The Peripeteia

In my opinion, Animal Farm is somewhat based on the reality. Maybe the story reflects how it was in Soviet during the war. For example, Stalin could be the character Napoleon in the book. I don’t know the details, but he was competing with someone else about the power of Soviet. And he used force to get it, as like in the novel:

By the time he had finished speaking there was no doubt as to which

way the vote would go. But just at this moment Napoleon stood up

and, casting a peculiar sidelong look at Snowball, uttered a high-pitched

whimper of a kind no one had ever heard him utter before.

At this there was a terrible baying sound outside, and nine enormous

dogs wearing brass-stubbed collars came bounding into the barn. They

dashed straight for Snowball, who only sprang from his place just in time

to escape their snapping jaws.

(Animal Farm, 1945. George Orwell, p. 35)

The novel could reflect the how it was in Soviet during the war, from an inner perspective, not from the outside. This could be a reason why the book talks briefly about the things behind the boundaries of Animal Farm. Maybe the people of Soviet didn’t know much about the other countries beyond Soviet.

The message of the book might be about power. Those who have power are all the same. In the very end, the other animals, except the pigs, couldn’t see any difference between humans and pigs. As in the following quote:

Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No questions,

now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked

from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again: but already

it was impossible to say which was which.

(George Orwell, p. 95)

The sudden change is when the pigs get to have all the apples and the milk for themselves. From this point they start to gain certain privileges. They only organize and are not doing any kind of work, they got to live in the house, wearing clothes and finally, standing on two legs instead of four. They became more and more humans, till the other animals couldn’t see any difference. This could be how the population of Soviet saw their leaders, that there was no difference from the previous leader to the present leader, as soon they reached the top of the career. They were all the same in the end.

In my opinion this book is a great story. I liked it, because it was a short story straight to the point. With not many word about the environment which allows me to use my imagination. The most important thing is the characters, which forms the story, not the story which forms the characters. It’s interesting how the pigs slowly take over the farm, with their intelligence. The book did not end like they all had hoped it would. The song is called “Beasts of England” and it represents the ideal society for the animals.

Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland,

Beasts of every land and clime,

Hearken to my joyful tidings

Of the golden future time.

Soon or late the day is coming,

Tyrant Man shall be o’erthrown,

And the fruitful fields of England

Shall be trod by beasts alone.

Rings Shall vanish from our noses,

And the harness from our back,

Bit and spur shall rust forever,

Cruel whips no more shall crack.

Riches more than mind can picture,

Wheat and barley, oat and hay,

Clover, beans and mangel-wurzels

Shall be ours upon that day

Bright will shine the fields of England,

Purer shall its water be,

Sweeter yet shall blow its breezes

On the day that sets us free.

For that day we all must labour,

Though we die before it break;

Cows and horses, geese and turkeys,

All must toil for freedom’s sake

Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland,

Beasts of every land and clime,

Hearken to my joyful tidings

Of the golden future time.

(George Orwell, p. 7)

I indeed felt sorry, in the end of the book, for the animals who couldn’t reach this dream. They all had the chance to achieve this song. However, Napoleon had other thoughts for Animal Farm. This is also one reason I think why the characters forms the story. Even though Animal Farm didn’t end as I had hoped, it is definitely a book worth to read.

The Conflict

In my opinion, Animal Farm is almost based on conflicts. Mostly external conflict, but also internal. The animals and the humans are continiueously fighting each other, as the story goes on. The humans are the MR. Jones, but also the other farmers near Animal Farm. They had before competed with MR. Jones, before the animals on Manor Farm had taken over the farm. This quote is after the rebellion.

The other farmers sympathised in principe, but they did not give

him much help. At heart, each of them was secretly wondering

whether he could not somehow turn Jones's misfortune to his own

advantage.

(Animal Farm, 1945. George Orwell, p. 24)

Later on, when MR. Jones had given up on the idea of takin back the farm, the other farmers had realized that the animals were a bigger threat than MR. Jones. The animals had been trying to convinse other animals to not take orders from humans. By sending bird to other farms to inform that rebellion was possible. Once more they humans tries to attack Animal Farm, but like the previous attack, they failed.

But conflict does not always consider humans and animals. Within the Animal Farmthe conflicts are between animals. mostly between the pigs Snowball and Napoleon, because they were in charge for most things.

Snowball and Napoleon were by far the most active in the

debates. But it was noticed that these two were never in

agreement: whatever suggestion either of them made, the

other could be counted on to oppose it.

(George Orwell, p. 19)

When Napoleon has finally being able to get rid of Snowball, who had run away from the farm, Napoleon stands as their leader. But whenever something bad happens to the farm, he blames Snowball. He tries later on to convince the other animals by sending Squealer that Snowball was the source of all the problems.

But Boxer was still a little uneasy. "I do not believe that

Snowball was a traitor at the beginning," he said finally.

"What he has done since is different. But I believe that

at the Battle of Crowshed he was a good comrade."

(George Orwell, p. 55)

All animals except some pigs was sure that Snowball was not a bad pig after all. They were even was against Squealer, until Squealer said that this was what Napoleon had said. Because of Boxer had taken "Napoleon is always right" as one of his mottos, he choosed to believe. And many of the animals believed in Boxer, they also believed later that it was Snowbalss fault. Internal conflict comes sometimes in this novel. Usally it is Boxer or Clover, the two horses, who have some doubts about what has been said.

The Environment

It feels like Orwell hasn't put in any effort to descrivbe the environment. He descirbes everything briefly, but you are still able to get the picture. As following example: "Huge boulders, far too big to be used as they were, were lyingall over the bed of the quarry." (Animal Farm, 1945. George Orwell, p. 40). The details aren't in the environment, but the actions of the animals. This might be a reason why the book is short. Since he explains quite briefly, I connected the environment to my own experience, a children TV-show. The show is about the animals, especially the sheeps, not the humans. From there I got the picture of Animal Farm. When Moses the raven returns to the farm, after he had been away for some time, he describes the Sugarcandy Mountain.

'Up there, comrades,' he would say solemnly, pointing to the sky

with his large beak-'up there, just on the other side of that dark

cloud that you can see-there it lies, Sugarcandy Mountain, that

happy countrywhere we poor animals shall rest for ever from

our labours!'

(George Orwell, p. 78)

As the previous example, somehow you can get the picture of a place where you never have been. Even though you haven't experience any type of farms, I hope you can imagination a picture what the enviroment looks like. With the seasons and weather continuously changes after every chapter, it might be hard to describe the environment. But since the author doesn't explain more than briefly, the actions and the thoughts of the characters are more importent than the environment. Since you can imagine how a person freeze, or bleeding. And most people sure have a picture already of a farm, when they read the title. There is an old stone house, barn, fields with crops and grass fields. In many book the author usally begins to describe the environment. But Orwell started like this:

MR Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-houses for

the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes.

With the ring of light from his lantern dancing from side to side

he lurched across the yard, kicked off his boots at the back door,

drew himself a last glass of beer from the barrel in the scullery,

and made his way up to bed, where Mrs Jones was already snoring.

(George Orwell, p. 1)

As I wrote before, the environment is described briefly. And not more detailed than this. In some book, like this one, the story is straight to the point, with no futher explainations. Then the environment is not needed as like other books. Even if descriptions are few, it doesn't mean that the novel is a bad book. In my opinion, this novel is worth to read.

The Characters

There's many animals on Animal Farm. Cows, horses, dogs, hens and sheeps. Animals that usally lives on a farm. All the animals have a role in the book. However, there is 3 characters that have a bigger role than the other animals. 2 of those characters are all pigs. Snowball and Napoleon. You may wonder why they are pigs. It's more or less because pigs are more intelligent than any other animal according to the book. "The work of teaching and organising the others fell naturally upon the pigs, who were generally recognised as being the cleverest of the animals." (Animal Farm, 1945. George Orwell, p. 9). Napoleon is a young boar, fierce-looking Berkshire boar and the only Berkshire boar on the farm. He is not much for a talker, but with a reputation for getting his own way. Snowball is described as followed "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." (George Orwell, p. 9). These two are considered as main characters, mostly because of their intellect. They are the ones who organizes the duty for each animal. They are also the only ones to debate when there is any chance to debate. Mostly because they are one of few animals that are even able to debate at all.

The third character is Boxer, a horse, but he has a important role in the book. He is their main sorce of strength. He is strong as three horses together, and his personal motto is "I will work harder!". Without him, they would not survive, they wouldn't even able to harvest the corn. The other animals sees him as a good example, he gets up early to volunteer for extra jobs.

The Explosition

The book started with a meeting, not between humans but between animals. Animals on a farm called Manor Farm. There's horses, dogs, pigs, cows and soo forth, and it's the oldest pig that called everybody to the meeting. He explains how humans have tortured animals for centuries and used them for his own sake. He tell the others how he lived his live, and talks about a song called "Beasts of England". A couple of days later, the old pig dies. The mening with the meeting was that the old pig wanted the other animals to prepare for the Rebellion. It could be them or a later generation, that would overthrow the humans. After some time, the rebellion started. It began of a simple reason, the farmer hadn't given them any food more or less because he was too drunk. They chased him and his men away from the farm, and renamed it to "Animal Farm". Then they all turned the farmers house upside down.

"MR Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes. With the ring of light from his lantern dancing from side to side he lurched across the yard, kicked off his boots at the back door, drew himself a last glass of beer from the barrel in the scullery, and made his way up to bed, where Mrs Jones was already snoring."

This is the beginning, how the owner of the farm, Mr Jones, makes his way to bed. This gave me the expresion that this book maybe wasn't really too interesting. But as soon as it came to the "meeting" part, things started to get interesting. A pig that talkes about freedom. The "Man" that comsumes without producing anything.

"Then Snowball (for it was Snowball who was best at writing) took a brush between the two knuckles of his trotter, painted out MANOR FARM from the top bar of the gate and in its place painted ANIMAL FARM." I thinks might be the reason to why the book is called ANIMAL FARM. I thought that the book was about how the animals were able to take over the farm. However, it happened in the very beginning. Then what is the book really about? How the animal will survive, now when they doesn't have (what they call) a "Lord", that provides them with food. Will the two pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, be able to take care of the farm? "Animal Farm" maybe is about how they survive without a "Lord" and how they can tell other animals on other farms to stand up against their "Lords".