In Response to Mrs.Mahler

           I believe that today more than ever Americans are behaving just like the animals on Animal Farm. Youth especially conforms and does not protest their government because, in reality, most have no idea what is occurring in politics. This has not always been the case. During the Vietnam war hippies protested for what they believed for. This is difficult to find now and days. A few months ago I saw a story in the news which reminds me of the question you asked about the pigs. A city official who knew Wichita's mayor personally was able to get out of quite a few speeding tickets by simply mentioning his name. Even more outrageous was the fact that when this was found out the city official was not reprimanded because that is not "illegal".  I think that Orwell advises us to rebel and to ask question when we think there has been an injustice. In this book he displays for us an image of what were to happen if we do not. Though I agree with his plan I have serious doubts about whether we as a society would be able to do this. (I'm kind of a pessimist : )

Chapters 9 & 10

        The final chapters of Animal Farm have ended in the only way that seemed possible; with, not only the total return to the miserable lives the animals knew under Jones, but to conditions that are far worse than they have ever been. The animals under Napoleon worked harder and with joy for they felt that they were doing it for the good of all and so that they could all live equally on a perfect farm. They also strived  to be the opposite of humans who they saw as evil and corrupt. In these last few chapters we see that this beautiful plan has gone horrifically wrong to a society who's single rule is "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
         What happened to Boxer was the best indication of the hopelessness of this society. After Boxer, the one animal who through the entire process has always worked the hardest, longest, and without complain, dies from overwork, though one would expect Napoleon to at least acknowledge his efforts and commitment to their society, has Boxer sold for his own benefit. This displays how, even under ideal conditions, this society would not have worked because of the ruler's selfish behaviors and motives.This angered me more than if it had happened to any other animal. It seems beyond just wrong for Napoleon to have done this. And, what angered  me more than even Napoleon's actions, was the other animal's acceptance of this event. I had though that surely this would cause the animals to revolt. However, they just continued to be oblivious to Napoleon's evilness.
            The animals on animal farm have prided themselves from their beginnings on having been able to create a truly equal society with the expulsion of humans. This has turned completely with the pigs and humans becoming completely indistinguishable. The part where Orwell describes the pigs walking on two legs chills me because it shows how the animals' future is undoubtedly to be under the complete rule of a tyrant who they had all believed in so long. The loss of the animals naive optimism is hard to read because it was all they had and now there is no way to deny what has happened.
       

Animal Farm Chapters 7 & 8

             What has happened in these two chapters was the almost complete disintegration of the values of the original society. All of their original commandments have been broken. The most important of all the commandments; no animal shall kill any other animal and all animals are equal have been been altered to benefit the person in charge. This was the point Orwell was attempting to make in the essay we read. Politicians are essentially manipulating every law and stating everything in a certain way to convince those under them that they are honest and the "good guy". As with Russia and later Germany this and propaganda was an essential part of controlling the general public.
             Another method of control was through the "show trials" of those who had shown any sort of opposition towards Napoleon. This also occurred in real life to the enemies of Stalin who were publicly tried and found guilty even if the accusation were completely false. They were sometimes even made to confess to crimes they did not commit. This is when Napoleon disregards the original commandment that one animals will not kill another animal. This might have been a point in which the animals rose against Napoleon if it had not been for Napoleons' addition of "no animal shall kill any other animal without cause" to the rule. He also did this with the drinking rule where he changed it to "not animal shall drink to excess." These are just some examples of a politician manipulating the truth.
        The other rule which has irrevocably been perverted was the equity of all. Though this rule has had little standing since the beginning when the pigs initially took charge it has now been taken to a new extreme. Napoleon is now to be called "our Leader, Comrade Napoleon." He is clearly the highest class and under him is everyone else. Of all of the rules equality is the most difficult to implement because of peoples natural tendencies to make different social levels. The only way in which it would be possible to have this equality is in a society where everyone is fully committed and willing, which is not only rare, but as some would argue impossible. 

Animal Farm Chapters 5 & 6

        In chapters 5 and 6 we see some characters such as Mollie and Snowball who leave the farm. However they leave for completely different reasons. With Mollie she betrays the animals and all they stood for by leaving them to be with the humans. Snowball on the other hand is chased off the farm by Napoleon's evil dog minions. Napoleon is then left with all the power with which to exploit the other animals. The pigs are also seen as taking more command of the farm and changing the rules to benefit them.
       While I was reading this chapter on of the things that stood out to me was not only the rivalry between the amazing orator Snowball and the cunning Napoleon but also the favoritism Orwell seemed to have for Snowball. Throughout the chapter Orwell made Snowball seem as if he had the best interest of the group in mind while building the windmill. Though he may have good intentions with the windmill that does not entirely make up for the fact that he, like all the other pigs, took advantage of the other animals with things like the apples and milk. This is overlooked and in the book Snowball becomes hardworking, dedicated, and caring with others. This is when, not the pigs as a group, but Napoleon becomes the villain. In reality, Trotsky may have been a better leader but he is still guilty of exploiting the animals. He may have actually turned out to be a worse leader than Napoleon because of his speaking abilities but we will not know because of his expulsion from the farm.
     Another prominent feature of this chapter is Boxer who repeats to himself "I will work harder" and "Napoleon is always right". He is dedicated to this group and its ideals more than anyone else it seems. When I was reading these chapters I saw Piggy from Lord of the Flies when I thought of Boxer. Like Boxer, Piggy is a large part of the support for the group of boys led by Ralph. He works hard and is always thinking of the group. Also like Piggy I believe that if Boxer overexerts himself and does happen to leave the group a major component of it will disintegrate and, as with Piggy's death the farm will fall apart.
    

Animal Farm Chapters 3 & 4

         During Chapter's three and four the animals' society is beginning to show the cracks in its foundation and many of the "comrades" have shown their true colors. However these animals have also shown they are excellent at manipulating the truth and making themselves seem innocent. This is exactly what Orwell was talking about when he wrote his essay about "political language". Also in this chapter we see how the community is being divided off between those who truly believe in the equality of all and those attempting to take advantage of the believers. I believe this represents what would occur in the real world if communism was instigated. Though in an ideal world everyone could be equal as we see there will always be those who are only looking out for themselves.
        We also see in this chapter how the farmer attempts to take back his farm from the animals. They manage to fend him off but in the process lose a comrade. The dead sheep is buried and is given an award for bravery. I don't known if the sheep is meant to symbolize any person in the Russian Revolution but it seems important. Another symbol I saw in this chapter was the neighbors of the farms who are mentioned who attempt to make others believe that animalism and animal farm were terrible places. They said that the animals practiced cannibalism and torture. What these two farmers remind me of is everyone who feared communism and tried to make it seem horrible such as America. How I know this is that even now the word communism has a bad connotation with Americans and many other places around the world.

Politics and the English Language

          George Orwell wrote an essay about how the English language was being degenerated because of "political language". This essay may have been written more than half a century ago, but his accusations still apply today. Orwell believed that "Political language...is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind." When I read, this it made perfect sense to me. Often when we hear politicians speak, they substitute words such as murder with other less offensive words that sound better but mean the same thing. When they do this it is worse then if they just outright lied because if they lied they could be confronted. When they just restate it however its the truth stated in a kinder way.
           When I was reading his essay I found that what he was saying contradicted everything I had once believed. For example, since we first began writing essay we were taught to write with longer more complex words. In the examples Orwell gave he included quotes written by college professors. These quotes were confusing and often they even contradicted themselves. When I would read papers like this I always believed this is how you are supposed to write essays. Now I see that these papers break all of Orwell's rules and I will now attempt to avoid making their mistakes.
       

Animal Farm Chapters 1 & 2

      During the first two chapters of Animal Farm we were introduced to a variety of characters who represent figures from the Russian Revolution. Among these are Tsar Nicholas 2 who is represented as Mr. Jones the Farmer. The pig Major is depicted as the father of communism; Karl Marx. The raven in the novel, named Moses, is representing the Russian Orthodox Church and is shown as being fed "crusts of bread soaked in beer" by the farmer. Clearly, as in Russia during the time, the Church is working for the Tsar and in exchange is being heavily bribed. Also as with Marx's theory of communism, it is not the peoples' or in this case animals' fault for their hard lives. "Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished for ever." Like the people of Russia, the animals believed that the sole cause of their difficult lives were the "upper class" who exploited them for only their own benefits. They believed that by ridding themselves of this ruling class their problems would be solved and they would live as equals.

        Throughout these beginning chapters I found the connections to the Russian Revolution clearly stated, so that there is no doubt of the person and their human counterpart. One of the characters that still confuses me though, is Snowball. Currently I cannot figure out if Snowball is Stalin or Trotsky. He is clearly one of the two but hopefully in the proceeding chapters it will be made obvious by whom ends up being killed by the other. 

          Animal Farm, Anthem, and Lord of the Flies all share many similarities. One of the more significant is the fact that the creators of their civilizations shared a dream of a utopia in which people would live happy lives free from tyranny and oppression. This dream then proceeded to degrade into a world of evil, corruption, and suffering. This degradation was due to not the government, which they had abolished or removed, but by the own people's inner evil which slowly infected the society and caused it to spread like a cancer and cause unprecedented damage. Marx may have believed that people were inherently good, like some philosophers, but it has been proven by countless revolutions and displayed in many novels that this is not the case at all.