Animal Farm in 2013

Animal Farm is, quite obviously, an allegory of the Russian revolution. If one knows about the events of the Russian revolution, one can quickly associate them with the events that happen in the book. The animals rebelling represent the people of Russia, the people who lived in poverty and barely got enough to eat even with their hard work. The rebellion itself is the rebellion of the people, how they went against the Zar (Mr. Jones in the farm) and won. The pigs are the leaders of the rebellion, old Major being the one that implanted the idea on them (Karl Marx, maybe Lenin). At first, the new government seems perfect, but then there start being abuses that the people/animals don’t notice because of the power of propaganda, of fear: they don’t want Jones back/ they don’t want the Zar back. They’re all manipulated, and the leaders do as they please, get what they want. Then comes the battle, this is a parallel to the battles there were against the people who sympathized with the Zar and the people against him. Obviously, the side against him wins. With all this said, the book is truly a good allegory. You can see the things happen, can see the abuses.

Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that it can only mirror events in the past, it can also mirror events happening in the present, if only because past actions tend to repeat themselves in slightly different scenarios. Let’s take Egypt’s current situation as an example: (article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23744435) Their (now ex) president was deposed of his position by the military (because that was what people wanted), and they are currently being ruled by a military government which claims everyone is the same and have space in the country. But this is not true: the government kills the people that are against them, the people who want their old president back. One can easily relate this to the way of ruling the animals had, anyone who was against the regimen was frowned on and, after Napoleon’s ascension to absolute power, threatened by the government (the pigs). In both of them there are abusive governments that claim to be with the people, with everyone, claim that everyone is equal, has an equal place, even though those things are not true. They only accept people who believe in the same things as them, people who think the same as them, people who follow them.

In what ways does Major use rhetoric in his speech and what impact does that have on the animals?

Along his speech, Major uses rhetoric in many different ways. He uses these different rhetorical devices to be able to get his point across to the animals. But before I start making my points, I’ll explain what rhetoric is. Rhetoric is a way of using language in an effective ad persuasive way, rhetorical devices are persuasive language techniques. These techniques are really important because they help get points across to the listeners. Three of these that are important are rhetorical questions, tricolon and hyperbole.

Major uses rhetorical questions in various moments during his speech to make the animals think about the situation they live in, how they are made to work and gain nothing from it, how men take all the profit. “In return for your confinements and all your labour in the fields, what have you ever had except your bare rations and a stall?” _(p.5)  Here, Major makes them think about what they get in return after all their work, makes them think and realize it’s not what they deserve, they are barely given enough to live. The use of rhetoric devices here is to make them get to this realization. 

He also uses tricolon to highlight the state they live in, the various things that are wrong with it. “our lives are miserable, laborious and short” _(p.3) Here, he’s talking about the state their lives are in, how they don’t live happily, how they don’t live much. He uses tricolon to make his point more effectively, to make the animals see this faster, since three examples at once have more effect than only one. 

Hyperbole is a way of exaggerating statements to create strong impressions, Major uses it to express how much they have to do, how they are all abused. “forced to work to the last atom of our strength” _(p.4) What he says here is that they are abused, forced to work until they can’t do it anymore. This is also used to make the animals realize the state of the lives they live in.

To conclude, Major uses rhetorical devices in his speech to get the animals to think and come to the realization that mankind abuses them, makes them work for them while giving them nothing in exchange.  

Animal Farm, an introduction

After reading the first chapter of Animal Farm I can say that my favourite character is the cat. Since she didn’t appear much in the chapter, I couldn’t really see what type or relationship she had with the other animals, not much was described either. She seems to be comfortable enough with them, as she lies down in the middle of two animals freely and they say nothing about it. Her reaction to Old Major’s speech was to simply lay there and not listen to anything he said, voting for both sides when asked if rats should be considered enemies. The reason she is my favourite animal is this reaction to the speech. While reading the chapter I thought that was exactly what I would do in that situation, and so I quickly became identified with her and she became my favourite character from the first moment she appeared. I also liked the way she seems to only do what she wants to do, the way she walks around and goes where she wants, getting comfortable and paying attention to what she wants, not Old Major’s speech in this case. I can’t really judge the character very well though, after all, it’s only the first chapter.