Sunday, May 2, 2010
Rebellion! Will the Lives of the Animals Improve?
"Man is the only creature that consumes without producing," states Old Major, the older, benevolent boar who first inspires the animals on Manor Farm to consider rebellion rather continued submission. During his speech he clearly points out all the reasons why life would be better for the animals if they were to assume control over their own situation and expel Farmer Jones. However, as he speaks, we get the perfect opportunity to watch the animals and learn about them. What particular characteristics or stereotypes do you begin to associate with what animal and why do you think that characteristic could help or hinder a successful rebellion?
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Mollie stood out to me because she is extremely vein and conceited. Mollie is the type of individual whose only concern is for her self. She is not committed to the brotherhood because she is too self absorbed in her physical appearance. Mollie appreciated the humans more than the other animals because they made her look pretty; they plaited her hair in bows and fed her sugar cubes. In the novel the animals visit the house and Mollie is seen admiring herself in the mirror, draping the bow across her shoulders. This scene in the book is evidence that Mollie had not sacrificed her desire for human possessions. This characteristic could hinder a successful rebellion because the lack of commitment won’t allow her to participate in the work and contribute to the brotherhood. The animals need to work together to have a successful rebellion, Mollie’s lack of contribution weakens their society.
ReplyDeleteThe characteristics of mollie could help hinder a successful rebellion because she is all about herself. She will do nothing to benefit the actions of the rest of the animals. The others open up to what the Major is saying and are excited about what he is saying, and even though some arent able to understand completely, they will go along and help.
ReplyDeleteThe animals are very different from each other, and they work at different paces which would in the end hinder a successful rebellion. For instance, the horse Boxer works very hard but he lacks intelligent and he cannot memorize the alphabet or read much at all. The pigs, however, (Snowball and Napoleon in particular) are very smart in that they decide what all the rules and regulations of Animalism will be. Only the pigs could read and write at first, which posed as an advantage against the rest of the animals. When the pigs decided that the milk and apples would go to them to consume, Squealers explains to the animals that it is proven by scientific study that they needed it for a healthy diet, and his silver tongue isn’t argued with by the oblivious animals. The characteristics of each animal are different from one another and it is clear to Snowball that the animals are not equal at all and this will result in a downfall of their society.
ReplyDeleteOne characteristic I have associated with the character Mollie is her vain and self absorbed personality. I think that this characteristic could hinder her because she is too consumed with her appearance that she's ignorant to the actions and events taking place around her. For instance, with the learning to read and write, instead of Mollie acknowledging this as a chance to be on a equal playing feild as the pigs, she chose to focus only on learning to spell her own name. Mollie would form her name out of twigs and decorate them with flowers and admire it. Her self absorbance is what will keep her from equally contributing to the fair run of the farm, and in the future prevent her from seeing the problems that will arise in the animalistic society.
ReplyDeleteOne characteristic I have associated with the character Mollie is her vain and self absorbed personality. I think that this characteristic could hinder her because she is too consumed with her appearance that she's ignorant to the actions and events taking place around her. For instance, with the learning to read and write, instead of Mollie acknowledging this as a chance to be on a equal playing field as the pigs, she chose to focus only on learning to spell her own name. Mollie would form her name out of twigs and decorate them with flowers and admire it. Her self absorbency is what will keep her from equally contributing to the fair run of the farm, and in the future prevent her from seeing the problems that will arise in the "animalistic" society.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that Benjamin, the old donkey, wields a very unique characteristic which no other animal has. He is a very laid back and "keep to himself" kind of animal. For instance, he barely talks to anyone on the farm, and when he works, he does no less or no extra than what he is assigned to do. They also say that donkey never dies, since they don't strain themselves everyday like the horses. All these traits that Benjamin has could very easily aid a successful rebellion because Benjamin is very reliable. He holds special characteristics that can keep the rebellion going, an animal that we might see alive and well at the end of it all.
ReplyDeleteDuring Old Major’s speech, as all the animals are being introduced, it is noticed that they have different characteristics. For example, I noticed that Clover is a motherly mare and Boxer is not vey bright, even his appearance suggests so. Benjamin seems like he is smart, however, he is not very friendly. Both the cat and Mollie seem to only care about themselves, the pigs and dogs seem to be the ones who pay more attention; they even seat all the way at the front and are the first to get to where Old Major will give his speech. Characteristics which could help the rebellion are those of the pigs, dogs and the horses, the dogs and the pigs seem determined and the horses will do whatever they are told to do without arguing. However, a characteristic that could hinder the rebellion is that of Mollie who is only interested in herself and seems to be used to the way she lives around humans, she likes her ribbons and sugar and by excluding the humans, she will be left with no sugar and will not be allowed to wear her ribbons. This might cause Mollie to think twice and reconsider if she really wants to live a life without humans.
ReplyDeleteThe horse Boxer is characterized as strong and hardworking, but not that intelligent. This could help the rebellion because if Boxer is not that smart, but hardworking, he could easily be told something to do and he’d probably do it without question and very efficiently. It is also a plus that he is very strong which makes him useful for hard work or in a fight if the time ever comes.
ReplyDeleteBoxer: he is a faithful over working animal. He is willing to put work first for the better of the community. He wanted to do work early and do extra work at the end of the day. His personality could help a rebellion because he was easily convinced and he did multiple times the work and was really strong so with him in the corner the work toward the rebellion could be achieved.
ReplyDeleteBenjamin: a sarcastic donkey that was the oldest animal on the farm. He did what he was supposed to do and nothing more but always had a statement that was rude or offensive. I think he could help or hinder the rebellion because his personality could have any effect on the situation according to his mood.
Mollie: She is self centered and all about herself. Every event had to be about her or she wasn’t interested. Also, she is not very bright and cares more about material things like ribbons. She could hinder a rebellion because her self –absorbency and lack of knowledge could alter the effects of the rebellion.
Snowball: I think he is the supreme leader and uses everyone to his liking. He pulls all of the strings and puts everything together so that others will follow his plan. His personality would help a rebellion because his wisdom will lead everyone into a successful event. He was an influential leader that everyone believed.
Napoleon: I think he would be the second commander from snowball. Snowball has all of the really big ideas but I feel like Napoleon could try to convey his own ideas eventually which could be bad for the rebellion because if he influenced enough animals than he could cause a rebellion inside the original rebellion.
Squealer: he is more of an influential follower. He has the gift of talking so he is usually sent to convince the other animals of the ideas of the pigs. For example, the milk and apples’ speech. He could definitely help a rebellion because he could persuade the entire farm except those in charge to believe in the way of the animals and not man.
Moses: The Raven. I believe he is flattering type. A type who only sucks up to get what he wants from the Master. His characteristics could hinder a successful rebellion because he could warn the master of the events to occur or the ideas of rebellion.
When it comes to the characteristics within the barn animals they are variation in moods and point of views. For starters we have the pigs who posses intelligence and use that to their advantage to take control and power over the animals. Also we have Mollie is selfish and full of herself and the sugar cubes and ribbons. She is also likes the attention she gets from the humans. Boxer on the other hand is very dedicated and loyal, but most of all he is very hardworking. These animals may hinder the rebellion because she approves of humans and likes their attention. Also Boxer himself may hinder the rebellion because the fact that he is so hardworking.
ReplyDelete