Below is an in-depth analyis to George Orwell's magnificant book "Animal Farm". T
Mr. Jones is an incompetent and selfish farmer who puts his interests ahead of all the animals. Mr. Jones' constant addiction to alcohol also plays a major roll in his inability to properly care for the animals of Manor Farm. It is quoted in the text that as one stage Mr. Jones was a decent master to his animals. At the time of his decency, the farm was thriving and food was plentiful. But followed by the prosperity was harder times' which is symbolic of the Great Depression of the 1930's.
Mr. Jones feeds his animals the bare minimum and treats them with the lowest regard. Mr. Jones indulges himself while the animals lack food and nourishment. This inability to provide good living conditions lead to the rebellion.
Old Major's speech is inspirational and encouraging to the tired and exhausted animals of Manor Farm, but Old Major's idealistic views of society after the overthrow of humans are conspired so purely on emotion and anger that he fails to understand the complexity of the solution that he submits to the other animals. One of the points that Old Major discusses is that animals would be better off without the existence of humans. He explains to the other animals how man is the root of all evil and the source of their hunger and miserable living conditions. Old Major delves into the reasons that he believes that animals on Manor Farm are living in such poverty. Old Major states that "man is the only creature that consumes without producing."
Another huge point that Old Major makes is that man is the only real enemy that animals have. Old Major defines what an animal is and clearly states who and who is not a comrade. This point has significant implications on the text because it clearly discriminates against every human and unfairly classifies all humans as evil. Old Major clearly shows his hatred towards humans when he says "All men are enemies. All animals are comrades". Old Major also states that all animals are equal and uses the word comrade' to define all animals.
Another point that Old Major makes it that no animal should resemble humans or take part in any of human's evil habit's'. Although Old Major had good intentions in his speech, he failed to realise that it was inevitable that a leader among animals would prevail. He failed to realise that the quest for power among society would eventually corrupt his ideas.
Old Major's speech did have some excellent points but he established the wrong approach to deal with the problems which lead to the dictatorship of Napoleon.
"All men are enemies. All animals are comrades" is a dangerous thought because it immediately takes any individual analysis out of consideration and discriminates against any human; good natured or bad. This stereotype immediately acts as a loophole for animals such as Napoleon who wish to seize power of Animal Farm after the rebellion. Due to this dangerous statement that says that all animals are comrades, it is presumed that Napoleon and his actions are acceptable.
There are two major situations that immediately undermine Old Major's thoughts. When Napoleon starts to trade with humans his immediately undermines Old Major's point that all humans are evil because one would not trade with an enemy. The other situation in the text that undermines Old Major's thoughts is when Napoleon orders for the death of Snowball. If all animals are comrades then their can not be an exception to say one animal is not a comrade and must be killed. This statement by Old Major is too vague and lacks the depth needed to clearly define who is a friend and who is a foe without the use of stereotyping.
Old Major warns the animals so carefully about the attitudes and habits of humanity because in the back of his mind he fears that animals could eventually realise the true power that is associated with humanity and its habits which could doom the rebellion. Old Major is so strongly opposed to humans and their habits that he never wishes to see an animal conduct himself in the same manner as humans do. He fears that if animals adopt mans vices' then they will resemble man and his evil.
The message behind "Beasts of England" is that one day all animals will be free of hard labour and the restraints of humans. The first verse speaks of the proclaimed better future after the rebellion takes place. The second verse explains that the day that man is to be overthrown is not known but once the day has passed, animals shall be the only inhabitants in England. The anthem is an ideal and gives the animals a picture of what life would be like without humans. The anthem appeals so strongly to the animals because they can recite the anthem and sing along to it which makes them feel positive towards the rebellion.
There are many dangers associated with allowing only the pigs to take care of teaching and organising. By the pigs having full control, the can immediately dictate the organisation of the entire fame. Although the pigs are recognised as the smartest animals, they do not necessarily have the whole farms best interests in mind. Once power is given and restricted to only a certain race or group, that power is abused and is used for the benefit of no one other then themselves. This is the case with the pigs on Animal Farm. The other animals; being far less intelligent than the pigs ; are gullible and there is little doubt in their minds that all is good when in reality they fail to realise that the pigs are selfish and care only for themselves.
Snowball and Napoleon have conflicting personalities and varying views as they both vie for supremacy on the farm. Both Snowball and Napoleon wish to be leader but only one can prevail. Hence it was inevitable that either Snowball or Napoleon would have to take a lesser position or be eliminated from the equation.
The animals are reluctant to accept Animalism because they feel a certain loyalty to Mr. Jones who they refer to as master. The animals also fail to realise that there are other means of obtaining food besides from Mr Jones. "Mr Jones feeds us. If he were gone we would starve to death." Other objections of Animalism came from animals who failed to see why they should fight for Animalism.
The revolution actually takes place because the animals were not fed. The animals were so hungry that all the animals broke out of their sheds or restraints and started to help themselves to the food that they never received. When Mr Jones and his four men awoke they ran outside and started to whip the animals. This was more than the hungry animals could bear. Without planing, they started to rebel and by the time they knew it; they had chased the humans out of the farm.
Mr Jones' actions were largely accountable for the animal's outrage. If Mr. Jones has fed the animals and acted responsibly then the rebellion would not have occurred at this stage in time. Mr. Jones demonstrates his irresponsibility when he goes to the pub and gets drunk and fails to feed the animals.
Burning all traces of a former leader is common in revolutions because it indicates a new beginning. When a revolution occurs, the people who are affected usually feel so overwhelmed with emotion that they act spontaneously. The burning of all traces of a former leader indicates that the past is in the past and that a new bright future should be looked towards.
Mollie's actions show us that she is still deeply un-devoted to the revolution. She enjoys being pampered and is a very selfish. Mollie is entirely intrigued by her beauty and doesn't want anything or anyone to come in between her indulgence. Mollie was treated very well before the revolution. She was glorified by Mr Jones and pampered.
Mollie was disadvantaged after the revolution. She was told that wearing her ribbons was a badge of slavery but she did not see it this way. Mollie would be forced to work and give up her indulgences after the revolution. She disadvantaged her greatly and she did not see why she should be treated this way.
The seven commandments are whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy, whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend, no animal shall wear clothes, no animal shall sleep in a bed, no animal shall drink alcohol, no animal shall kill any other animal and all animals are equal. At the end of the chapter the cows are milked and the pigs take the milk for themselves. This immediately undermines the commandment that all animals are equal. By keeping all the milk for themselves, the pigs immediately put themselves above all the other animals and immediately, the commandment of equality is broken.
Most of the animals on Animal Farm do obey the ideal of comradeship' but a minority do not. The pigs do not do the same amount of labour as the other animals do and they justify this by saying that they use their brains which is tedious and hard work. When Napoleon says that he will follow soon to undergo the harvesting, he immediately shows that he does not wish to take on the same amount of work as the other animals.
Boxer is a hard worker and a tremendous force on the farm. He is admired by everyone for his brutal strength but he is easily led by leaders such as Napoleon. Boxer seems to have endless boundaries to his will power and determination. He is determined to work and to bring prosperity to the farm through his work. Boxer's personal motto is "I will work harder" which may be short sighted because it shows very little thought into the analysis of individual situations. The motto seems dim-witted and unintelligent when we all know that everyone has his or her boundaries.
Not everyone worked according to their capacity. Mollie would find an excuse to leave work early and did not contribute to her full capacity. The cat would also somehow wiggle his way out of work and appear only for meals. Benjamin is also another example of an animal that does not contribute to his full capacity.
The meetings and debates represent the government and opposition both leading into an election. The represent the political edge at the farm that many of the animals don't quite understand. The political system that relies on frequent discussion, open communication and voting is our democratic political system.
This quote shows that the revolution wasn't as successful as everyone expected it to be even at this early stage of the animal revolution'. The quote shows that some animal can never be changed. No matter what way you approach the situation, some animals can just never be changed.
The dangers of having only the pig' being fluent in reading and writing is that they are far more educated then everyone else. Education equals power! The other animals that are less educated can not stand up to the pigs because they do not possess the brain to know how. The power that the pigs have is a result of their education. They maintain the role in society that that have because no one would be able to challenge them or their choices because of their lack of education.
Declaring "Four legs good, two legs bad" as the essential principle or Animalism is dangerous because it immediately forgoes all individual analyses. Napoleon himself becomes a far greater threat to the animals than Mr Jones ever was but because of the essential principle of Animalism being imposed, no animal dares to challenge his authority. Napoleon is an evil character but in the eyes of the animals he is their friend, leader and saviour. This principle acts as a loophole for Napoleon because the principle states that four legs good' which means that all animals are good when in fact Napoleon is actually bad'.
When the animals on Animal Farm accept statements from Snowball unquestionably, we realise that a far greater gap has been bridged between the pigs and the rest of the animals. Because the pigs are of higher intelligence then all the other animals, they can easily seize power of the farm and dictate the running of the farm. The dangers in this are that the pigs have complete control over the farm and no one has the brainpower to challenge the pigs. The pigs are the supreme race on the farm and the other animals can not do anything to prevent greedy corruption within the farm.
While Snowball and Napoleon explain their views and decisions to the animals they are very brief and most of the explaining is left to the propaganda machine Squealer. Squealer's roll on the farm is of high importance because he justifies Napoleon's and Snowball's decisions even when it seems almost certain that the decision is unfair. Because none of the other animals grasps the concept of power, a great deal of justifying is not usually required because the animals are easily persuaded.
The aim of Squealer's speech is to justify Snowball's and Napoleon's decision that all the milk and all the windfall of the apples should be consumed only by the pigs. Squealer uses a scientific explanation that no animal dares to challenge due to their inability to comprehend the scientific concepts behind Squealer's propaganda. Squealer also uses fear as a way of persuading the animals by telling them that if the pigs don't drink the milk and eat the apples then Mr Jones will return. The animals are so blinded by the illusion that their lives are much better now that Mr Jones is gone that they never really compare the pigs as leaders as opposed to Mr Jones.
The significance of the pigs being allocated all apples and milk is that is shows the inequality between the pigs and the rest of the animals. This is the turning point in the book because at the start of the revolution all the animals were striving for equality but this action is symbolic of power being abused and shows that not all animals are equal.
Mollie becomes troublesome, lazy and disinterested in work after the revolution takes place. Mollie is self absorbed and unsociable after the revolution in which all the humans are expelled from the farm. Mollie's life is far easier with the existence of humans because she has been pampered all her life and is used to receiving without working. Mollie is very unsociable and it does not seem that she wishes to engage in social activities with the other animals. Mollie never became a full participant in the revolution because her life was better off without the revolution. She had no reason to support a change in leader when her lifestyle was great under the leadership of Mr Jones.
The farm animals would have had little contribution to the decision that the pigs would take charge of farm policy. It would have been assumed that after the revolution the pigs would have taken control. None of the other animals had the courage or the support to take charge of the farm policy. The other animals would have agreed to the decision because they do not possess the ability to think sophisticatedly and make ideas and make complex ideas for themselves.
There are some major differences with Snowball and Napoleon and their leadership techniques. Snowball is a great talker and is brilliant with delivering speeches. Snowball was a great thinker and devised many plans to create innovations that would better the lifestyle of the animals. Napoleon was good at collecting support between times and was very sly with his leadership style. Napoleon was a bully and gave no thought to the lives of others.
The animals are not critical of their leaders at all. They are easily persuaded and have no definite favourite as they always change their minds. Whatever either leader says sounds good at the time and this lack of negative criticism allows the pigs to get away with anything. The animals are passive participants in the political process because they are practically bystanders and have no influence on the way that the farm is handled.
None of the animals helped Snowball because they were so ridiculed with fear that no one dared to speak up on Snowball's behalf because they feared for their own safety. Fear can change someone's views on an issue significantly. This is what Napoleon did to seize power over the entire farm.
Napoleon declares an end to all meetings and debates because he wants complete power and does not want other animals challenging his decisions or challenging his authority. If animals were given the opportunity to challenge Napoleons decisions then his power and supremacy would be at risk so he decided to abolish debates to minimise challenges. Abolishing meetings also meant that more power was left solely for Napoleon and less conflict would occur.
Squealer's role in the new regime is to be the propaganda machine' He brainwashes the other animals and makes them believe that everything is better now that Mr Jones and Snowball are gone. He also tells the animals that Napoleon is a great leader and why Mr Jones and Snowball are the enemy. Squealer labels Snowball as a criminal and says that his heroic actions at the Battle of the Cowshed were much exaggerated. Squealer says "surely, comrades, you do not want Mr Jones back?" because it puts fear into the animals brains and makes them think that the only way that Mr Jones wont come back is if Napoleon is leader.
Squealer manipulates the animals by brainwashing them with propaganda. He manipulates their thoughts and even their memories in some situations. Squealer's role in the revolution is vital because he creates the followers for Napoleon and balances the fear with his propaganda.
The animals work a great deal harder under Napoleon's leadership than they did under Mr Jones' leadership. The animals don't mind working harder and in fact they are extremely happy because they believed that all the hard work would benefit themselves.
Squealer places a great emphasis on written agreements because he is aware of the fact that most of the animals can not read and write. The animals are very gullible and are easily persuaded because their lack of education disadvantages them when trying to argue or trying to prove a point.
The pigs move into the farmhouse supposedly because they need a quiet place to work. The pigs actually move into the farmhouse because they want to distinguish themselves as a superior race and to distance themselves from common animals. They move into the farmhouse for their own comfort and they deliberately forgo the commandment that all animals are equal in doing so.
The fourth commandment "No animals shall sleep in a bed with sheets" has been altered with the words "with sheets" being added on. The pigs did this so that even if the other animals protested against the pigs sleeping in beds they could use the loophole of with sheets as a means of complying with this altered commandment.
The humans are so interested in the activities at Animal Farm because they are constantly worried that the rebellion may succeed and that their own farms may became the victims of rebellions. The farmers are constantly spreading rumours and lies to dishearten anyone who believes that a rebellion should take place at their own farm because it will be successful.
Squealers motive in his speech is to make Napoleon look heroic at the Battle of the Cowshed. Snowball was in fact the one who put his life on the line and attacked Mr Jones but Squealer wishes to change that story and replace the figure of Snowball with Napoleon because it makes Napoleon look heroic and committed to the rebellion.
Napoleon achieved his objective very successfully. Napoleon's objective was to quell rebellion and crime on Animal Farm and to bring fear to all the animals. Napoleon showed no pity and was willing to sacrifice the lives of others in order to show the community that he is the boss and that no one should dare challenge his decisions or authority.
The difference between a readjustment and a reduction is that readjustment sounds more acceptable to the animals and does not anger them in the same way that the word reduction would. A reduction in rations would make the animals think that the farm was in troubled times while a readjustment would make the animals think that there was an unforseen change in rations for some reason.
The revolution was not a success in the slightest. Many lives were lost and life was probably far worse off under Napoleons leadership. The revolution was supposed to be about equality but all that happened was that Mr Jones was replaced by Napoleon. Napoleon and Mr Jones are very similar. They both have or had power of Animal Farm and both are as incompetent as each other.
The animals are unable to see the depth of their own misery because they believe that they have achieved the goal that they set out to do. They believe that just because the humans were expelled from Animal Farm, there lives are better off. Most of the animals can't remember what life was like with Mr Jones so they have no reason to think that their lives are worse off now then they were before the revolution. The animals are working for themselves and they enjoy that and even though they are hungry and cold and ill-nourished they still see joy.
The humans had misunderstood the situation. The farm was supposed to be about equality but it ended up being run by pigs. The effects of the revolution were misinterpreted by the humans. They believed that the revolution would lead to revolutions everywhere but that did not happen.
The strange habits that were to be suppressed were the marching past a boar's skull on Sunday, the reference to each other as "comrade" and the flag which was to now be painted green. These habits represented the old Animal Farm that had secluded itself from humans. The abolishment of these habits was symbolic of the pigs wishing to be equal with the humans.
The significance of reverting Animal Farm back to The Manor Farm is that is shows that now everything is like it was before the rebellion. It shows that Napoleon is now one of the humans and has taken over the roll of Mr Jones. The changing of names is symbolic of the pigs wish to be equal with humans.