Animal Farm Group at eNotes

A fable, according to Enotes "Guide to Literary Terms", is "a short,...

Wed, 1 Jul 2009 15:57:06 PST

A fable, according to Enotes "Guide to Literary Terms", is "a short, simple story, usually with animals as characters, designed to teach a moral truth". Chapter 1 of Animal Farm exhibits a simple, straightforward style. Mr. Jones, of Manor Farm, is a drunken caricature of a man who appears only briefly at the beginning and end of the chapter. The central actors in the narrative are the animals, each of which have distinct attributes...

Find the elements of fable, satire, and allegory in the first chapter of...

Wed, 1 Jul 2009 09:46:22 PST

Find the elements of fable, satire, and allegory in the first chapter of Animal Farm.

Boxer actually creates two maxims: "I will work harder." and "Napoleon...

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:20:22 PST

Boxer actually creates two maxims: "I will work harder." and "Napoleon is always right." The reader must keep in mind that Boxer represents the hard-working class of Russia. He has bought into the notion that hard work will help the cause of the Motherland and will eventually make life wonderful for all the "commoners." His second maxim regarding Napoleon better connects to the cancelled debates. He falls into the trap that the debates...

Good question! Orwell does not make it clear where Snowball escapes to...

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:36:28 PST

Good question! Orwell does not make it clear where Snowball escapes to after he squeezes through the hedge. Napoleon uses this mystery to his advantage by blaming all negative happenings on the farm on a ubiquitous Snowball. In Chapter 7, the narrator explains that "All this while no more had been seen of Snowball. He was rumoured to be hiding on one of the neighbouring farms, either Foxwood or Pinchfield." The mystery of Snowball's...

In reply to #4: I didn't mean to point out a relationship ... I just...

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:59:04 PST

In reply to #4: I didn't mean to point out a relationship ... I just used a couple of the religious groupings to point out the significance of the number 7 which plays an interesting role in the Christian religion.

I can see the commandments as related to the 7 deadly sins, but I don't...

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:53:36 PST

I can see the commandments as related to the 7 deadly sins, but I don't see any further conjecture. They may be important but not vital to the story. It does add afurther allusion to Christian theology.

Seven (7) is a "magic" number. In the teaching of the Catholic church,...

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:17:54 PST

Seven (7) is a "magic" number. In the teaching of the Catholic church, there are seven corporal and spiritual works of mercy: To feed the hungry; To give drink to the thirsty; To clothe the naked; To harbour the harbourless; To visit the sick; To ransom the captive; To bury the dead. The spiritual works of mercy are: To instruct the ignorant; To counsel the doubtful; To admonish sinners; To bear wrongs patiently; To forgive...

On one level it's ironic because it says one thing and means another. ...

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:54:20 PST

On one level it's ironic because it says one thing and means another. On another level, I think Napoleon (Orwell) is telling us that it's impossible to be free as long as we allow for leaders like Napoleon who have no regard for the truth, who create reality to fit his (their) needs/wants. There is an old Gospel saying that fits in well here: "The truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). If you have no access to the truth, then you...

The statement by Napoleon, in "Animal Farm," saying that all the animals...

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:40:21 PST

The statement by Napoleon, in "Animal Farm," saying that all the animals are free is ironic because the animals are not free. Most of the animals are in the same situation they were in when Mr. Jones ran the farm. The animals are still overworked and poorly fed. They are still ordered about by others; the only difference being, now the "others" are also animals. Napoleon has the animals thinking they are working for a goal of their own...

What is the irony of Napoleon saying "All animals are free."

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:19:29 PST

What is the irony of Napoleon saying "All animals are free."

I don't agree with the concept that the seven commandments are the key,...

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 08:17:06 PST

I don't agree with the concept that the seven commandments are the key, but I think I can answer you anyway. The Commandments were meant to keep the animals equal and to insure that all animals were true to their own nature- specifically, they were not to adopt that habits of man, whom Old Major had said was the sorce of all their problems. Over time, the commandments begin to change: the commandment that the animals shall not sleep in a...

discuss: the seven commandments is the key to the understanding of...

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:12:37 PST

consider the following in the above question

1. the importance and content of the seven commandments

2. the changes that take place over time

3. how the commandments are accepted by the animals

4. the final result: the venture on animal farm has failed

Where does Snowball go after being expelled by Napoleon?

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:42:52 PST

Where does Snowball go after being expelled by Napoleon?

Napoleon knows that Snowball could conceivably return so all blame is...

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 01:02:23 PST

Napoleon knows that Snowball could conceivably return so all blame is shifted to him. Little by little, everything that has gone wrong-including the re-writing of some of the history in minds of the animals- is blamed on Snowball. Immediately, the day to day operations change. Perhaps most important is the abolition of the Sunday meetings. The meetings are now only a listing of the week's upcoming duties. Since this is where Snowball and...

Napoleon is given more free range of his dictatorship. Snowball...

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:48:52 PST

Napoleon is given more free range of his dictatorship. Snowball offered the animal's a different point of view, one that did not belong or fall in line to Napoleon. With him gone we see Napoleon become more volatile and more apt to display violence as an answer to gain following. Napoleon immediately shows his hunger for power and need to infer intimidation to the other animals.

What changes does Napoleon make immediately after the expulsion of...

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:12:55 PST

What changes does Napoleon make immediately after the expulsion of Snowball?

What maxim does Boxer create when the Sunday debates are cancelled in...

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:01:43 PST

What maxim does Boxer create when the Sunday debates are cancelled in "Animal Farm"?

With Squealer, Orwell is foreshadowing that eventually anything and...

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:03:16 PST

With Squealer, Orwell is foreshadowing that eventually anything and everything will blamed on Snowball. Squealer apparently realizes that the animals have short memories and often question their own memory when they are told differently. At the point where Squealer states that Snowball's heroism will come to be seen as exagerrated, he knows that he cannot say a lot at that moment because the animals remember seeing Snowball grazed by the...

What is foreshadowed when Squealer tells the animals they will...

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 14:48:06 PST

What is foreshadowed when Squealer tells the animals they will eventually learn that Snowball's heroism in battle was "much exaggerated"?

Boxer is the animal who believes whatever the leaders tell him. He...

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:54:14 PST

Boxer is the animal who believes whatever the leaders tell him. He works night and day because he believes that the Revolution will produce a better life for the animals. On the other hand, Benjamin is a cynic. He watches what is going on, but does not get taken in by it. He seems to know that nothing ever changes, that getting too excited about or involved in a revolution will lead to disapointment and frustration. Put simply, he is...