Friday, June 29, 2012

Question Three: Animal Farm

Animal Farm


A symbol is an object, word or idea that represents something else. Identify a symbol and refer to specific places in the novel that this symbol manifests itself. Explain what the symbol is, what it represents, why the author may have included it, why it is important to the story, etc. 


You will respond to this question by leaving a comment on this post. 
Responses should be at least 200 words each.
Remember: you must respond to at least 5 questions per novel. 
Extra credit will be awarded if you respond to more than 5 questions.

16 comments:

  1. I think one of the symbols in the novel would be the windmill. The windmill is just another symbol of the pigs’ power over the others. The pigs had gotten all of the animals to work as hard as they could to build the windmill, while they didn’t work at all. They had told the other animals that the windmill would help all of them, by powering machines that would do most of their work for them and make their stalls more comfortable to live in. While in reality, the windmill ended up not being used for that purpose at all. The pigs used it to mill corn, so they that could make a profit and trade with the other farmers. The only animals that were actually benefited by this windmill were the pigs. I think that the author might have included this symbol because it shows just how much power the pigs really had and their ability to manipulate the other animals into doing anything they wanted. The windmill is important to the story because it shows how tricky and deceiving the pigs really were. It shows how they had been corrupted and how the other animals were so easy to believe anything that the pigs would say to them.

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  2. One of the symbols in Animal Farm is the windmill. One place that the windmill is in the novel is when the pigs made the other animals do an exhausting amount of backbreaking labor to build the windmill so that they could have more money, which resulted in more power over all of the other animals for them. The windmill represents the pigs changing what the other animals think for their own gain. The author may have included the windmill to show how the pigs prevent the animals from doubting their abilities. He did this by having the pigs say that Snowball was responsible for the windmill’s first collapse. The windmill is important to the story because the pigs use it for their own good by telling the other animals that it would be used for lights in their stalls and powering machines so they would have to do less work, but the pigs actually used it to grind corn, and it only made the pigs lives better.

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  3. I believe a symbol of this novel would be the motto, "four legs good, two legs bad". In chapter five, Napoleon is teaching this motto to the sheep. I think this symbol shows how much Mr. Jones affected the animals’ attitudes towards humans. I do not believe this motto is fair. Just because Mr. Jones made them work hard and didn’t always treat them fairly, does not mean they should take this out on all things with two legs! I think the author included this to show how much of an affect one person can have on others. If it wasn’t for Mr. Jones, the animals would not really have a reason to rebel against humans. Also, I think he included this in the novel because it shows how one animal can lead other animals into hating humans and rebelling against them too. This motto is important to tell the story because it shows the animals’ true feelings towards humans. It shows why they took over the farm and it gives us a better understanding of why they had the Rebellion and the Battle of Cowsheds. It shows that they mean what they say, they are standing up for what they believe in, and they are not backing down.

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  4. In this novel, I think the symbol is the farm house (Animal Farm), because once Jones goes away the animals take over the farm and start this huge rebellion. They send out the birds to go tell all the other animals on the other farms to start rebelling against their owners. Animal Farm represents this book because it is a farm run by animals. It is like a little nation; the government is the pigs, the police are the dogs, and the rest of the nation is the other animals. This is shown many times in this novel. When Napoleon had to tell the animals something, when he would come out of the house he would have four dogs around him. And that is like when the governor or president goes anywhere they have a bunch of police around them. Another symbol for this novel could be the windmill; the windmill represents all of their hard work and loyalty to their farm, and how much they want the farm to keep going. These symbols are important because it shows that the animals will work hard for what they want and that they won’t give up!

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  5. I think one of the symbols in this book is the song, The Beasts of England. Throughout this book this song is sung numerous times. That is, until the pigs said that the song was no longer needed by the animals. It was a song that Old Major, the pig, wrote and sang for to the rest of the animals. Soon they all learned it and were singing with Major before he died. The Beasts of England represented to the animals loyalty, pride, strength, and determination. The animals enjoyed singing this song with each other; it gave them comfort. The author probably included this song to let you get a better picture of what the rebellion truly was. The song is very important to the story beacause it shows the animal's feelings toward the humans and also shows how deceitful the pigs trully were. For example, the pigs sang the song with the other animals, but after Major died, the pigs told them the song was forbidden because it was not necessary.

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  6. I think a good symbol to represent this novel is the anthem Beasts of England. It is a song that Old Major taught the farm animals before he died. The animals always sang it at meetings, after the Rebellion, and when they raised the flag after the Battle of Cowshed. To them, I believe this song meant freedom. At first, it begins by saying how their lives pass in endless drudgery; the first lesson an animal learns is how to endure its labor/slavery, and how their lives end in cruel butchery. It continues with how the day is coming when man will lose their throne, and the animals will rule. They will no longer have to use saddles, bits, and spurs. Whips will no longer crack. When the day of beasts comes, they will also have all of the food they need. Beasts of England is important to the story because it is what drove them to the Rebellion. They wanted that freedom, so it gave them motivation and it inspired them to throw out Jones in the first place. They began telling animals from other farms so that, when the time came, they could throw out their farmers as well. They all wanted to be free.

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  7. I think a symbol in this book would be the Seven Commandments. In the book it shows up at the beginning when Snowball first wrote the big, white letters on the barn wall. It shows up again later when the animals keep coming back to check if what the pigs were doing was against the commandments. Then later it comes up when the animals find Sqealer on the floor with a broken ladder and paint. Then finally it comes up at the end when Clover and Benjamin go to look at them and Benjamin reads it and the original commandments were blocked out and on the wall was written "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others". This symbol is pretty much the foundation for the whole Rebellion. This symbol represents the laws that were written when the Animal Farm was at its highest points. I think the author included this because it's very important in the beginning of the book and in the end and it shows that animals cannot successfully run a farm without changing the original law and becoming greedy with power. I think it is important to the story because it shows how easily they can stray away from the law.

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  9. I think the symbol of this book is the windmill. The windmill represents the Pigs control over the animals for their own benefit. Snowball had the idea to build a windmill for electricity and then Snowball was chased out by dogs and Napolean took his idea and was able to convince the other animals to build the windmill. This is difficult labor and the animals worked hard to build the windmill. However, the windmill was made for Napolean's benefit to mill corn which in turn helped him make money and earn even more power. The author included the windmill to show how much power the pigs had over the other animals. It is important to the story to show how easily manipulated the lesser intelligent animals and how Napolean gained absolute power. It also shows that although they started out as equal animals, in the end the leader won and used the other animals for personal gain

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  10. In Animal Farm, I believe the symbol is the windmill. It symbolizes the pigs' manipulation of the other animals for their own gain. It is often used as an example of the banishment of Snowball. Snowball had planned for the windmill to be used as a source of energy to provide the farm with heat and electricity. That is until Napoleon had his dogs run Snowball off the farm. After that had been accomplished, Napoleon stole Snowball's idea and changed it so that he would make more money off the windmill thus increasing his power. He easily persuaded the animals by reminding them of what life had been like under the authority of Mr. Jones. The pigs take advantage of Boxer and the other animals by making them attempt backbreaking labor to build the windmill therefore increasing their power yet again. They blame Snowball for the first destruction of the windmill numerous times. I think the author included the windmill because it shows how devious the pigs really were. Napoleon had deceived the animals many times for the sake of only himself. The windmill is important to the story because it represents the best idea used for the worst way. It was a great idea if only it had been used for a great reason. Instead, Napoleon uses it for his own riches instead of for everyone's benefit.

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  11. One obvious symbol used in this book is Orwell's use of a specific breed of animal to represent the type of person he was satirizing. For instance, using the pigs as the leaders represents their greediness - just like pigs at a feeding trough at a real farm. In chapter three, the greediness of the pigs is apparent when it is discovered that the cow's milk is gone along with the wind fallen apples after the other animals return from harvesting. These animals were told and then believed that the pigs needed those rations to remain smart and be the best supervisors. The use of the Raven and even using the name of Moses represents how religion is often used - only as needed in most cases and as a way to escape someone's current down run situation. In the book, Moses tells the animals about Sugarcandy Mountain, and the pigs allow this because it keeps the animals happy hoping it will come true.

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  12. My favorite symbol in this book has to be Snowball. After Snowball was exiled from the farm, Napoleon took advantage of his absence to spread falsehoods about his actions and his character. At the Battle of the Cowshed in chapter four, Snowball showed great courage in rallying the troops and driving back Jones' men. Over time, Squealer successfully spreads lies of Snowballs supposed evil, and how he had been working with Jones all along. Whenever there was a problem, Snowball would be the scapegoat to take the blame. Napoleon painted him as the enemy because he needed to inspire the animals to action, explaining Snowball mustn't get the better of them. Snowball never returned to the farm, but his symbolism as an ideal scapegoat was relevant throughout the middle of the book.

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  13. The symbol I have seen in this book that I am choosing to talk about is how the pigs were higher up than the other animals. They got bigger portions of apples than everyone, better places to sleep, and bossed everyone around. I think this relates to when (a while ago) the blacks were seen a lot lower than everyone else. How they got treated a lot worse but really should be equal! It was an awful time for the blacks, being punished and put down for their race! It wasn’t right. I think the author showed this symbol in his novel is because he didn’t like what was happening in real life, so he decided to make a fictional novel about it. He liked everyone to be equal, not just put in “different groups” so to speak. Just like the pigs having different eating areas than other animals, African Americans had to use different bathrooms, water fountains, etc. This may not be the main example you are looking for about my symbol “the pigs being higher than everyone else”, but I thought this made the most sense. This is very important part of the story because it shows us what isn’t right. Pigs should be no higher than the other animals. They may not be able to work as hard and efficiently as the other animals, but they should still be worked as the others.

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  14. One symbol in the book Animal Farm would be the windmill. The windmill was Snowball's idea to begin with and was designed to supply power for the farm to make life easier. Then Napoleon claimed it was his idea after he ran off Snowball. The building of the windmill went through many difficulties like, struggling to break up the boulders for stone, being destroyed in a storm, and being blown up. This represents the hardships undergone by animal farm. The windmill also represents my chosen theme, cleverly deceiving the animals. For example, when the animals decided to build the windmill, the pigs forced the animals to build the windmill without them doing any work. When the windmill was destroyed in the storm, the pigs blamed it on snowball and made the farm rebuild it. Not the pigs though, because they were supervising. The author included the windmill because it was a good way to express the situation of the farm. In the story, it showed that the pigs were ruling over the other animals. This is important to the story because the whole story is about how Napoleon and the pigs try to slowly deceive and take over the farm, with the windmill being a key part in their dominance over the animals.

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  15. I think the symbol for this book is the song, Beasts of England. It was a song that Old Major, the pig, taught the other animals before he passed away. The animals sang this song after they conquered Animal Farm, at their meetings, and after the Battle of Cowshed. I think it represents bravery and freedom to the animals. At first, the song talks about the animals overthrowing the humans, and conquering their freedom. They will no longer have to work as slaves for the humans. It describes the hard labor and work they go through, but once the animals over power the humans, they will have their freedom. It was important to story because it inspired them to stand up for what they believe in. It gave them confidence as well as comfort and peace. The Beasts of England drove the animals to Rebellion, and soon they threw Jones and his men out of Manor Farm. Once Animal Farm was conquered by the animals, they sang Beasts of England. They acted boldly. I also think it was important to the story because they sang it in memory of Old Major, and I believe it gave the animals a sense of freedom.

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  16. In the book Animal Farm I think the symbol would be the windmill. The windmill was just one of the many objects used to represent the pig’s power over all the other animals on the farm. The pigs would make the other animals on the farm work all day and work all night, just so the pigs could make a little more money for their own selfish selves. I think the windmill just represents the pig’s power and dominance the pigs had on all the other animals on the farm. I also think the author may have included the windmill on the farm in animal farm to show the reader of the book how the pigs would use the power and how they would use the money they got out of the windmill. The windmill also shows hoe the pigs mistreated the power they were given. They overworked the animals and mistreated them. The windmill is important in this book because it shows not just how the pigs got used the power they had over the other animals but also how the other farm animals reacted to this use of power from the pigs. The windmill also shows how the pigs showed the other animals they were in charge of the farm and how they let the other animals know their place so they stayed in power.

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