold'. Napoleon even became the reason anything good happened. The drinking water tastes especially good today, PRAISE COMRADE NAPOLEON!! There even wrote a poem about it that was written on the wall of the big barn, opposite of the commandments which were surmounted a giant profile of Napoleon.
Napoleon has some lumber to sell and he isn't sure who to sell it to, Plinkington or Frederick? He flip flops between the two and whichever he currently wasn't going to sell to was on his death list. It was really dramatic and full of rumors, like high school. One of the rumors that began was actually about Snowball and that instead of crying 'Death to Humanity' during the Battle of the Cowshed he was actually shouting 'Long Live Humanity'. It was also said that the wounds on Snowball's back were from Napoleon's teeth, not bullets. Napoleon decided to sell the lumber to Fredrick, even though he swore up and down to the animals that he would never do that. It turns out that Fredrick had used fake money to pay and when Napoleon appealed to Plinkington for help he wrote back a note saying 'serves you right'.
The morning after the discovery of the fake bank notes, the animals were attacked again. This time, the men had too many guns for the animals to withstand so they had to retreat. The animals hid in the barn and watched as the men rushed to the windmill. Some animals feared that the men would destroy the windmill they had just finished and Napoleon told them to have courage. Benjamin know otherwise. He knew that they could blow the windmill to smithereens with that exploding powder. When the men blew it up the animals were so outraged that they rushed the men. A few animals lost their lives and there was an injury on every single animal, even Napoleon. Boxer had lost a shoe and split and hoof. While the animals began to grieve for their fallen comrades the rifle was fired. Boxer asked why the rifle was fired and Squealer, who was nowhere to be seen during the battle, said it was because of their victory. Boxer couldn't see how it was a victory, hadn't they won what was already theirs?
But of course, after the speech given by Napoleon congratulating them on their victory they began to think of this battle as a victory. Napoleon then creates another honor and bestowed it on himself. Glad to see he is humble. Later that night the pigs find a case of whiskey in the attic. Naturally, they drank it all and got ridiculously drunk. The next morning, no pig got up until after 9 and they all thought Napoleon was dying! I literally laughed out loud at this point. He had a hangover, he wasn't dying! I know the animals wouldn't know this but it was still pretty funny. It was later realized that he wasn't dying because he was quickly recovering. Once Napoleon had recovered he decreed the death sentence on anyone who consumed alcohol. Behind my amusement with this situation I didn't realize that this is just another way that the pigs are acting like humans. The animals of the farm used to complain about Mr. Jones drinking all night but now the pigs thought it was okay for them. This is also a violation of a Commandment, a Commandment that was amended (to 'No animal shall drink alcohol in excess'). They even caught Squealer changing the Commandment because he fell off his ladder in the middle of the night, but did anyone realize that's what he was doing? No!
Boxer's split hoof was a long time in healing but he insisting on working through it. Boxer could not bear to see the animals struggle to work on the windmill without him. Clover tried to persuade Boxer to take a break saying, "A horse's lungs do not last forever," but it was to no avail (pg 114). He claimed that his only ambition left was to see the successful completion of the windmill. Boxer was eleven and the retiring age for horses was declared twelve at the beginning of the Rebellion. Boxer's twelfth birthday would be late summer of the following year.
Meanwhile, life for the animals on the farm was rough. It was a cold winter and food shortages were more extreme than ever. Food rations were constantly reduced even though Squealer insisted on calling them "readjustments." The animals were constantly reminded that conditions now were better than they were during Jones' time but honestly, the animals had begun to forget what life was like when Jones was still in control. There were definitely more mouths to feed now, all four sows had litters at the same time producing 31 young pigs at once. Napoleon was the only boar so he was obviously the father of all newborns (ew). It was decided that a schoolhouse would be built in the garden of the farmhouse so the young pigs could get educated. Napoleon currently taught them in the kitchen. The young pigs were forbidden to play with any other animals and if any animal had to pass a pig the animal had to stand aside while the pig passed. Kind of like how if a white person was passing a black person, the black person had to stand aside. Building the schoolhouse puts a burden on the farm because now they have to sell more crops and eggs in order to pay for the supplies to build it. Another thing that they have to pay for is sugar lumps for Napoleon. Yup, sugar lumps. The same kind of sugar lumps that Mollie got in trouble for eating. Napoleon also forbids the other pigs from eating the sugar because it will make them fat. Oh, the irony.
The only thing that kept the animals going is probably the abundance of speeches, songs, and demonstrations. Napoleon decided that there would be Spontaneous Demonstrations. The object of these demonstrations was to celebrate the struggles and triumphs of Animal Farm. At appointed times (doesn't appointed mean the opposite of spontaneous?), the animals would leave their work and march around the farm in military formation with the pigs leading and the poultry bringing up the end. The demonstration consisted of praising Napoleon in many ways. There was a banner that read "Long Live Comrade Napoleon!", a poem written in honor of Napoleon, and speeches given by Squealer.
In April of that year the farm was declared a Republic and they would vote for a President. Finally, a chance to rid of Napoleon! Nope. As elections typically go, the choices for President are slanted. In this case, Napoleon was the only candidate. As if Orwell couldn't be more obvious about his hints of this book's true nature.
After Boxer's hoof had healed, he worked harder than ever. He looked weak. You could visibly tell he was getting old, his muscles were not what they used to be. The small rations added to his decline. One day, while working in the farm alone, Boxer fell. He had a collapsed lung. After laying there awhile, Boxer managed to limp back to the barn. When Napoleon found out he said he was saddened to hear about the accident of their most loyal worker and he would make arrangements for him to be brought to the hospital. The animals were a little uneasy about Boxer leaving the farm but Squealer assured them that the veterinary surgeon was excellent. It was the middle of the day when the van came to take Boxer. The animals were out on he field but they found out and rushed to say good bye. They were all running after the van yelling goodbye when Benjamin burst out with "Fools! DO you not see what is written on the side of that van? . . . 'Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughter and Glue Boiler, Willingdon. Dealer in Hides and Bone-Meal. Kennels Supplied," (pg 123). |
THEY'RE GOING TO KILL BOXER!!!!!
So I guess I found out why Benjamin was mentioned so much. He was the only animal who could read fluently. He knew about the pigs' crap the entire time. | The animals try to chase after the van an alert Boxer. Clover forced her way to the front and managed to yell to him, "Boxer! Get out! Get out quickly! They're taking you to your death!" (pg 124). The van was beginning to speed up. Boxer was kicking against the inside of the van trying to get out but because his muscles weren't what they used to be he wasn't able to break free. Some animals raced ahead to try to convince the horses pulling the van to stop, how could they do that to their own brethren? Three days later it was announced that he had died in the hospital at Willingdon in spite of receiving every possible form of medical attention. Squealer said he had been with Boxer during his last hours. He said that Boxer's last words was a message to the arm, he wanted them to go,"'Forward in the name of the Rebellion. Long live Animal Farm! Long live Comrade Napoleon! Napoleon is always right!" (pg 125). Squealer continued to say that the rumor that Boxer was taken by a horse slaughterer was completely false, surely Comrade Napoleon wouldn't do that. That Sunday Napoleon actually made an appearance and spoke in honor of Boxer. He said, regrettably, that their comrade's body could not be returned to be buried so instead they'll have a wreath. Yeah, they couldn't get his body back because he was turned into glue! They had a feast in honor of Napoleon and somehow the pigs has acquired enough money to buy more whiskey. It was probably money from the glue Boxer made. |
Now it's many years later and a lot of the animals who would be able to remember the Rebellion are dead. Jones himself was even dead. Clover is an old mare now, two years past retirement age. However, she isn't retired. No animal is. All of the pigs are now ridiculously fat. THere were many new animals now, but they were all stupid. Good workers, but stupid. None of them were able to learn the alphabet past the letter 'B'. The windmill is completed but isn't used for the intended purpose, instead of generating electricity for the farm it mills corn. "Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without actually making the animals themselves any richer- except for the pigs and dogs," (pg 129). Since most animals did not remember life before the Rebellion, they had nothing to compare their current lives to except Squealer's figures. It was a consolation to the animals that even if times were hard, they were hard because of them. Not because of tyrannical humans. They worked for themselves, no animal walked on two legs and no animal called another 'Master'. It seemed like all animals were equal. One day, Squealer took the sheep out to a distant field and spent some time with them. While the sheep were out on the field Clover alerted the rest of the animals. They witnessed pigs walking upright on their hind legs. When the sheep came back instead of chanting "four legs good, two legs bad" they were chanting, "four legs good, two legs better," (pg 133). Ridiculous. Upon hearing the new chant Clover's eyes looked dimmer than ever. Clover brought Benjamin over the to barn wall and asked him to read her the commandments because her sight was failing. Benjaminagreesd to break his rule of never saying out loud crap like that and read what was on the wall. INstead of the Seven Commandments there was a single Commandment:
"ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL
BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS," (pg 133)
BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS," (pg 133)
The pigs continued to walk around on two legs. They also got wireless sets and a telephone for the farmhouse. Napoleon was even seen with a cigar while wearing Mr. Jones' clothes.
About a week later a group of the local farmers came up to the farm and took a tour. Later that night, the animals eavesdropped on the party inside the farmhouse. Mr. Plinkington got up to give a toast. He declared that he was glad that the pigs and farmers were now on good terms. He was actually kind of amazed at operations here. The Animals here worked longer and harder than any animal on any other farm and received lower rations and didn't complain. He said, "If you have your lower animals to contend with, we have our lower classes!" (pg 136). This sent the table in an uproar. Napoleon then announced that the silly tradition among the animals of calling each other 'Comrade' would end. He also said that the dumb tradition of marching past a boar's skull on Sundays would end as well. Also, the flag would just be plain green from here on out. No hoof or horn. From now on, the farm would be referred to as it's original name, Manor Farm. Napoleon is forgetting about the roots of Animalism. All three of these things have been around since the very beginning. The farm is definitely now under the control of Dictator Napoleon.
Clover couldn't figure out what seemed different about the pigs. After a fight broke out where pigs were mixed with humans she realized what it was, she could no longer tell the difference between a pig and a human.
About a week later a group of the local farmers came up to the farm and took a tour. Later that night, the animals eavesdropped on the party inside the farmhouse. Mr. Plinkington got up to give a toast. He declared that he was glad that the pigs and farmers were now on good terms. He was actually kind of amazed at operations here. The Animals here worked longer and harder than any animal on any other farm and received lower rations and didn't complain. He said, "If you have your lower animals to contend with, we have our lower classes!" (pg 136). This sent the table in an uproar. Napoleon then announced that the silly tradition among the animals of calling each other 'Comrade' would end. He also said that the dumb tradition of marching past a boar's skull on Sundays would end as well. Also, the flag would just be plain green from here on out. No hoof or horn. From now on, the farm would be referred to as it's original name, Manor Farm. Napoleon is forgetting about the roots of Animalism. All three of these things have been around since the very beginning. The farm is definitely now under the control of Dictator Napoleon.
Clover couldn't figure out what seemed different about the pigs. After a fight broke out where pigs were mixed with humans she realized what it was, she could no longer tell the difference between a pig and a human.
I am very frustrated. I am upset they never revolted against the pigs. I am upset of how submissive the animals are. I am upset about how stupid they are. I am upset about how greedy the pigs and humans are. I am upset.
The sad thing is, this book wouldn't have a different plot if the characters were humans instead of animals. It speaks a lot to human nature. We like to keep our head in the sand and stay out of business that seems too complicated for us to comprehend.
Moral of the story, be aware. Pay attention to your country's politics. Remember your rights and use them. Don't be afraid to call someone out on their shit.
The sad thing is, this book wouldn't have a different plot if the characters were humans instead of animals. It speaks a lot to human nature. We like to keep our head in the sand and stay out of business that seems too complicated for us to comprehend.
Moral of the story, be aware. Pay attention to your country's politics. Remember your rights and use them. Don't be afraid to call someone out on their shit.