George Orwell's
Animal Farm -- originally published in 1945, is an allegory, a fable, a cautionary tale about the emergence of a totalitarian state -- in a famyard. It's said that Orwell's strong take on his subject was formed by his experiences fighting the Fascists in the Spanish Civil War in 1936-37. The dictator Francisco Franco had declared war upon his own country, and like the "fasces" for which fascism is named, his bundle of sticks (that is, his armed forces) held together, and prevailed. The opposition, fractured by political infighting and attempts by outside forces to co-opt their forces, never really had much of a chance.
Orwell had originally sought to join the International Brigades, which were controlled by the Soviet-directed Communist Party, but found himself rejected by them because he was too much of a free-thinking, too unwilling to toe the party line. He then joined the Worker's Party of Marxist Unification. As fate would have it, this put him on the losing side of an internal split within the international Communist party, which pitted those aligned with Leon Trotsky against the central party under the control of Josef Stalin -- a fight which ended with Trotsky's assassination in Mexico in 1940. Disillusioned by the whole mess, Orwell initially wrote a nonfiction memoir,
Homage to Catalonia (1938), but it received little attention at the time. At that point, it seemed to him that perhaps the best way to show the flaws of party-dominated "groupthink" was more by way of a parable than an appeal to reason.
It took a while to sink in. In the wake of the end of World War II, the gradual growth of anti-communist fervor in the United States made the book a target -- at times, for both sides. The first illustrated edition was released alongside the
1954 animated firm version, with illustrations by Joy Batchelor and John Halas, who had done the character art for the film (it's worth nothing that this was the first feature-length animated cartoon ever produced in Britain, as well as that it received much of its funding from the CIA!). Other noteworthy versions were illustrated by Ralph Steadman (known for his collaborations with Hunter S. Thompson) and
Quentin Blake (known for his work on Roald Dahl's books). This new edition has been illustrated by
Odyr Bernardi, a Brazillian cartoonist and artist born in 1967. His work hasn't been widely known in the US before, but his graphic novel
Guadalupe, written in collaboration with the poet
Angélica Freitas, was widely acclaimed.
So what is
Animal Farm ultimately, about? Who are the pigs, and who are the heroic horses? Orwell himself identified as a socialist, but saw all too vividly the hazards of a "socialist" party that proclaimed "some animals are more equal than others." Your thoughts here.
Animal Farm was definitely a strange reading, one that i did not understand until the very end. The variety of animals within the animal farm made the book feel as if you were reading a regular chapter book with humans as main characters. I believe the pigs represented the idea that only one can hold political power, and what they say goes. The pigs acted almost like a president, where they were the ones planning how everyone went about doing certain things, they decided who was going to die based off their actions, and gave orders to the other animals when building the well. In the book, it was obvious that the horses were the hard working class. They did everything they could to the best of their ability, and at one point it talked about how they wouldn't have been able to accomplish the difficult task of pulling large boulders uphill to smash into pieces, without the horses. The horses were over worked much like the working class in older times. Overall, it was interesting how a book about animals on a farm could tie together as an actual political problem in the end.
ReplyDeleteThroughout this reading it was a little confusing from time to time. The pigs appear to be like tyrants or like a mafia boss. The horses seemed to be like hard working soldiers. The dogs seem to be like the mafia or corrupt bodyguards and officers. The problem I can see here in terms of socialism is that at first it appears to be fair, everyone gets equal portions. However socialism promotes equality not equity. The pigs in the story make the rules appear to seem fair, even as they changed or modified the 7 commandments. The sheep were like gullible and patriotic citizens. I was definitely able to see the political makeup throughout this story, but I did get confused from time to time in terms of who was who. But overall, this was a well done graphic novel.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading Animal Farm in high school and I feel like it was much more difficult to follow in the graphic novel versus the written novel.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning when they put Old Major's skull on display showing that he was the leader for the idea of the animals coming together and creating Animal Farm.
When Snowball and Napoleon are fighting to become the "new leader" and Napoleon won, I saw a foreshadowed that Snowball would fight back to try and damage what they were creating in the farm. The pigs start out being equal with the other animals but as the story ends it is quoted "The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which (p 172)." This quote is significant because the Napoleon wanted nothing to do with humans and had taught the animals that anything with two legs is bad, but buy the end, Napeoplin and the other pigs were walking with two legs and acting like humans and the other animals could not tell them apart. Napoleon turned out to be a terrible leader and was pushing the animals to work for him to make his life better.
After reading Animal Farm I have a better understanding as to where to book was gravitating towards. However as I was reading it from the beginning I didn't know which direction it was going to take. The pigs were the leaders, horses were the workers, and the group of dogs served as the pigs protection. By the end of the novel , all the rules that were initially established in the beginning by the farms animals were broken. In the beginning they agreed for all the "animals" to be equal and to not turn on one another ,that anything with four legs was good and anything with two legs was bad ,aside from two legged farm animals. As soon as the pigs gained more and more power within the farm they thought changing the rules that they originally made was okay for them to do. I wouldn't say Animal farm wasn't a good read, it just didn't spark as much of an interest as other novels we have read so far. In society we have had these same experiences when the ones in charge as they gain more power they tend to be little who doesn't have power even more, so I wouldn't say that the novel wasn't relatable towards real life situations in today society.
ReplyDelete-Karissa Santos
I remember reading Animal Farm in high school so it's interesting to see the graphic version. Some of the pages are so detailed and gruesome to see the dogs eating/ killing the other animals after they confessed their sins. It is definitely representative of a political system. The pigs held the most power and were most respected. The horses were the hard working middle class, and the dogs were more of the rebellious corrupt party. It was also interesting to see how they modified the commandments and essentially made them simpler for the less intelligent groups of animals that couldn't memorize them. Overall this is not my favorite story but understand the real issues that it is trying to represent.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I was not expecting the ending of it. At first I thought it was going to be “cheesy” this reading and I questioned myself why this book but after I finished it, I read it again just in case I missed anything and got a better understanding of it. At first I thought it was so we can understand how different genres of readings can be written and tell a story. But then I got the main point of it. I thought it was going to be all about equality but it really was more about how there can be more people superior and have more control over you all because of the level of power. Each animal played a unique role in this story and it was interesting to see how the fact that they are all categorized as animals, some had a less important saying in the decisions. The pigs had a higher rank in power than any other animal although they were raised by the same person (Mr. Jones). In my opinion this is a good book for young readers to connect a reading to a political issue and understand that “some animals are more equal than others.”
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I thought this book was really weird. Definitely my least favorite reading thus far. I agree with the majority of the comments as far as the roles. The pigs where the leaders and the ones holding the political power, the dogs seemed like the corrupt bodyguards for the pig's protection, and the horses are the working class, to me sort of like slaves. The conflict in the story begins when the animals' desire for freedom and equality and their agreement to stick together is corrupted by the formation of a "political party" created by the pigs who then take control and run the show, changing the rules that were already stablished at the beginning; stealing food; becoming more and more violent by introducing the police force by the dogs; and ordering brutal executions that were not fair. It was interesting to see how at the end the pigs end up in the same side with the human farmers because they are both equally corrupted. This book is a clear representation of political power, oppression, corruption, and the violations of the people's rights, that has happened throughout history and still goes on in some countries to this day. This was a very interesting way of representing humans based on their actions. It is funny that actually in Spanish we tend to call someone that is dirty or who does dirty work, or someone who acts with malice a pig ("cerdo") so this is very accurate as it is showed in the book.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the animal farm is an interesting commentary on the flaws of socialism and how socialism can quickly turn into class system, and although we can destroy them and try to make a better system, it will slowly revert back into chaos. Towards the end of the book when the comments are made that “Some animals are more equal than others” reinforces this point that every system will slowly revert to corruption if the individual in power is not careful or held accountable by the people. I remembered reading this book in High school, so it was interesting to be able to compare it to the graphic novel adaptation. I also think it is interesting to read after we read The Jungle because we can see the two sides of socialism and allows us to understand that no system is really perfect, and there will always be flaws. I always admired this book because of all the symbolism that Orwell adds. The graphic adaptation is also very interesting because, like our previous books, I felt like I was more connected with the characters. I felt this way because I was able to physically watch the events unfold. Overall the commentary that Orwell makes in this novel stood the test of time and is still relevant today which is one of the most interesting aspects of this book- Lisbeth Spitzschuh
ReplyDeleteAt first this novel grasped my attention because of the font style, and the way all the illustrations seem to be hand-painted. I've never read Animal Farm, and I never knew what it was about. I had suspicions that the book was about socialism as I began to read, but I wasn't sure. Once I reached the part where Napoleon became the new leader, I returned to this blog post only to confirm my suspicions. I found it really interesting how Dr. Potter wrote that Animal Farm was used as an argumentative tool from both people for and against socialism. My question is this: If the book ended with so many animals dying and feeling unhappy, what would have been the positive arguments that were sparked by this book?
ReplyDelete-Catherine Comfort
While reading Animal Farm by George Arwell, I was a bit confused till the end. The book ultimately tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their owner wanting to create a socialist society at the farm where the animals could be equal and free. Yet, the plan ends up backfiring and the farm ends up under the ownership of a pig named Napoleon. This read was definitely an interesting one, and did not spark my interest like the previous novels have. Except, one quote that stuck out to me was in Chapter 3 was, "Four legs good, two legs bad." about Snowball's idea of the Seven Commandments of Animalism, and seems to help to have helped the animals achieve their original goal. Yet, the phrase soon becomes something repeated over and over again by the sheep and almost gets lost in translation and loses it meaning. All in all, I wasn't a huge fan of this read and found it confusing and hard to focus on the content throughout.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading Animal Farm. I thought the illustrations were very well done and the story in general was so interesting, it didn’t take me long to finish. Animal Farm is ultimately about socialism and how flawed of a system it is. The pigs who took over control after the rebellion preached to the rest of the farm animals that they were all equal, but as the story went on, that was not the case. The pigs had all the power, control, and authoritarian rule, the horses supported the farm by doing the majority of the work to keep it strong and running, the dogs were the unethical officers/servants to the pigs. The pigs used their power to create fear to the farm animals in order for everything to be kept under control. They didn’t care about the other animals, and a perfect example of that is when the horse Boxer is taken away. He was the hardest worker out of them all in the story, and once he was injured, Napoleon sent him off to a slaughterhouse. Overall, the pigs used the animals for their own benefit and paralleled man at the end of the story.
ReplyDeleteAnimal Farm, whether it be the graphic novel adaptation or the original, has never been one of my favorite or most interesting reads. I do have to admit, however, that the graphic novel adaptation felt more dynamic and more interesting to read than the actual novel. George Orwell's intent for Animal Farm was for it to serve as social commentary of socialism and as a document warning against what socialism ultimately can become: communism. The animals were meant to represent people and figures in government, and each animal held different social statuses within the novel to replicate the social statuses we see in our own governmental, political, and economical systems. Overall, this graphic novel puts the same ideas across as the original, but does so in an illustrated form. I found it interesting that Orwell exposed how corrupt humans could be through the use of animals and through the comparison of pigs and men. The pigs were intended to represent communists, the dogs served as police, and the horses were supposed to represent the working class. With these representations, it is easy to see that Orwell, although a socialist himself, knew how easily socialism could descend into tyranny. In the modern world, we constantly hear about the corruption within our own government and how easily political figures we trust can be the very same people who care only for personal gain. Animal Farm's message, even in this illustrated version, has always been that governments are easily corruptible when corrupt figures serve within that government.
ReplyDeleteAnimal Farm:
ReplyDeleteOut of all of the readings thus far, Animal Farm was the most appealing to me. I remember as a child seeing the book in my mother's collection of books. Being so young I just thought it was sad and remembered animals had not survived. Some twenty years later, reading it has a completely different connotation. The ultimate take-away from this was Orwell's way of mocking political parties, the corruption and selfishness of which goes along with it. In my opinion, there were definite reasons why he chose the names (Napoleon , Snowball, Moses, Boxer, Squeeler, etc.), and animals associated with each group, or "hierarchy." The same applies today. Our political system, among other countries as well, still have the same issues. Those in positions of power (pigs) are believed to be higher in rank not just on a societal level but also on an intellectual level. Those middle class hard working citizens (horses), pull all the weight of ultimately what the governing party, without question, because they want to believe in a brighter future. Lies, corruption, deceit, society as a whole, and its complacency are all criticism in Orwell's writing here. Taking a deeper look at names, animals, and the associations all connect to very valid, and still ongoing issues in our society 75 years after Animal Farm was published. A cautionary tale indeed, but caution may only be taken if danger is foreseen.
---Amanda Musumeci
I read this book in high school but reading it again, in comic form, really hit differently this time around. The underlying messages of the book, one being that power ruins anyone regardless of beliefs or background, is something we usually see constantly in our day to day lives. The way Orwell mocks politics and how corrupt political parties can be makes this book humorous but a bit sad. The pigs assumed power and started off doing pretty well, working together and letting the animals decide what happens next. But once they(Napoleon) realized he can do what he wants and not get in trouble, he trained those dogs like slaves so he could enslave the entire farm. Napoleon had turned the farm into a dictatorship. Orwell is poking at the imperfections we have in our political system, how although checks and balances are in place, our government/political system is outdated and easily ruined by corruption, and people have no fear to turn on those that were there with you from the beginning, as we saw in animal farm with Napoleon and Snowball.
ReplyDelete- Marvick Felix
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ReplyDeleteI remember reading Animal Farm in high school. Back then, it was difficult to grasp the hidden meaning of the book. Reading it as a graphic novel really helps put all the pieces together and makes it easier to understand. The pigs were essentially the “leaders.” Everyone had to do whatever they said. They decided who was going to die, gave orders about the wall, and created a set of rules, which, as the story went on, the rules would always change to benefit the pigs. The horses were the working class. They would be forced to work and work hard until the day they eventually die. At the end of the book, you see the pigs walking on two feet and acting just like humans. Ironically, humans were the very thing they wanted to destroy so the animals can have their freedom. But I’m the end, the only ones who were free to do as the please were the pigs.
ReplyDeleteThe novel animal farm is a novel that shows the growth of a society that is fooled into believing what is wrong is actually right. The beginning of the novel started with a simple rebellion of the animals of manor farm going against the oppression the humans had over them. The animals overthrew the humans and created a system they called animalism. Animalism is communism, to me the animals in the book did represent those under nazi influence. The animals such as the pigs represent the soviet leaders whom made the workers, all of the other animals, believe they were working toward something so amazingly equal in all aspects. The horses to me represented the normal class whom worked hard their whole lives and were guaranteed rest after their hard work but in the end were slaughtered as if all they did meant nothing. Socialism did occur when communism was established in the farms, where the pigs had gradually brain washed and instilled fear into the other animals of the farm into believing they were the superior animals and only they deserved luxuries and commanded the other animals what to do. All of the rules that were originally established were broken by the pigs in the story. They killed other animals, made the dog "sentinel" wear colors and commanded them to murder others. But the two main rules of never acting like a human by sleeping in their homes and bed and walking on two feet had also been broken. The animals were clearly brainwashed into thinking they were not meant to be equal. The action of renaming animal farm which was supposed to symbolize equality back into manor farm which symbolized oppression to me, symbolized how people in european history when they tried to revolt were always pushed back by the germans and controlled by their fears.
ReplyDelete- Britney Raposo
Like many, I read Animal Farm by George Orwell back in high school and had enjoyed the novel and the play of using an animal farm to symbolize Russia and the Soviet Union under the Communist rule. The graphic novel was just as pleasant and felt more realistic because of the dynamic visuals. George Orwell used animals as individuals who held different social statuses and ranking in government to mirror how our society political and economic status was. He used pigs to mimic communist men, dogs as police, and horses as working class. Furthermore, the pigs were controlling the whole farm yet making it seem like they were all equal. The dogs were the officers who served the pigs, and the horses were the working class who did the majority of the work to upkeep the farm. I think George Orwell was trying to show how easily socialism can turn into communism despite his personal political leniency. Also, it highlighted the how backwards our society really is because the horses who were putting in all their hard work were killing themselves off whereas the pigs ended up walking on two feet as freely as they pleased. Even though the original novel was written 1945, it mimics the reality of what our current society entails.
ReplyDelete-Lisa Agyare
The graphic novel animal farm conveys the message that power can easily go to your head and evolve into things you never would have pictured. When given power over others some may start to believe that they are better than those who listen and look up to them, like the pigs believed. The pigs resemble many people who have been in charge and how they took advantage of their position and manipulated those following them to get what they want and accumulate more control. The pigs and dogs were self-proclaimed leaders and decided when the animals would work, how much they could eat, and when they should die. The other animals resembled the middle and lower class who did all the work but received none of the goods and just forced to do what they are told. The pigs ended up becoming just as bad as the humans and even started acting like them in many ways- something they had vowed they would never do.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as though everyone has read the Animal Farm beside me. Without background knowledge from the original book I can infer from the graphic novel that Animal Farm is about political parties and power. With that power, it has to do with an intellectual advantage that determines social rank. For the pigs, like Naelopean, they are ranked at the top and the other animals like the horses are seen at a lower rank. These animals are treated as “slaves', overworked and famished but they continue to stay at the farm. Clearly, they are not as intelligent and are easily taken advantage of. They are fed with propaganda and will not question it even if it’s against what they truly want. Which is fairly common today, politicians have great influences on our life. However if we are fed certain information we tend to believe it even if it goes against our values (what is truly wanted). Orwell points out that it is easy how corruption comes to be as it is a wrestle of power play and the people ultimately are forced to follow through with it out of fear or oblivion.
ReplyDelete-Kimberly Dy
I have never read the original Animal Farm, however, after reading the graphic novel I thought it had a strong message. I think the pigs took advantage of power and acted entitled towards the other animals on the farm. They took charge of the farm but not in a way that was fair or equal to the other animals. The horses in the story portrayed a role of working for the pigs and taking there demands but ultimately did all the work on the farm. The story had a very political aspect to it and related very much to how systems work presently in the world with people. It showed how power can get to the heads of those who thought they could lead with equality. It also showed how the system in the story and real life can corrupt those involved with it and to follow standards because they are what they are used to, not what is right.
ReplyDeleteNaomi Rivard
While reading the story I kept the question “what do the animals symbolize?” in mind. As I kept reading and saw how the animals were being treated, I started to think of slavery. Then, I thought to myself “maybe I should think bigger” so I did. The animals are people in poverty. Humans are the government which makes it hard to live yet don't have to worry. When the animals finally stuck up for themselves it was like a riot; the only difference is that it seemed as if all of their plans worked. In America we see the president as people who help make life bearable and much more simple. After awhile you begin to see their guidance more as control, while they are trying to teach you a certain way of staying in bearable living it begins to seem more of a way to control you.
ReplyDeleteIn the story the pigs become the government after the humans are chased out. They begin to make rules that are against humans. As time goes on the pigs begin to act more like humans rather than being like the rest of the animals. In America you can look at this in many ways: the pigs are the people who say they are going into government jobs to change the negative outcomes that have been brought upon the world and don’t do much to nothing at all; sometimes just make things worse. Or, you can look at it as the people in poverty who find a way out and become more like the people above them. Many know that it’s never okay to forget where you come from, in the story it’s as if the pigs have forgotten where they’d come from. The heroes in this story, as in the horses, are the people who stand up for what they believe in and don’t give up. An example of the same heroic act is Martin Luther King Jr.; he fought for freedom and racism to end. Though there is still racism in the world today, it’s less than what it was back then. The horses fought to keep working even when it got hard and in the less work was needed because they had done most of it.
After reading the novel in its graphic adaptation, it is clear that this is a social/political criticism. The original novel was published in 1945, at this time the communist and socialist societies lived their highest point in the history of mankind with the Soviet Union at the head. Marxist thoughts were very popular in the population of that time, due to the need for changes that the population demanded at the time, the animal farm represented a direct criticism of this type of society. The way pigs used all the other animals to take control of the farm represented how the communist governments of the time controlled and deceived the population, this criticism was attributed directly to Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union. In the novel, we can see how animals were basically slaves and they were deceived with false promises. The novel is a very good representation of how Soviet communism failed in its purpose due to the thirst for power of others
ReplyDelete-Luis J Cespedes
The story is a bit strange, however I think I got the point the author was trying to portray. The political message is strong and I believe the animals were supposed to be the average citizen (maybe citizens in poverty) and the humans were the government. The old pig gathers all the animals around to string an uprising, however the the pigs are the ones that took charge of the other animals and also took advantage. On the other hand the pigs didn't do much while the animals who did like the horses were a lower "rank". This really can relate to a lot of things not just the government, for example corporate company's are a lot like this. The minimum wage worker does a majority of the work that matters while the workers making 10x the amount work from a computer.
ReplyDeleteReading animal farm I felt so much like I was watching like a Disney movie, along with all the singalongs. Everything about the book is bizarre but just reading that in the last 3 months the pigs had learned how to read and write just had me stunned at amazement because that is impressive. And then the seven commandments of animalism and the first one being, "Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy." Me being a two legged being was saddened to hear that if I somehow where to show up there would automatically be treated unfairly by how many legs I have. I noticed also that the animals made their commandments off of everything the farmer did.
ReplyDelete-K'Mia Sylvester
Animal Farm was strange to say the least. Portraying communist rule and ideology using the setting of a farm was certainly a unique approach for Orwell to take, and that made the content more interesting to me. Odyr’s illustrations definitely caught my eye and made the plot and dialogue easier to digest. It also made the book enjoyable, although I have not read the original so I cannot say which I liked better. I'm sure I would have liked the book either way, since I'm interested in learning about how communism affected the late 40s and early 50s; as well as the nuances of social psychology.
ReplyDeleteNick Lancia
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