Chapter 1:
So, after reading the first chapter of Animal Farm, I have some opinions about it. First, the way Old Major communicated his ideas, using devices such as hiperbole and others, the passion that he was saying everything, was simply inspiring. It shows that he truly knew how to motivate a crowd, even if in the circumstances the crowd was just a mere group of farm animals that were easily convinced. He made his points across and started the rebellion, it wasn't literally starting it, but it was inseminating the ideas, the goals, the possibility in the animals' heads. Specially the other pigs' heads, since they were the smartest animals.
The whole chapter was basically Old Major's speech, but even so it left a great impression in me as for the way the animals showed such devotion to said animal. It started with a little introduction where Mr. Jones, the farmer, finishes the work in the farm and goes to sleep. And then the meeting starts.
So basically, the thing that I liked the most in this chapter was Old Major's speech. And I hope to see how everything turns out and if the ideas will be enough to cause the Rebellion, and if it will be soon or not.
Chapter 2:
So the rebellion did happen. And sooner than it was expected, but for reasonable reasons, the animals were hungry and it was the drop that made the water in the glass spill. Not only that but some things that were said in this chapter were hilarious, such as Sugarcandy Mountain, which was basically "paradise" for the animals. I really liked Moses and I kind of am sad about the fact that he left after Mrs. Jones and the other people.
Besides that, I don't personally like this chapter that much, it's the rebellion and everything but it doesn't catch my interest, at least not after the first pages of the chapter. But one thing that did catch my attention was the milk problem. I suppose, I'm almost certain, that Napoleon was the one that drank the milk while the rest had been working, I'm not sure though, but he must have done something with it, if not how did it poof into nothing? It's impossible.
I hope that the next chapter will explain more about it, and things will start to get more interesting. Hopefully Moses will get back at some point as well.
Chapter 3:
ReplyDeleteIn chapter three, we can see things going well in the farm, the animals are working well and hard for their food and to prosper, however we also see the start of the injustice, since some animals have stopped working as hard as others, and some work harder just to make it equal. Mollie and the cat seem to have not been too keen on working hard, and skipped work many times.
We can also notice that, because of this, there are some people that aren't really fine with the rebellion, they had been better before, like Mollie. And Benjamin the donkey, for example, is neutral about the whole rebellion, because he had been the same in Mr.Jones' farm.
In the chapter we can also notice the making of the Animal Farm Flag, which resembles Soviet Russia's flag, although this one is in green.
There is also the fact that Napoleon and Snowball have a rather troublesome relationship, as they seem to disagree in anything that is disagreeable on, and this might bring trouble in the future. When the book talks about this, I notice how Napoleon is Stalin, using a metaphor of course, and allegory; and how Snowball is Leon Trosky, which makes us believe even more that trouble will start soon in the future.
As for my opinion on this chapter, I think that we're finally seeing what is truly happening in Animal Farm, there are unjust things beginning to happen, the pigs abusing their power for obtaining all the milk and apples is one example; and people not being happy with the actual system, wanting to go back to how it was before with Mr.Jones' reign.
So far everything, well almost everything; is going well for them, but I think that as time will pass Mr.Jones will want his farm back and will fight for it. He might lose or not, but he's going to try. (Most probably)
The thing that I liked the most about this chapter was when it mentioned the animals starting to learn the alphabet, how to write and how to read, although it also shows how they lack intelligence, making it easier for the pigs to confuse them with complex words and get away with doing what they want and abusing their power and the trust the other animals put in them.
That's all for this chapter, thanks for reading!
Chapter 4:
ReplyDeleteThings start to get really interesting in chapter four, as I had predicted (although it was mostly obvious), Mr.Jones attempts to get his farm back, although he fails due to the strategy the pigs used for defense. The pigs had foreshadowed that Mr.Jones was going to come back and fight for the farm, so they got ready and once Jones had come, he was kicked out once again.
During the battle, called "The Battle of the Cowshed", Boxer accidentally killed a human boy that had accompanied Jones for trying to get his farm back. This seems to have had an effect in Boxer, who really regrets killing the boy. This might be a problem in the future, but who knows. Apart from that, during the battle Mollie was scared and she hid in her stall, this might be a prove that not everyone was aware of what having a rebellion truly meant. They probably didn't know that they were going to have to fight with the humans or even kill some, which might lead to regret eventually.
Apart from that, there's nothing else to highlight from this chapter, as it is rather short and all it has is information about the battle, which was rather short itself. The humans lost and had to run away to the main road while the animals cheered and sang beasts of England.
That's all for this chapter, thanks for reading!
Nice work, thank you for catching up.
ReplyDeleteThis is very detailed work. Well done for putting your own thoughts and opinions alongside your summary of the action. In your next journal, concentrate only on your thoughts and opinions; use quotes or paraphrasing of the action where you want to highlight the source your ideas.
Tip! - Your journal entries only need to be a few lines describing your reaction to key character or plot development. If you want to keep a running summary, add it to the extra work you have done (which is excellent).
Chapter 5:
ReplyDeleteI really liked this chapter, not only does it finally show Napoleon's true intentions but it was just really enjoyable to read. It shows how the animals don't even have a say in anything anymore, and that Napoleon makes them be scared of him so he will be able to abuse of his power.
"If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right" (Animal Farm, pg.41)thought Boxer, and made his motto that Napoleon was always right, which only shows how truly defenseless these animals are when it comes to Napoleon. He has four legs, so he must be good right? At least according to their motto. But this only makes me wonder, what will open their eyes to see the abuse of power? And, when will this be?
I do think though that it's a pity that Snowball was exiled, because he had really good plans for Animal Farm and I do believe that if he had been the one to run it, it would have succeeded beautifully, even with the humans trying to attack it and get it back. At least that's my opinion.
That's all for chapter 5, thanks for reading this xx.
Some good analysis of the action. Remember to keep focusing on the allegorical meaning of the text; what might Boxer's ideas show us about post-revolutionary Russia? Why do you think things would have been different if Snowball had stayed on the farm? And by extension, how could things have been different in our world, the world Orwell is really describing?
ReplyDeleteYou have not submitted this week's journal for chapters 6 8. Please catch this up tonight or it will not be marked.
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