Friday, July 26, 2013

What are the top inequalities in Animal Farm?

Although the last and most important of the Seven
Commandments of Animal Farm declared that "all animals are equal," such was not the
case. The pigs soon set themselves apart from the others, first absconding with the
daily milk to mix with their mash. The pigs do no work, instead supervising the labor of
the other animals. They learn to read and take over the harness room as their
headquarters. Napoleon takes nine puppies, and they soon grow into his ferocious
enforcers. When work on the windmill begins, all of the animals are forced to endure on
reduced rations--except the pigs. The work week grows longer for the non-pigs, while the
pigs soon move into the farmhouse and begin sleeping on beds. The hens are forced into
giving up their eggs, which they consider murder. Another commandment is broken when the
pigs order the death sentence for any animals suspected of having collaborated with the
unseen Snowball. The animals are forced to address Napoleon as "our Leader, Comrade
Napoleon." Soon, the pigs discover Mr. Jones' stash of whisky, which they consume until
drunk.


When the pig population grows, the other animals
recognize that Napoleon, the only boar on the farm, must be the sire. Boxer, instead of
receiving his overdue retirement, is sold to the horse slaughterer--perhaps the greatest
indignity to occur on Animal Farm. In the final chapter, the pigs exert their power by
walking upright on two legs as they prepare to join forces with the humans, and once
again the farm returns to its original name, "Manor Farm."

No comments:

Post a Comment

What is the meaning of the 4th stanza of Eliot's Preludes, especially the lines "I am moved by fancies...Infinitely suffering thing".

A century old this year, T.S. Eliot's Preludes raises the curtain on his great modernist masterpieces, The Love...