Animal Farm: Opinions, characters, story so far.

Animal Farm  
by George Orwell


So far I've had a great time reading Animal Farm, I think that the way George Orwell writes makes the book really interesting, the way it foreshadows some things and the main theme behind it all, the Russian Revolution (Bolshevist Revolution). So I thought about listing some of the things I've liked so far, the characters that have appeared and are important and what has happened in overall.

First of all, I love the way the actions take place, and the way there are so many details that one might lose if they aren't paying the required attention, like how the puppies that Napoleon took might be important in the near future; making it that they won't understand or remember certain things eventually if they didn't read like they were supposed to. I also love the way some characters are, the motives behind their actions, and sometimes how just silly they are. For example when Napoleon peed in Snowball's drawings for the windmill. And many other things.

So far, the characters that have appeared and are important, or have caught my attention, are:

• Napoleon: He has no plans in the long run, however he seems to be determined to disagree with Snowball in anything he can, even if the other has better plans. He also seems to want Animal Farm to become something powerful, developing firearms to defend themselves, in which Snowball disagreed. Napoleon seems to not be interested so much in the common well being but in staying independent from humans, having them far away and not caring much about anything else. 
• Snowball: Together with Napoleon, they're the most active in the debates, like stated above they disagree in almost everything, although Snowball does seem to have a better view of how things work in a farm and what they have to do to be able to survive without the help of humans. Snowball seems to have realistic goals, even the windmill sounds possible with a lot of effort put from the animals' part. And he is focused in the long run, even if they have to work hard now, in the future they'll be rewarded with less work and more free time, same amount of food or even more. So as a leader, I think he would be better than Napoleon. 
• Mollie: She is shown as a rather selfish character, she doesn't really care about the well being of others, as long as she gets to be pampered everything is fine to her. Which is why the rebellion didn't suit her well, she didn't want to change her lifestyle however she didn't have the choice. She realized too late and at first she skipped work, entered later than she should have, showing her selfish side even more because she ate like if she had worked, when the others had worked harder and ate the same. Mollie seemed to not think of humans as bad people, she was found by Clover being caressed by a farmer from the farm across Animal Farm (Manor Farm). She then left Animal Farm. 
• Boxer: He is one of my favorite characters because he's just a sweetheart, it is unfortunate how he believes the pigs' words without any doubt, and works really hard for others who can't work as hard as him, working as much as it is possible for his body. He regretted killing the human boy so much and it was heartbreaking, because he didn't want to do it. This showed that the animals didn't know what a rebellion truly meant, and that lives would be sacrificed if they wanted to reach their goal.

The series of events can be followed by reading my "Animal farm: My Reading Journal" found in the sidebar, but here will be a small summary of the main events: 

1. Old Major gives his speech about Animalism.
2. Old Major teaches "Beasts of England" to the animals when the meeting finished.
3. Old Major dies, leaving the pigs in charge to follow his ideals.
4. The pigs and animals have many meetings.
5. The animals have a rebellion and Mr.Jones is kicked out of the farm.
6. The animals start working, the system seems to be working and they're happy with the results.
7. Some animals aren't working as hard as others, and some are unhappy with the new lifestyle.
8. The commandments are set.
9. The pigs start abusing their power by stealing the milk and apples, saying it was for their good.
10. The battle of the Cowshed takes place.
11. Boxer kills a human boy, and regrets it deeply. He seems really affected by it.
12. Snowball talks about his plan for the windmill and the future of Animal Farm.
13. Napoleon doesn't seem to keen about Snowball's ideals and plans. 

That's about it for now, the main events from chapter 1 to the beginning of chapter 5. I hope this was useful and interesting to read, if not well, thanks for reading it anyway! xx.

(This was not placed in Extra Work because it had to do with Animal Farm, and well, Extra Work is for other books... so didn't want it to seem unorganized)

By Joyce Stapleton