Animal Farm Essay Research Paper SETTING The — страница 7

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of the animals. Every Sunday morning, he gives his orders, and the masses file past the ‘Skill of Major’ reverently. On the third Sunday following Snowball’s expulsion, the animals are astonished to hear Napoleon’s announcement of his plan to build a Windmill. At the news, Squealer, who is Napoleon’s loyal propagandist, calms the masses with his persuasive talks, and the three dogs who happen to be with him silence every question with their menacing growls. Notes In this chapter, Orwell tries to portray a classic example of a dictator corrupted by power. The rivalry between Snowball and Napoleon reaches a crescendo. Snowball has won the support of the masses, in spite of Napoleon’s opposition to the building of the windmill. Napoleon refuses to loose. He brings in his

vicious dogs to attack Snowball, who barely escapes with his life. Everything happens so quickly that there is no resistance to Napoleon’s show of power. He has planned his moves carefully. His ‘Might is Right’ belief and his swift takeover of power are traits of a merciless dictator who stages a successful coup. Discontinuing Sunday Meetings and group planning, defamation of the enemy, manipulated evidences, seasoned arguments, and Squealer’s propaganda are the results of the rise of Napoleon to the position of an all powerful, ruthless ruler. To gain favor with his subjects, he goes forward the popular plan of the windmill, which he earlier opposed and now claims as his own. It is ironic that Napoleon has begun to act worse than Farmer Jones, the leader he so despised.

Behaving like a true dictator, he surrounds himself with bodyguards (the ferocious dogs), gives orders for the week to the animals each Sunday, convinces the masses that Snowball was an enemy all along, and digs up the skull of Old Major to serve as a symbol. On the satiric level, Napoleon’s takeover is a reflection of Stalin’s rise to power in Russia. CHAPTER 6 This chapter shows how Napoleon rules the farm. At first the animals are happy, thinking that they are doing everything for their own good. They work hard, putting in sixty-hour weeks throughout the spring and summer. In August Napoleon announces that there must be voluntary work on Sunday afternoons, and the absent ones will receive half rations. In spite of the intense labor, harvest is less successful than that of

the previous year. The Windmill also presents unexpected difficulties, but they are resolved under the superintendence of the pigs and the noble efforts of Boxer, who lives by the slogans of “I will work harder” and “Napoleon is always right”. Napoleon announces a new policy of engaging in trade with the neighboring farms, not for commercial purposes, but for obtaining urgent necessities. The animals have always lived by the commandment of not human contact, and now they feel uneasy about the violation of the commandment. Four pigs timidly raise their voices in protest, but they are silenced by the fierce growling of Napoleon’s dogs. The leader then says that the animals need not contact humans because he himself has taken the responsibility of doing so. Napoleon ends

his speech with ‘Long Live Animal Farm’. After the singing of the ‘Beasts of England’, the animals disperse and begin to grumble about Napoleon’s new policy. As usual, Squealer, the propagandist, assures the animals that the resolution against engaging in trade had never been official. Every Monday, Mr. Whymper, a sly-looking man, visits the farm. He is the first contact with the outside world, but there are rumors that Napoleon is about to enter a definite business agreement either with Mr. Pilkington or with Mr. Frederick. Napoleon and his pigs also take up residence in the farmhouse, stating that they need a quiet place to do their thinking work. They also claim that a leader needs the dignity of a house. Another of the seven commandments is broken since they stated

that “No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets”. In autumn the animals are tired but pleased, for the windmill is half-built. Only the skeptical Benjamin refuses to admire the work. In November, progress is stopped by the weather, but Napoleon forces the animals to continue building the windmill through the rain and cold. When a violent storm rocks the farm buildings and the trees and knocks the windmill down, Napoleon blames the poor weather on Snowball. He offers a reward and a title to anyone who captures him alive, for he wants to teach the pig a lesson. Notes Napoleon has become dictatorial in his leadership. The animals are no longer allowed to participate in decision making. Napoleon alone makes the rules. He forces them to work sixty-hour weeks and then adds Sunday