Discussion Questions for Chapter 4
1. What are the differences between the characters of Frederick and Pilkington and between the farms they run?
The farms of Frederick and Pilkington reflect their characters.
Frederick is a "tough, shrewd man" (shrewd means very careful with your money). He is always involved in lawsuits and has "a name for driving hard bargains" meaning he wants to gain the most personally. Since he is a careful and particular man, his farm is small and well-kept.
Compared to Frederick, Pilkington is "easy-going gentleman", who goes fishing and hunting. Since he is easy-going, his farm is "large, neglected, old-fashioned, and much overgrown by woodland, with all its pastures worn out and its hedges in a disgraceful condition."
2. How does Orwell indicate that Frederick and Pilkington are "thoroughly frightened" by the events on Animal Farm?
They were both anxious to prevent their own animals from learning too much about the Rebellion in case they would be motivated to do the same. At first the 2 farmers pretended to laugh at the idea of animals managing their own farm. They spread rumours that the animals at Animal Farm were fighting against each other and were starving to death, so that their own farm animals would not believe in rebellion. However, when time passed and they realised that the animals were coping fine, they "changed their tune" and began to talk about the wickedness on Animal Farm - e.g. that they were cannibalistic and they tortured one another. They warned that "this was what came of rebelling against the laws of nature" (meaning the laws of nature are that humans are superior to animals and should hence, rule over them). The 2 farmers did all this because they were frightened that their farm animals would rebel against them and they wanted to rpevent such a thing from happening.
3. What was Napoleon doing during the Battle of the Cowshed?
Napoleon was noticeable only by his absence. There is no mention of Napoleon during this Battle.
4. What do you think Orwell was satirising (making fun of) when he described how the animals celebrated their victory?
He was making fun of the way in which Russians (and also other countries) excessively glorify them and present their war heroes with medals.
5. Describe the different reactions of Boxer and Snowball to the 'death' of the stable boy. What does it tell readers about their characters?
Boxer feels very remorseful and sad because even though he is supportive about the Rebellion, he does not want to take any human life in the process. This shows that Boxer is emotional and soft-hearted and cares about other living tings. Snowball, on the other hand, tells Boxer not to be emotional - "No sentimentality, comrade!" (pg 45). This shows that Snowball is very task-oriented (meaning he is very focused on the task at hand, rather than on other issues), cold-hearted and not-sentimental. As long as his task is achieved, he does not bother about who or what has to be sacrificed.
6. Explain how Snowball's plan of campaign led to the invader's defeat. List out exactly the steps Snowball takes.
Snowball was in charge of "defensive operations". He gave orders to the various animals and they carried them out quickly because they were all prepared for the rebellion this time around.
Snowball's first line of attack was the pigeons who would shit on the men, and the geese who would peck at the men's legs.
His second line of attack consisted of Muriel, Benjamin, all the sheep, and himself, who would prod and butt the men from all directions.
He then got the animals to retreat as a trap for the men - he wanted the men to follow the animals into the yard, which they did.
His third line of attack was in the yard, in which the three horses, the three cows, and the rest of the pigs who were in ambush (hiding) all would dash towards the men and attack them.
Snowball himself dashes straight for Jones and gets wounded.
This defence of the animals proves too strong for the men to penetrate, so they all run away.
The farms of Frederick and Pilkington reflect their characters.
Frederick is a "tough, shrewd man" (shrewd means very careful with your money). He is always involved in lawsuits and has "a name for driving hard bargains" meaning he wants to gain the most personally. Since he is a careful and particular man, his farm is small and well-kept.
Compared to Frederick, Pilkington is "easy-going gentleman", who goes fishing and hunting. Since he is easy-going, his farm is "large, neglected, old-fashioned, and much overgrown by woodland, with all its pastures worn out and its hedges in a disgraceful condition."
2. How does Orwell indicate that Frederick and Pilkington are "thoroughly frightened" by the events on Animal Farm?
They were both anxious to prevent their own animals from learning too much about the Rebellion in case they would be motivated to do the same. At first the 2 farmers pretended to laugh at the idea of animals managing their own farm. They spread rumours that the animals at Animal Farm were fighting against each other and were starving to death, so that their own farm animals would not believe in rebellion. However, when time passed and they realised that the animals were coping fine, they "changed their tune" and began to talk about the wickedness on Animal Farm - e.g. that they were cannibalistic and they tortured one another. They warned that "this was what came of rebelling against the laws of nature" (meaning the laws of nature are that humans are superior to animals and should hence, rule over them). The 2 farmers did all this because they were frightened that their farm animals would rebel against them and they wanted to rpevent such a thing from happening.
3. What was Napoleon doing during the Battle of the Cowshed?
Napoleon was noticeable only by his absence. There is no mention of Napoleon during this Battle.
4. What do you think Orwell was satirising (making fun of) when he described how the animals celebrated their victory?
He was making fun of the way in which Russians (and also other countries) excessively glorify them and present their war heroes with medals.
5. Describe the different reactions of Boxer and Snowball to the 'death' of the stable boy. What does it tell readers about their characters?
Boxer feels very remorseful and sad because even though he is supportive about the Rebellion, he does not want to take any human life in the process. This shows that Boxer is emotional and soft-hearted and cares about other living tings. Snowball, on the other hand, tells Boxer not to be emotional - "No sentimentality, comrade!" (pg 45). This shows that Snowball is very task-oriented (meaning he is very focused on the task at hand, rather than on other issues), cold-hearted and not-sentimental. As long as his task is achieved, he does not bother about who or what has to be sacrificed.
6. Explain how Snowball's plan of campaign led to the invader's defeat. List out exactly the steps Snowball takes.
Snowball was in charge of "defensive operations". He gave orders to the various animals and they carried them out quickly because they were all prepared for the rebellion this time around.
Snowball's first line of attack was the pigeons who would shit on the men, and the geese who would peck at the men's legs.
His second line of attack consisted of Muriel, Benjamin, all the sheep, and himself, who would prod and butt the men from all directions.
He then got the animals to retreat as a trap for the men - he wanted the men to follow the animals into the yard, which they did.
His third line of attack was in the yard, in which the three horses, the three cows, and the rest of the pigs who were in ambush (hiding) all would dash towards the men and attack them.
Snowball himself dashes straight for Jones and gets wounded.
This defence of the animals proves too strong for the men to penetrate, so they all run away.
posted by | 6:54 PM
4 Comments:
for the second question, can we say that the division of labour was according to each animal's abilities and each animal did what it could do best (eg. the pigs supervised, the horses did physical work and the birds pecked at leftovers)
for question 3:
does this mean that benjamin already knew that the ending will be as harsh ad jone's times, or is he a saddist, or was he so sad because of jone's toture that he gave up hopes of a better life?
In answer to the question posted at 7.33pm, yes you may find that the division of labour was fair because each animal did what it could do best. However, why do the pigs have to have a monopoly on the milk and apples, especially when there are other animals that might be more tired doing more manual work than them? The division of labour may be fair but the unequal distribution of food is unfair.
Benjamin is a cynic, meaning someone whose outlook on life is generally bitter and negative (not hopeful). Since he has a cynical attitude, he does not think that the lives of the animals would change after the Rebellion. I feel that it is his cynical attitude that causes him to have a lack of hope in a better live after the Rebellion, not so much because he could predict the future.
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