NTHS - Animal Farm

[paulteach]

(Hello - to all others! I am a teacher and am planning for all my students to get on board here as an assingment and experience. In the next three weeks, there will be much from us - thank you for your patience with my Honors Freshman from North Tahoe High School)

CLASS - Lets get started! This is a great way to learn and use an online "discussion" site that you will use in your futures! Play around with this! I will offer extra credit for the students the utilize this site and can really find their way around it - Good luck and have fun!
Animal Farm - Where might there be foreshadowing in this novel?

[Maiya G-wood]

That was an excellent read!
As for foreshadowing, I think that there were several examples during the beginning half of the book. An example is when the pigs required the extra milk and apples. It was partially and silently agreed the pigs would use it for their needs. I thought that this was the beginning of dictatorship ruling from the pigs.

Another foreshadow was when the pigs sent the ravenous dogs on Boxer. To me this says that in the later half of the book, Boxer will be betrayed.

If you had an understanding of Russian rulers and wars then you would realize know that Snowball (who was banished from the farm,) had the same fate as Leon Trotsky who got exiled when Stalin/ Napoleon took over.

Maiya G-wood

[juliagoolia]

I agree with Maiya- the act of the pigs taking the milk and apples was a sure sign that they believed they were better than the other animals.

However, I believe that foreshadowing occured even earlier in the novel. When old Major called all of the animals together to report his dream, the pigs sat direcly in front of him. This, along with the fact that old Major was a pig himself, gave us a hint that the pigs had a feeling of authority over the others.

[cccarly]

I agree with Julia, Old major took authority which in there minds needed to be done, but when old major died the pigs started to make rules and use other animals like boxer, who worked harder than any other animal on the windmill but was not treated better by the pigs and eventually as Maiya said betrayed (this book was SO good i enjoyed reading it, even though the ending was funky)

[juliagoolia]

As I got further into the novel, I began to wonder if Napolean truely believed in the success of the windmill. Did he actually think it was going to work, or did he simply steal the credit for it from Snowball to gain the other animals' respect and admiration? I also suspect that he encouraged the building of the windmill to keep the thoughts of the animals on the promise of a luxurious future instead of the horrible conditions of their current lives.

Looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts!

[superkristen120]

i agree with all of you. julia- i think that Napoleon did not really fully support the windmill. I also think that Napoleon was trying to keep thoughts of a better future, than for them to figure out that they would not really have a better life than they had in the beggining of the novel. I would like to know how none of the animals had suspected anything about the pigs...and what they were planning to do? How did none of the animals figure out that the pigs gradually became higher in the ranking, of the animals on the farm, and became just like the humans?

[juliagoolia]

Kristen, I belive that the reason the animals did not suspect the pigs is simply that they were...well, dumb. However, I do believe that some, including Benjamin, did understood what was happening. He probably realized that the other animals would not listen to him if he were to tell them that the pigs were using them all. Also, it was in his nature not to include himself in conversation on the farm. Remember, too, that the animals were forgetful; even when they thought they remembered a commandment as being different or having had better lives in the old days, the pigs always convinced them otherwise. Squealer always read them the "statistics" that proved how much better their lives were without humans, and since they could not remember the time when Jones was in control, they believed him.

[superkristen120]

ok...so i know this is a stupid question...but the pigs changed the commandments. is that correct? i am just a little confused

[juliagoolia]

Yes, the pigs changed the commandments. However, they told the other animals that the commandments had been that way all along. At first, the animals were skeptical, but they soon passed their doubt off as the unability to remember correctly and went along with their lives under the newly-altered laws. As I said before, Benjamin knew that the pigs were lying to the other animals, but for some reason or another he did not speak up.

Oh, and there is no such thing as a stupid question.

[CheyRose]

Well it said that Benjamin didnt speak up because he knew what was going to happen in the end. It said becasue he had been around so long, that he had seen this before. But i guess the reason he didnt say anything was because he knew the pigs wouldnt stop their plan and the other animals wouldnt believe him anyway.

[superkristen120]

ok thank you everyone!

[Mr Hat]

I believe that animal farm was a satirical view of communist Russia. As julia said, Snowball was Leon Trotsky and Napoleon was Stalin. I think old major was Lenin?

I assume that the main reason Orwell had the pigs change the commandments and the animals remain passive and seemingly ignorant was because Orwell wanted to demonstrate his point on the control a government has over it's citizens. If you have only ever lived in an environment where you work hard everyday and recieve mud and dirt for your efforts, then you assume that that is how life is. Similar themes can be seen in '1984', where the government has absolute control over information and media and the citizens remain passive because everyone who had remembered better times were long dead. For them, that kind of existence is ordinary.

[cccarly]

who is Mr Hat?

[Katieladybug]

Well now, that just about killed any questions I’d been holding, Mr. Hat summed up the symbolism of the entire novel. Great way to put it! But I am still a little confused about Boxers relation ship in the story; the animals obviously hold him valuable, even Napoleon used him as inspiration, even feared him at best. So what was his inspiration?
What is it that drives Boxer to be the hardest worker on the farm, to practically work himself to death? What group of people dose he represent in this story?

[Andrewhugs]

I beleive that Boxer represents the uneducated, hard-working class of the social order. He doesn't question why he works he just wants to do it so that he can relax later. Much like a lot of people in our own country.