Animal Farm Essay Research Paper Animal FarmAnimal

Animal Farm Essay, Research Paper Animal Farm Animal Farm is difficult to read seriously for the first few chapters, mostly because the main characters are animals that talk not only amongst themselves, but also with humans. After a short period, though, the animals take on such believable personalities that it is easy to forget that they are not humans. In the beginning, life is satisfactory at the Manor Farm. While food rations are low, no one is dying from starvation. One evening, an older member of the farm, a boar named Old Major announces that he will die soon. Before he dies, however, he wants to share with the rest of the animals his thoughts on how Man has ruined the animals’ life. He says that if animals were to grow their own food, Man would no longer be needed

on the farm, leaving all the profits to the animals. Society without man, of course, would be simpler and more relaxed. Old Major then suggests a revolution with the best of intents. A vote taken at the meeting proves Old Major’s main idea, that "all animals are equal". All the animals on the farm leave the meeting with fresh energy, prepared to run Manor Farm on their own, although not sure how to chase away their human master, Mr. Jones. Soon after Old Major’s speech he dies. One evening, Mr. Jones neglects to feed his animals. They become hungry and break into the storage shed to find some food. When their master finds his storage room a mess, he is furious, and begins to whip the animals violently. The animals decide this may be their only chance to get rid of

their master, and spontaneously fight back against Mr. Jones. He quickly flees from the farm with his wife. The Manor Farm is quickly renamed the Animal Farm, and a variety of changes take place. The farmhouse is declared a museum, and a set of Seven Commandments is created for the animals to follow (Orwell, 40). The principle rules are "All animals are equal" and the simple phrase memorized by every animal, "Four legs good, two legs bad". The other rules focus on making sure no animal ever takes on evil human characteristics such as drinking alcohol and sleeping in beds. Because the brains behind the Revolution, Old Major, is now dead, two pigs appoint themselves the leaders of Animal Farm, although the two do not agree. Neither of the two pigs, Napoleon or

Snowball, hold all of the dreams which inspired the creation of the farm. The only character who constantly communicates the existence of "a better place" after Old Major’s death is Moses, a raven. He never actually does farm work, but is still given food rations for keeping the animals motivated by talking of a perfect afterlife. Snowball, one of the head pigs in the Animal Farm’s early days is more like Old Major than Napoleon, but still leaves much to be desired. Snowball’s first action as self-appointed ruler is to set up committees so that each animal can be actively involved in making Animal Farm a success (Orwell, 49). Snowball has the brilliant idea of building a windmill. He carefully draws detailed plans of how the mill will operate and what it will

produce. All the animals love the idea except Napoleon. Snowball seems to follow the rule "every animal is equal" quite closely, and the animals on the farm seem to take his side in arguments between him and Napoleon. The fact that Snowball may be the favorite pig infuriates Napoleon. He is a boar who is quite secretive with his ideas, but always seems to firmly disagree with Snowball. Napoleon distances himself from the other animals and creates an illusion of supremacy for himself. One evening, during one of Snowball and Napoleon’s frequent arguments Napoleon sends his dogs to attack his opponent. Snowball is brutally attacked and runs away, never to be seen again on the farm. Therefore, Napoleon is left as the farm’s only leader. The farm animals always seem to