Animal Farm Essay Questions
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1. Discuss Boxer. What role does he play on the farm?
2. What do you think is Orwell’s purpose in writing the novel, Animal Farm? Looking at the events of the novel, what do you think is his view of Communism?
3. Discuss the use of language and its effects in the novel Animal Farm.
4. Compare the style of leadership between Snowball and Napoleon.
5. Some of the minor characters in the novel include Mollie, Moses and Benjamin. Explain the role of any two of these stated characters. What part do they play in the novel?
6. What are the similarities and/or differences between Old Major’s speech and what is really going on in the farm?
7. Discuss the theme of propaganda. How is it shown in the book?
8. How does Orwell put across his message in Animal Farm?
9. Deception is a major theme in animal farm. Discuss with reference to specific events/incidents in the novel.
10. Although the pigs are sly, manipulative and deceptive, they have some positive qualities as well. With reference to specific actions and/or events, explain what some of these qualities are.
1. Discuss Boxer. What role does he play on the farm?
2. What do you think is Orwell’s purpose in writing the novel, Animal Farm? Looking at the events of the novel, what do you think is his view of Communism?
3. Discuss the use of language and its effects in the novel Animal Farm.
4. Compare the style of leadership between Snowball and Napoleon.
5. Some of the minor characters in the novel include Mollie, Moses and Benjamin. Explain the role of any two of these stated characters. What part do they play in the novel?
6. What are the similarities and/or differences between Old Major’s speech and what is really going on in the farm?
7. Discuss the theme of propaganda. How is it shown in the book?
8. How does Orwell put across his message in Animal Farm?
9. Deception is a major theme in animal farm. Discuss with reference to specific events/incidents in the novel.
10. Although the pigs are sly, manipulative and deceptive, they have some positive qualities as well. With reference to specific actions and/or events, explain what some of these qualities are.
posted by | 11:16 AM
33 Comments:
Question 2
By writing Animal Farm, Orwell wants to:
-make fun of Stalin and Trotsky
-tell us what they did
-poke fun at how people reacted
-tell us what happened between Stalin and Trotsky in real life
narrate how Stalin and Trotsky treated the people
-show how he felt about Stalin and Trotsky
-show innocence and undying loyalty of the people towards the leaders
-educating us, teaching us NOT to treat others the way Stalin (Napoleon) treated his people (the animals)
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Orwell feels that Communism:
-will not be an effective way of ruling a state/country,
-as it involves too much bloodshed. (Battle of the Cowshed/Windmill)
-is an unfair treatment of the people
-is so powerful that it controls its people so much that it suppresses all discussion of opposing views
-is a cruel way of backstabbing others just to rise the ranks (Manipulation)
-involves too much brutality and tyranny that is well-hidden by Stalin's Communist regime.
Tin Wei and Jocelyn Kow 2D
1. Discuss Boxer. What role does he play on the farm?
Boxer represents the lower working class people in the Russian Revolution in the Animal farm. He always listen to what Napoleon says and will always tell himself that he will work harder and that Napoleon is always right. He is a very naïve animal and doesn’t know how to defrenciate between the good and the bad, example: between Snowball and Napoleon. He also does not think by himself and is also very easily brainwashed.He is very useful when he is young and strong because he could work so much that it is the total strength and power of 3 horses put together. Unfortunately, he had been traded away by the pigs for more whisky when he became older.
Boxer is important as if he does not appear on farm; nothing would not work out well as he provides the manual work which is hard labour as it is the only thing that he is good at. Good leadership is of no use, because even after you have planned the things that you want to implement or carry out, you will also need others or your followers to carry out the plans. For example, the building of the windmill. He was the one who did most of the work, by bringing the stones up a hill and then rolling it down a higher ground so that the gravity pull would help to break the stones into smaller pieces. (Newton’s law)
Bacically Boxer is a hard working animal that has played a vital role the farm as he is one of the most hardworking animals there and always go an extra mile to help the animals and the farm in its development.
qn10)
The pigs very determined. Before Jones’ expulsion, they held secret meetings in the barn to spread Animalism. This shows that they are willing to take risks in order to achieve their goal and their wants. And, the sentence ‘this had long been expected, and all preparations had been made’ of Chapter 4 shows that they are already well prepared much earlier before the fight with Jones and the farmers And, so as to unite the animals, the pigs had many speeches and planned events like the Spontaneous Demonstration. This shows that they took their time and much effort to plan and prepare. Besides that, even when the windmill had fallen twice, they still decided the continuation of building the windmill. This can reflect their determination.
The pigs are also well planned. This is shown when in order to standardize the rules so that everything will be more organized, they held meetings, created a flag for ‘Animal Farm’ and put forward resolutions for the animals to follow. Also, to reduce the chances of disagreement among the animals about the inequality of workload, the pigs created Animal Committees, so that everyone would be involved in some way or another. This shows that they have already thought about the solutions to solve some problems faced by the animals. The proposal on building the windmill also shows that they already had plans for the future because, if they have a windmill, the animals will have many advantages such as saved labour. This can reflect that the pigs are well prepared.
The pids are cooperstive. this could be proven during the battle of the cowshed, as the pigs played a part in the battle and followed Snowball's instruction. Even though there were two leaders in the pigs, napolean and snowball, the pigs are still coopersted and stand together to fight the humans. snowball was the one that planned out the attacks and defences. therefore all the animalstake commands from him and succeeded in drivig the humans out of their farm.
Another point is, the pigs are also committed to their duties. As unintellegent animals are working hard at the field, the brainworkers (the pig) are doing a lot of management and organisation to keep the farm running.For example, the pigs planned the rationing of food to the animals in order to avoid any conflicts that will arise because of unequal distrubution of food. the pigs also planned for the farm since the animals recieve orders during the sunday meeting. The animals recieve orders from the pigs about the division of labour inthe farm, which shows that the pigs did work on giving the orders.
para 3- cooperative*
pigs*
Qtn.5 Some minor characters in the novel include Mollie, Moses and Benjamin. Explain the role of any two of these stated characters. What part do they play in the novel?
Moses brainwash animals and 'comfort' them that even if they are presently facing harsh and tough lives, they will still eventually be rewarded in Sugarcandy Mountain. The main purpose of this was to motivate the animals to work harder.
Benjamin contributed to the battle of the cowshed. For example "he prodded and butted the men from everyside, turned round and lashed at them with his small hoofs". Benjamin took the risk of injuring himself unlike some other animals like Mollie who hides herself when the battle started.
Benjamin helped to build the windmill. He utilised the force of gravity. For example "Benjamin yoked themselves into an old governess-cart and did their share".
He noticed and found out that the two men were packing blasting powder into the hole. He was wise enough to notify the other animals who were not as smart to understand what was going on. Benjamin gave wise advices to other animals. For example "urder Boxer to work less hard"
Benjamin was the one who found out that Boxer was sent away on the van to the knackers and notified other animals. He was smarter to understand what was going on.
CHERLY TAN, ONG YU XIN, TAN CHENG YEE. TEO JIA YAN OF SEC 2C
Boxer character:
Boxer had a very determine character in this novel. He had also shown his compassion toward the farm. From the building of the windmill, had shown that he was very determine to build the windmill as he had never rest for any moment. He will always follow his slogan” I will work harder”. This also shows that he is very hardworking in every work he had given. He woke up half an hour earlier than anyone else to build the windmill He was also very loyal and devoted toward his comrade, which is Napoleon. He will always follow what Napoleon said and follow his order. He had also shown concern to the other animals. Just like when the execution took place, he had felt very sorry and bad for the animals that were being executed as he thought no animals should kill other animals. He is soft-hearted as at the Battle Of The Cowshed,he was being softhearted to the "Death"of the stableboy. He is very stubborn as he just won't listen when Clover and Benjamin urged him to work less hard when he was injured. He is very gullible as he did not know that he was being taken to the Knacker's to be slaughtered.
Roles:
He had played many roles in the farm. He had done a lot work compare to the other animals. He had the greatest strength among all the others animals. Without his great strength, a lot work will be undone. The greatest role he had played was at the building of the windmill. He had break all the rocks into smaller pieces in order to build the windmill.
Done by Sumathi,Dharshanaa and Maya
Q1)Boxer is a very hardworking horse.It was also said that Boxer was 'as strong as any two ordinary horses' put together.He had also been a hardworker in Jones times,but now it seemed more like three horses than one.Boxer is also a very kind-hearted and emotional horse.He even said "he is dead" in a very sorrowful way "I had no intentions of doing that".He is also a very strong horse.Hia strength seemed to be equal to that of all the rest of the animals on the farm.He is very loyal as he always says "i will work harder" and "Napolean is always right" which were his mottos.Boxer is also a very high-spirited horse as he never loses heart in anything that he did.
Boxer is always highly dedicated to any task given to him like when building the windmill.He would even come out and night and work for an hour or two on his own by the light from the harvest moon.This shows how hardworking Boxer is.
Examples of propaganda are :
(pg75)
"I do not believe that," he said. "Snowball fought bravely at the Battle
of the Cowshed. I saw him myself. Did we not give him 'Animal Hero, first
Class,' immediately afterwards?"
"That was our mistake, comrade. For we know now--it is all written down in
the secret documents that we have found--that in reality he was trying to
lure us to our doom."
(chapter 4)
By the late summer the news of what had happened on Animal Farm had spread
across half the county. Every day Snowball and Napoleon sent out flights
of pigeons whose instructions were to mingle with the animals on
neighbouring farms, tell them the story of the Rebellion, and teach them
the tune of 'Beasts of England'
(pg57)
That evening Squealer explained privately to the other animals that
Napoleon had never in reality been opposed to the windmill. On the
contrary, it was he who had advocated it in the beginning, and the plan
which Snowball had drawn on the floor of the incubator shed had actually
been stolen from among Napoleon's papers. The windmill was, in fact,
Napoleon's own creation.
commandments :
-no animals must ever sleep in bed -> no animals must ever sleep in bed WITH SHEETS
- " drink alcohol -> " drink alcohol to EXCESS
- "four legs good, two legs bad" -> "four legs good, two legs better! "
(chapter 7)
Napoleon was well aware of the bad results that might follow
if the real facts of the food situation were known, and he decided to make
use of Mr. Whymper to spread a contrary impression. .. ..
... a few selected animals, mostly sheep, were instructed to remark
casually in his hearing that rations had been increased. In addition,
Napoleon ordered the almost empty bins in the store-shed to be filled
nearly to the brim with sand, which was then covered up with what remained
of the grain and meal. On some suitable pretext Whymper was led through
the store-shed and allowed to catch a glimpse of the bins. He was
deceived, and continued to report to the outside world that there was no
food shortage on Animal Farm.
(chapter 8)
On Sunday mornings Squealer, holding down a long
strip of paper with his trotter, would read out to them lists of figures
proving that the production of every class of foodstuff had increased by
two hundred per cent, three hundred per cent, or five hundred per cent,
as the case might be. The animals saw no reason to disbelieve him,
especially as they could no longer remember very clearly what conditions
had been like before the Rebellion. All the same, there were days when
they felt that they would sooner have had less figures and more food.
( when they actually had less food)
(others )
-at critical moments , the sheep will start bleating "four legs good, two legs bad"
Examples of propaganda are :
(pg75)
"I do not believe that," he said. "Snowball fought bravely at the Battle
of the Cowshed. I saw him myself. Did we not give him 'Animal Hero, first
Class,' immediately afterwards?"
"That was our mistake, comrade. For we know now--it is all written down in
the secret documents that we have found--that in reality he was trying to
lure us to our doom."
(chapter 4)
By the late summer the news of what had happened on Animal Farm had spread
across half the county. Every day Snowball and Napoleon sent out flights
of pigeons whose instructions were to mingle with the animals on
neighbouring farms, tell them the story of the Rebellion, and teach them
the tune of 'Beasts of England'
(pg57)
That evening Squealer explained privately to the other animals that
Napoleon had never in reality been opposed to the windmill. On the
contrary, it was he who had advocated it in the beginning, and the plan
which Snowball had drawn on the floor of the incubator shed had actually
been stolen from among Napoleon's papers. The windmill was, in fact,
Napoleon's own creation.
commandments :
-no animals must ever sleep in bed -> no animals must ever sleep in bed WITH SHEETS
- " drink alcohol -> " drink alcohol to EXCESS
- "four legs good, two legs bad" -> "four legs good, two legs better! "
(chapter 7)
Napoleon was well aware of the bad results that might follow
if the real facts of the food situation were known, and he decided to make
use of Mr. Whymper to spread a contrary impression. .. ..
... a few selected animals, mostly sheep, were instructed to remark
casually in his hearing that rations had been increased. In addition,
Napoleon ordered the almost empty bins in the store-shed to be filled
nearly to the brim with sand, which was then covered up with what remained
of the grain and meal. On some suitable pretext Whymper was led through
the store-shed and allowed to catch a glimpse of the bins. He was
deceived, and continued to report to the outside world that there was no
food shortage on Animal Farm.
(chapter 8)
On Sunday mornings Squealer, holding down a long
strip of paper with his trotter, would read out to them lists of figures
proving that the production of every class of foodstuff had increased by
two hundred per cent, three hundred per cent, or five hundred per cent,
as the case might be. The animals saw no reason to disbelieve him,
especially as they could no longer remember very clearly what conditions
had been like before the Rebellion. All the same, there were days when
they felt that they would sooner have had less figures and more food.
( when they actually had less food)
(others )
-at critical moments , the sheep will start bleating "four legs good, two legs bad"
Qtn.9 Deception is a major theme in animal farm. Discuss with reference to specific events/incidents in the novel.
The pigs make use of Squealer to distort the truth about what is happenind to the animals. The animals believe that they have more food, lead better lives than during Jones' time and desperately cling onto the lie that they are their own masters. This is the part of the pigs' deception, to make the animals think that they're free, when in reality, the animals are slaves to the pigs.
Squealer routinely beguiles the animals to accept the priviledges enjoyed by the pigs and dogs.He assures them that the pigs work very hard and that their job is far too complicated for the animals to understand. He also adds that the pigs are the masterminds and if they failed in their duties, Jones would surely come back.An example of this is "minutes" and "memoranda" which must be written down and then burnt, for "the welfare of the farm" which is totally untrue.
As the animals are too gullible to understand, they accept the pigs' behaviour without any complains. The Seven Commandments are constantly changed to conform with the behaviour of the pigs, and thus to justify it.
The animals are deceived to the extent that they cannot remember how life was like before under Jones' rule.
The ending of the story describes how the pigs have finally come out into the open with their cruelty and openly proclaimed themselves as masters.This is the end of deception as the animals are too scared and cowed to do anything at this point of thim.
History has taken one full circle.
Question 4
Compare the style of leadership between Snowball and Napoleon.
Snowball
Responsible
- Snowball was a responsible leader because he took charge of the construction of the windmill. He had even planned on how to build it, unlike Napoleon, who did not agree with the idea and even pissed on the plans.
- Snowball was also responsible for the defense of the Battle of the Cowshed. He studied an old book of Julius Caesar’s campaigns which he had found in the farmhouse. During the Battle of the Cowshed, snowball portrayed his actions of courage and determination when he fought his heart out. He showed that he was brave even though he had been slightly shot on his back. However, Orwell had not written of Napoleon during the Battle of the Cowshed. This shows that Napoleon could have been absent because he was afraid of risking his life.
Courage
- During the Battle of the Cowshed, Snowball had fought bravely even though he had been shot. Napoleon was probably too scared and afraid of getting injured or dying that he did not show up.
Fairness/Justice/Equality
- Napoleon does not treat the animals equally as he treats himself as the leader of Animal Farm. He also allows himself to go against or change the commandments. Napoleon also kills the other animals, sleeps on a bed, gets involved in trade and money and he drinks alcohol.
Protection
- Napoleon does not protect the animals. Instead, he kills them because they had displeased him.
Smart
- Snowball is smart because he was in charge for the defense during the Battle of the Cowshed. He had also made the plans for the construction of the windmill.
Squealer uses propaganda by telling lies and infleuencing the way the animals think about Napoleon. Squealer is brainwashing the animals into believing that whatever the pigs do is for the animals benefit and make Napoleon sound as if he is a good leader and cares for the animals. Moses also uses propaganda as he has always been brainwashing the animals into believing that they can go to sugar candy mountain when they die thus they just have to work hard now and enjoy when they die.
jian ping, shireen, adeline , yinlin 2C qn7
Squealer is using propaganda by telling lies to infuence the animals into believing that napoleon the a good leader and that they should all listen to him. Squealer is telling lies and brainwashing the animals into believing that whatever the pigs do is for the animals benefit and not their own. Moses also uses propaganda as he is brainwashing the animals into believing thet there is sugar candy mountain to go after they die thus they just have to work hard in this life in order 2 enjoy when they die.
Jeslyn Chow, Wanzhen, Vanessa Wong, Mona 2D
By writing Animal Farm, He wanted the readers to:
- make people aware of the truth about communism and dictatorship.
- Criticize Stalin and Trotsky.
- Make fun of the lower working class, make people realize how gullible they were towards their leaders.
- Express his thoughts and feelings about Stalin and Trotsky.
Orwell’s views on communism:
- Similar to the Novel that depicts how Napoleon treats his fellow comrades, there is a lot of tyranny, unfair treatment and favourism going on under communism.
Question 10
- The pigs are initiative as they "elaborated old Major's teaching into a complete system of thought,to which was somehow very persuasive" (pg 23).
The pigs took the initiative to elaborate old Major's teaching to keep the animals motivated and thinking.
- The pigs took the leadership and responsibility to run the farm as "work of teaching and organising the other tell naturally upon the pigs".
The pigs took up the responsibility to be the brain workers, to organise and plan everything that was needed to keep the farm running.
- The pigs are efficient -> "This has long been expected,and all preparations had been made." "studied an old books of Julius Caesar's campaigns whichhe has found in the farmhouse, was in charge of defensive operations." "gave his orders quickly, and in a couple of minutes, every animal was at his post" (pg 43)
The pigs' way of instructing and planning was very efficient, enabling them to order and make full use of animals properly.
- Snowball is willing to sacrifise himself -> " The pellets scored bloody streaks along snowball back"(pg 44)
Snowball was being very brave by willing to sacrifise himself.
Question 6
There are differences between Old Major’s speech and what is really going on in the farm. Such as the pigs went against the commandments that Old Major said.
Old major said in his speech that if the animals got rid of man the produce of their labour would be their own. He also said that if man was to be removed the root of hunger and overwork would be abolished .But even after the rebellion has occurred and Jones is expelled the produce of the animals labour went to the pigs. This can be seen when the pigs took away the cows’ milk and the apples and when the animals did not have enough food the pigs had more than enough food for themselves and continued to take away their food. To feed themselves the animals instead were overworked.
Old major stated that the animals would be sent to the knackers once they are of no use when humans are in control .But even after Jones was expelled the pigs sent Boxer to the knackers because he was of no use.
Old Major said in his speech that whatever that goes upon two legs is a enemy expect for the birds. The pigs in the last chapter walk on two legs but they still remain as the leaders of the animals.
Old Major had listed the commandments and every one of them has been broken showing s big difference. He had said that no any shall live in a house, sleep in a bed, wear clothes, drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, touch money or engage in trade. All have been broken. The pigs go live in the farmhouse and sleep in beds. In the last chapter Napoleon wears clothes and smokes tobacco. All the pigs have also drunk alcohol.
There were also other commandments that old Major said that were broken. He said that no animal shall tyrannize over his own kind but the pigs overworked the animals and carried whips to threaten them. He also said that no animal should kill another but the dogs that were commanded by Napoleon had killed some of the animals. Most importantly he said all animals are equal but the pigs had raised themselves to a much higher position then the other animals.
In conclusion there is much difference of what old major said in his speech and what was going on in the farm. The commandments were broken and what Old major wanted was not achieved.
Done by Sunthari, Vani (2d)
Done by Sunthari, Vani, Elvea, Claire (2d)
Protection:
Snowball:
From the Battle of the Cowshed, Snowball was hurt when he was charging towards Jones. In order to protect the rest of the animals, he had to sacrifice himself to do that. He got hurt while charging towards Mr Jones who have the gun in his hand. In the process, he got hurt. The pellets scored bloody streaks along snowball's back.
Napoleon:
1)Napoleon was not even mentioned during the Battle of the cowshed. Most probably, he was somewhere in the farm hiding. This shows that he does not have the guts to protect the rest of the animals.
2) Napoleon claimed that he would protect the animals from harm but in fact, he made the animals confess their "crimes" but after confessing, he will kill them. This isn't called protection. This is called in inflicting pain on his own people.
Courage
Snowball:
Snowball had a lot of courage. He could sacrifice himself for the rest of the people. From the protection part, I can conclude that snowball is courageous compared to Napoleon
Napoleon:
Napoleon is not as courage as Snowball. Napoleon needs his dogs as his "security guard" he does not go anywhere without his dogs. This shows that he is not as courageous as Snowball. He dare not go all out for his people.
Leadership position in the farm
Snowball
Snowball use to have a high position in the farm. Most of the comrades will listen to what he has to say. Even after he was exiled from the farm, some of the animals still have snowball in his mind. They still listen to him. This show that he has high power. Compared to Napoleon, the animals readily follows whatever he says or ask them to do.
Napoleon
Napoleon is also as high powered as snowball. But Napoleon "pulls strings" to make the rest listen to his ideas, to follow his laws. Everyone has to follow whatever he orders or else they would be severely punished by him. thus he is actually implying force so that the animals will listen to what he says. It is not like Snowball.
Planning
Snowball
Snowball has everything planned out. He had the windmills and all planned out. But in the end, he could not do what he wanted because of Napoleon.
Napoleon
Napoleon had everything planned out from the very beginning. From the point of when the puppies are born, he had everything on his mind. Thus all he had to do was to put it into action, to get his power over all of the animals. He is a person who can plan everything far ahead of time. Compared to snowball who always think closer to the present time. Snowball will relate closer to e present state not like Napoleon.
Speech
Napoleon
•As napoleon doesn’t have good speaking potential, he has squealer to help him to speak. He also relies on the dogs to keep the animals from disobeying him. As for snowball, he can speak up for himself and doesn’t need any one else to help him. Napoleon is more of a leader who relies on others for his victory or success rather then relying on his own abilities.
snowball
Snowball is those that says what he wants to through himself. Unlike Napoleon who uses other animals to voice out his thoughts. He voices out whatever he has on his mind by himself. He does not use others to help him.
The top 3 comments are from Valerie, Phoebe, Yan xuan from 2 st deirdre.
question :
number 4
Compare the style of leadership between snowball and napoleon
s and n's style of leadership
snowball is always the one coming up with ideas. He truly cares for the well being for the farm and ferquenty comes out with all sort of ideas trying to improve the farm. but sometimes even when snowball's ideas are useful the animals don't see it's usefulness because the animals are too dumb to understand the importance of it and how it would benefit them and the farm.
snowball uses his brilliant speeches to win the loyalty of the animals. the animals are easily stirred away by napolean as they are easy to accept whatever it is told to them. they do not have a mind of their own or that they just are not clever enough to think for themselves. but only relying on his ideas and eloquences, snowball is no match for the power hungry napolean.
napolean banishes snowball and rise to power himself. to the aniamls napolean is doing them a big fat favour, finally eliminated the threat on the farm and sacrificing himself for taking up the responsibility of the farm. actually, napolean is the threat on the farm and should be the one being banished and napolean's banishing snowball act is nothing but self serving which is a big loss to the farm without snowball there to offer ideas.
napolean was smart enough to look far ahead and build a secret army to protect himself. this was plotted in chapter 3 when the dogs were just puppies. the dogs were already brainwashed by him to serve and treat him like a master. he uses this to also intimidate the animals. so even if they want to rebel they have to choice but to play along as no one wants to die. he also uses intimidation to eliminate all the other threats on the farm.
napolean uses propaganda, squeler, to manipulate the animals.
napolean tells the animals a different story to convince them that snowball has always been alongside jones and is the cause of every problem in the farm. he pushes the blme on to snowball so he, a not good enough leader, gets away with the blame. napolean has no right to rewrite history.
napoleans ideas for the farm only benefits the pigs and the dogs. he is not being a fair leader. he also go against the commandments and twist and alter the commandments so it would seem that his acts are not crime at all.
napolean betrays boxer's loyalty by sending him to the slaughter house just so that he could have the money to indulge in alcohol. very selfish and coldhearted indeed, he actully trades life for alcohol.
eventually,all the pigs come to resemble human under his rule. the animals' situation on the farm is no better than in jones's times accept that they do not get whip from time to time but when napolean started to walk on twos. he was carrying a whip.
napolean succeeded in making himself leader through lies and manipulation thanks to the animals stupidity. but he does not possess good leadership skills as he oppresses the animals like any other human and changed the commandments from all animals are equal to the pigs being much more superior. the main reason for rebellion was to be free of oppression but napolean did not promote that.
snowball has the qualities to be a good leader and napolean does not.
8. How does Orwell put across his message in Animal Farm?
Orwell wrote Animal Farm to make people aware of the truth about Communism which promoted class war and the public ownership of all property and dictatorships. Thus, it has been written directly or indirectly against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism as understood.
He had seen what happened during the war and how the communists twisted and distorted the truth to suit their own purposes, which, Squealer, Napoleon’s mouthpiece, was born out of these experiences. Squealer, in the story, lies, tells half-truths with distortions in order to brainwash the animals, particularly the sheep that were then made followers, and rewrites the commandments. He represents all methods of propaganda that Stalin use in order to bolster his position as unchallengeable leader of Soviet Union. No one on Animal Farm dares to or can argue with Squealer. Orwell uses this to expose the way that Stalin and all dictators use propaganda. It is thus evident that ignorance is taken advantage of.
When the absolute ruler of the Russian people, Tsar Nicholas II, was overthrown and there was thus a great opportunity to free the workers and peasants from both poverty and tyranny, to allow them to share their own government, it could be related in the story as how the pigs convince the animals to rebel and overthrow the human to be free from slavery and misery, and succeeded. However, the next fifty years of Russian history tell a story of the betrayal of these ideals and the replacement of one tyranny by another. In the story, this could be seen when the pig’s rule becomes corrupted and crumble when all commandments were broken eventually.
Russia was now then renamed as The Soviet Union just as how Manor Farm was renamed to Animal Farm. After the death of Lenin, there was a power struggle for leadership between Josef Stalin, the General Secretary of Communist Party, and Trotsky. Trotsky was a brilliant intellectual, but lacked the ruthlessness and cunning of Stalin and was finally stabbed with an ice pick by one of Stalin’s agents in Mexico. Stalin was now the undisputed leader of the Soviet Union, backed up by his feared secret police, the KGB. This is paralleled by the rivalry between Napoleon and Snowball with their disagreements. But Napoleon eventually triumphed as Snowball, like Trotsky, was driven into exile by Napoleon’s brutal agents of control- the dogs. It left the way free for Napoleon, like Stalin, to become more and more selfish, brutal and dictatorial. Napoleon was also the name of the emperor of France who came to power and became the most feared men in the world. Just as Napoleon, in the story, instill fear into the animals with his dogs.
Conditions then grew steadily worse with people forced to work,
food shortages, and no opposition to Stalin’s policies was tolerated and he became more and more brutal and paranoid, expelling Party members, sending people to labour camps and executing them after show trials where they confessed to imaginary crimes. All ills of the country were blamed on the ‘Trotskyites’. This corruption could be seen when Napoleon threatened the chickens for their eggs ruthlessly even when they rebelled, until they finally gave in. And the other animals were made to confess about their leagues with Snowball, and their oppositions against Napoleon when Snowball was never present at all, thereby being promptly tore at their throats and slain on the spot, until there was a pole of corpses lying before all animals watching. Snowball was also blamed for every misfortunes or disadvantage such as the falling of the windmill for the first time.
The Russian people had become heroes in the eyes of many in Britain and the United States, but they were ignorant of the brutality and tyranny that lay behind Stalin’s Communist regime. The Britain and United States can be seen through Frederick and Pilkington, thinking the animals were able to manage on their own although refusing to admit them and making up tales.
Boxer is the most important among the animals. He represents a type of worker known as Stakhanovism (named after a legendary Soviet miner) who unthinkingly worked and worked for the good of the new nation but did not realize that he was being exploited. He accepts whatever said by Squealer even though sometimes he felt suspicious of the situation. He even sacrifices his own health and life when he felt weak and was nearing the age of retirement but in the end, was not the least bit appreciated by Napoleon as he was sold to the horse slaughterers. But to some extent, he was also responsible for maintaining Napoleon in power.
Orwell inputs how dictators rise and maintain power with Napolean beginning by being part of a powerful organization (the pig elite), but is selfish and determined (he keeps all the milk for himself); he builds up a group of followers and ejects all who argue against him ( the four young porkers slain) or who are powerful rivals (Snowball). He maintains power through terror (the dogs and the executions) and be manipulating the truth and controlling history through propaganda and the media/ brainwashing (Squealer). He introduces cult of personality (he seldom appears and only then accompanied by great ceremony) and makes himself indispensable to the people be confusing and frightening them about what would happen if he were not there (blaming Snowball for everything wrong and suggesting that Mr. Jones might return).
He also uses Irony to let the readers know something the animals do not and Orwell himself pretends not to know. For example, when Squealer says ‘In “Beasts of England” we expressed our longing for a better society in days to come. But the society has now been established’ that the exact opposite is true. This brings the message across more clearly.
He also invented ‘doublespeak’ to describe the way that governments tell blatant lies as if they were true. This is noticeable from: ‘when the animals’ food ration is being cut, Orwell reports Sqealer as saying, ‘it had been found necessary to make readjustments of rations(Squealer always spoke of it as a “readjustment”, never as “reduction”).’ Just as ‘ethnic cleansing’ today means murder, torture and destruction of people’s homes so that things wouldn’t seem as horrendous as it truly is.
Done by: Ong JiaXin, Suganthi, Lovely Taidy, Chee MiaoLi
Min Yee,Sharley,Rachel and Janice 2A
Question 5
5. Mollie played the role of a pampered lazy mare who ran away after the Rebellion because she could not adapt to th elife of working equally and getting up early. She stand for important Russian institution. She represents the pampered arrstocracy who feld abroad after the revoulution.
Moses played the role of Jone's helper at the start of the book but became the pigs helper at the ending part of the book . He was there to boost the morale of the animals giving them hope that "Sugarcandy mountain", which was heaven to them, was a place where they could not be underfed or overworked would welcome them when they die. He stand for important Russian instituation. He represented the Russian Orthodex Church which boost morales of the people.
Boxer had many roles on the farm. He was the animal there with the greatest strength. The greatest role he played was the building of the windmill. It was mainly because of him that the windmill had been completed. Boxer was very determined to work for whoever led the farm, which was Snowball at first, then Napoleon. He will always say” I will work harder” or “Napoleon is always right”. Those were the phrases he would always repeat to himself, to keep him working harder. He decided to wake up half an hour earlier than any other animal on the farm to continue his work on the windmill. That showed his loyalty an determination. He had also shown compassion towards others, including the humans. During the Battle Of The Cowshed, Boxer had knocked a particular stable boy out cold. He thought that he had killed the stable boy, and felt a sense of guilt and regret wash over him. He is also a stubborn animal, cuz he never listens to Clover and Benjamin when they tell him to keep it cool and chill for a sec.
Boxer represents the lower working class people during the Russian Revolution. He is one of the animals that is easily brainwashed by Squealer. He was very useful to the formation of Animal Farm when he was young and strong because he worked his heart out. However, when he had overworked himself and was nearing retirement, the pigs sold him to the Knackers for money to buy more whisky for themselves when he became older.
3. Discuss the use of language and its effects in the novel 'Animal Farm'.
Orwell used language that was clear, direct and strong. He felt that ornate or fancy words were used by totalitarian states to manipulate and brainwash people, which he hated.
He used a type of humour called irony, when readers know something that the animals do not and Orwell pretends not to know. His irony has a grim and serious purpose, and through it, he is trying to tell readers things are not always that simple.
He also uses 'doublespeak' to describe the way that governments tell blatant lies as if they were the truth. For instance, in 'Animal Farm', when the animal's food ration us being cut, Orwell reports Squealer as saying, "it had been found necessary to make a re-adjustment of rations (Squealer always spoke of it as a 'readjustment never as a reduction')".
Joscelin Tay, Abigail, Stephanie
Napoleon was a large, rather fierce looking Berkshire boar, not much of a talker but with a reputation for getting his own way. Snowball was a more vivacious pig than Napoleon, quicker in speech and more inventive, but was not considered to have the same depth of character.
Before Snowball was expelled from the farm, he tried to improve the well being of the animals, by coming up with projects such as the Wild Comrades’ Re- education Committee, &the building of the windmill. On the other hand, took no interest in Snowball’s committees & took Bluebell &Jessie’s newborn puppies away from their mothers so that he could ‘educate’ the puppies. Instead of educating the puppies, he made sure that the puppies would protect him, and to threaten the other animals with the puppies.
To protect the farm, snowball studied Julius Caesar’s campaigns, gave orders quickly &thus the animals were able to protect the farm during the battle of the cowshed. Due to Snowball’s courage, he still flung himself against Jones’ leg despite being injured. On the other hand, Napoleon was no where to be found during the battle.
Napoleon uses the puppies to expel Snowball from the farm &uses Squealer to come up with lies against Snowball, and lies to help him rise to the top. He blames Snowball for the disasters that occur. Napoleon also uses Squealer to make it seem as though he has sacrificed a lot for the farm.
After Snowball was expelled from the farm, the battle of the windmill did not turn out as well as the battle of the cowshed as there was no strategy in defending the farm, unlike in the battle of the cowshed. This shows the Napoleon was not as organized as Snowball was.
However, both Snowball &Squealer are self centered; they kept all the apples and milk for themselves, &gave themselves special privileges for themselves.
Daphne Gan
Fay Yeo
Adeline Ng
Natsumi Yeo
Megumi Soh
2C
However, both Snowball &Squealer are self centered; they kept all the apples and milk for themselves, &gave themselves special privileges.
Hello :D
did you edit the comments for the essay questions already?
oh ya.. can you please post the answers for discussions quesions nine and ten?
another thing: can you please post the important quotes in the animal farm for us? It is very hard for usto find them.
so sorry to trouble you so much xD
Ng Yin Lin of 2c
1. Discuss Boxer. What role does he play on the farm?
Boxer plays the role of a very hard working horse. He is the main pillar of Animal Farm and all the animals admire him for his devotion and loyalty to bringing the farm into success.
In order to ease the other animals burden of working, he is extremely noble to sacrifice his rest of half an hour before daybreak to do somw of the work first. When he faces difficulty or meets with any obstacles, he will tell himself “I must work harder”, which he adopts as his personal motto of motivation.
During the building of the windmill, he even wakes up another 15 minutes earlier to do more work. This shows his generosity to give up what he can afford. He does not hesitate to do so and does it willingly on his own accord.
Boxer is also very gullible to be so easily manipulted by Squealer to do jobs. he does whatever the pigs ask him to do and does not realise what is his purpose for doing it. He is also dumb as he could not learn any other alphabet beyond “A B C D” , which he sometimes even forget.
He is devoted to the pigs and obey to their commands. For example, in the early part of the story when Mr. Jones was chased out, the commandment of “ No animal must wear clothes” was given ; Boxer immediately takes off his straw hat used to shade him from the scorching sun. This shows his loyalty to the farm and his letting off of Mr. Jones that was once his master.
His other motto “ Comrade Napoleon is always right” also shows his devotion to the pigs. In all, Boxer is self – sacrificial and is willing to give up anything for the sake of the farm.
Deception
Deception is a major theme in Animal Farm. It takes place easily, due partly to Squealer’s persuasive abilities and partly to the animal’s naivete.
For example, in Chapter 3, where the pigs claim that despite disliking milk and apples, they consume them for the animal’s own welfare, so that they can manage the farm, although this is not fair to the other animals. Also, Squealer refers to Science, which he knows the unintelligent animals will not question.
Directly after the Battle Of The Windmill, a gun was fired. Squealer explained that this was to celebrate the victory of winning back what they had before, despite all the injuries and loss of the windmill. However, when they saw the flag raised, and heard Napoleon’s speech, they were convinced that they had indeed had a victory.
In chapter 9, where Boxer is severely injured and leaves the farm, Benjamin realizes that Boxer is being taken to his death, due to the “Horse Slaughterer and Glue-Boiler. Dealer in Hides and Bone-Meal” written on the side of the van. However, Squealer insists that Napoleon generously gave Boxer the very best care possible before he passed away, and that the very idea that Boxer had been taken to the horse slaughterer was preposterous, that the van was owned by the veterinarian but had merely not been painted over. Squealer also took advantage of this opportunity to use Boxer as to promote Napoleon, as he knew that Boxer was a role model on the farm, by saying that Boxer’s last words were “Long live Comrade Napoleon”.
Many years after the Rebellion, in chapter 10, the animal’s living conditions are deproving, yet Squealer delivers list after list of statistics demonstrating how their lives had got better. Since the animals had either forgotten life before the Rebellion and the new animals had nothing to compare it to, they simply took Squealer’s word as the truth.
Throughout the text, it is known to the reader that the pigs, namely Squealer, are changing the Seven Commandments in secret. For instance, they subtly changed “No animal shall drink alcohol” to include the words “to excess” at the end of the Commandment, as well as “All animals are equal” was changed to “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”. By adding the words at the end of each Commandment, the meanings are distorted and the animals are deceived into believing that their own memories are at fault, even though Squealer had once been caught in the act of altering the Commandments, they were not intelligent enough to make sense of the incident.
frm 2C,
question 5)
answer:
Moses did not contribute to the animal farm at all, because he is always absent for work, and only sees him presents at mealtimes.His role was to brainwashed other animals in the farm by telling them that no matters how hard they work,there will be a much better life at the sugar candy mountain after death.futhermore,many animals believed what moses said and did not complained anymore about the hard life they facing.
as the novel mentioned,moses has disappear for a period of time,and come back when life the conditions in animal farm is better.however,moses did not change and continue to tell the animals about the same old story of the sugar candy mountain.although the pigs know the story was untrue but the pigs did not stop him from saying it.but instead they tell moses to come back and give him some amount of beer.the reason why the pigs are treating moses this way is because the pigs wanted moses to brainwashed the other animals so that they won't complain so muchfor having a hard life at this lifetime.this was a benefit for the pigs,as they were the ones that did not work at all,and they needed other animals to work for them.
benjamin is a minor charactor in the story.he plays the 'passer by' role.in the story,benjaminis aloof and detached from the farm.he does not contribute much to the farm andhe just does his duties and play his part for the farm.he has a negative character and attitute towards rebellion because he feels that rebellion will not crave out the road to the animal's dream-indepence.
thus,in the story,benjamin only does his duty and do not give comments or suggestions towards aniaml farm as he feels that there isn't a need for such things.his negative and aloof attitute represents minor people,for example,the people during the russian revolution that cannot be bothered with the political issues going on at all.
Ng Yin Lin 2c
4. Compare the style of leadership between Snowball and Napoleon.
Snowball and Napoleon are two pigs that started to take over the leadership of the farm animals when Old Major died and when Mr. Jones had been chased out. They were both porkers reared by Mr. Jones. Snowball is more of a “pig of his words” than Napoleon and interacts more with the animals unlike Napoleon who instills fear in the animals and seldom talks.
Both of them have good argumentative skills as their points stated are very strong. “ These two disagreed at every point where disagreement was possible” shows that they were at loggerheads most of the time and often argued with each other. Snowball, being more outspoken than Napoleon and more convincing, won more of the animals support. However, Napoleon is wise and sharp as he knows the sheep are very stupid and he brings them over to his side for support.
Snowball is very inventive, and he comes out with many ideas for the welfare of the farm. He takes the initiative to do things. He also honors his words and make sure he fulfills them and this is what made the animals have trust in him as they know that he would not break his promises. Napoleon, however, does not come out with anything and would say quietly that “Snowball’s ideas would some to nothing. He has no initiative and still lazes around instead of lending a helping hand.
Napoleon is more of a strict leader, such that he instills fear in the animals and gets them to obey his orders. In this way, he gets to control the animals and successfully manipulates them to do what he commands. He seldom talks, which lead to the animals thinking that he is very unsociable and therefore would not dare to disobey him. Snowball is more friendly and he interacts more with the animals. Because of this, the animals may take advantage of kindness and betray him.
But after all, who is better at running the farm? Both have the opportunity to rise into power and this may cause plotting and backstabbing against one another.
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