Animal Farm Chapter 2-4 Essay

One night, all the animals of Mr. Jones’ farm, gather together in the barn to listen to Old Major, the pig, tell them about a dream he had, in which no animal had to live under the reign of human owners which would happen after a large rebellion against the people that treated them as slaves. After his death, which occurred only three nights after that meeting, the rest of the animals spent months working on plans to make the rebellion that Old Major had spoken of, into a reality. In the beginning the pigs, particularly Snowball and Napoleon, which had naturally become the leaders, faced difficulties convincing the other animals that this was the right thing to do.

Orwell shows the difference in those with absolute control and those without the ability to express themselves by describing how “the pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others. With their superior knowledge, it was natural that they should assume the leadership”(35). By including this quote within the making of the new farm, Orwell expresses how the pigs took advantage of their authorial positions so they could force the others to work, while they dominated Animal Farm with their own rules. The pigs’ power allowed them to have freedom to do anything they wanted, but caused the other animals to be restricted further in their lives, work, and individual rights. This resulted in the exploitation of the other animals, forcing them to have lose any hopes of having an equal society. Still, the other animals did not protest, and instead believed the pigs should be in power because of their intelligence. Their actions lead to the oppressive, dictatorial society shown as Animal Farm progresses. Soon, the inequity between the pigs and other animals develops to a point where “all rations were reduced, except those of the pigs and the dogs. A too rigid equality in rations, Squealer explained, would have been contrary to the principles of Animalism”

During the course of the literary piece by George Orwell makes it clear how the animals are mistreated by “Mr. Jones “, because of this treatment they are receiving; Old Major dreams about a rebellion and how after the rebellion all animals will be treated equally. He sets rules that every animal should keep, and states “what ever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend”(Orwell,11) ; rules such as : “no animal must ever live in a house, or sleep in a bed, or wear clothes, or drink alcohol, or smoke tobacco, or touch money, or engage in trade” (Orwell, 11). According to George, the rebellion occurred much earlier than the animals had planned and they were not ready to have a settled government; that is when Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer take charge of the other animals referring to their government as animalism .When also having seven key commandments .This specific point on the literary work is the turning point of everything that Old Major had planned for his “perfect comradeship”. The pigs also taught themselves to read and write; adopting human habits. The majority of the animals work hard during the summer, while the pigs think of

Jones. The animals conformed by working like slaves for Mr. Jones who doesn’t even provide enough food for their strength. After Old Major motivated the animals to revolt, they wished for change and fair treatments, and the only way for that to happen is to get rid of the humans and rule the farm themselves. Old Major had admitted “The life of an animal is misery and slavery: that is the plain truth” (page 7). What Old Major said had triggered the animals and made them consider the idea of a rebellion. The consequences of their conformity was bad treatment, labor, poverty and injustice. After they overthrew all the humans who ruled the farm, which cause more consequences for their nonconformity, the animals felt free and rich. Although, after they have revolted and kicked the humans out, they proved that conformity was no longer apart of their farm, and showed the upsides of

The animals notice that the pigs and dogs do not produce any harvest by their own labour, yet they still consume the most of it. They are beginning to think things are worse than they were when Jones was there. They work longer hours and are not fed any better than before. Only Old Benjamin remembers that things, “ never had been, nor ever could be much better or worse - hunger, hardship, and disappointment being so he said, the unalterable law of

As Orwell wrote he showed the animals had no background “ the older ones among them racked their dim memories and tried to determine whether in the early days of the Rebellion, when Jones's expulsion was still recent, things had been better or worse that now. They could not remember there was nothing with which they could compare their present lives” (129). This shows that the animals wouldn't know any better than what they were living, the hard work, long days, and harsh rules. This was how life was with Mr. Jones, Napoleon, and the current leader. This is important because the animals are being controlled, they are without freedom but don't know any better, they don't know if they are living well. This affects their reasoning on whether to demand better or to live how it is currently. Earlier in the book Orwell showed how not much has changed “For the first time since the expulsion of JOnes, there was something resembling a rebellion. . . the hens made a determined effort to thwart Napoleon’s wishes. Their method was to fly up to the rafters and lay their eggs, which smashed to pieces on the floor” (86-87). This shows that the

The next theme that is exposed in this book is rebellion. The most prominent scenario that is seen in this book and defines the definition of rebellion is introduced in the first chapter. In the first chapter Old Major, a prize possession boar of Mr. Jones, gathers all the animals to the barn to share a dream he had the previous night. All the animals show except for the raven. Once all the animals are gathered Old Major tells his dream of Animal Farm in a non suffering state where all the animals would be free and allowed to live life free without labor. However, he does mention that in order to achieve this utopia the animals must get rid of man since man is the only factor that causes the animals to labor, and man does not produce rather

Mr.Jones was very cruel to his animals. That caused them to rebel and fight back. At the meeting where Old Major told the animals about his dream he said,“Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of our hunger and overwork is abolished forever” (19). Mr.Jones caused the animals to be overworked and starved this was his cruelty to the animals.

The animals are treated horribly. For example, Mr. Jones and his workers forget to feed them, and often take the hens’ eggs for themselves. One night the animals gather up the courage to overthrow Mr. Jones and his bad ways to change things for the better.

The animals of Manor Farm are irate and frustrated under Mr. Jones, Old Major starts the idea of a revolution by overthrowing the incompetent leader of Manor’s Farm and the

Jones. When giving a speech to the animals Old Major says, “The life of an animal is misery and slavery: that is the plain truth”(Orwell 7). This illustrates how unhappy the animals are with the way that they are being treated. They are fed the bare minimum, and are enslaved to work for Mr. Jones against their will. Later when Old Major is speaking to the animals he says, “That is my message to you, comrades: Rebellion!”(Orwell 9). This demonstrates how the animals are considering rebellion. They are planning on rebelling against Mr. Jones to gain back their freedom. The animals were fighting Mr. Jones and the neighboring farmers when, “all the sheep... rushed forward and prodded and butted the men from every side”(Orwell 41). The animals were trying to keep the farmers from taking back the farm. In doing so, they were sacrificing their safety in order to keep the freedom they fought for earlier in the book. To conclude, the animals had to fight in order to gain their freedom from Mr. Jones.

After a few years, the animals could not recall what life was like with Jones. “ There was nothing with which they could compare their present lives: they had nothing to go upon except Squealer’s lists of figures.” (114-115)The original animals from the rebellion were so dispirited that they did not pass on Old Major’s dream. The newcomers knew nothing else of life because they were either born there or came at a young age. “They were generally hungry, they slept on straw, they drank from the pool, they labored in the fields; in winter they were troubled by the cold, and in summer by the flies.”

It begins at the first of the novel when Old Major, the wisest of the pigs, uses the authority he possesses to manipulate the animals into fulfilling his dying wish, without them even knowing they are being manipulated. When Old Major dies and the pigs take over, they are determined to change things and successfully run off Mr. Jones, the owner of the farm. The pigs take over and gain authority so easily, because they know so much about the farm already. Orwell explains in the novel “The pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised others. With their superior knowledge it was natural that they should assume the leadership” (27-28).

In the beginning of the book, the farm’s owner, Mr.Jones comes home and goes straight to bed. Knowing that they are safe to congregate, the animals meet in the barn, listening to a lecture from a pig named Old Major. He tells his comrades that he had a dream in which they were free from humans, and all animals were equal. He also taught them a song about animals becoming free

The rebellion was to escape from people and their cruel ways, but can they escape the death-grip of their own kind? The animals of animal farms are mistreated and have no rights. Mr and Mrs. Jones were the owners of Manor Farm, the human oppressors, and authoritarians of the animals. The animals rebel against the Jones and take over the farm. They create a utopian society for themselves, but the utopia quickly turns into a dystopia when the pigs take control of the farm. In many ways, Animal Farm is a complete allegorical / fable –like retelling of the founding of the Soviet Union, complete with a rebellion and eventual installation of a dictator. Like the ideological battle that was raged in Russia between the classes, the one that is played out in this novel have many of the same themes, including an initial push to strengthen the working class, a strong beginning movement of nationalism and unity, a series of successful efforts to topple the ruling authority (Mr. Jones), all followed by a complete totalitarian takeover by a dictator who is a hypocrite and goes back on many of the promises he made at the height of the revolutionary action.