Hens

[peacefrog]

What do the hens in ANIMAL FARM represent??

[bazarov]

They represent Russian civilians, who were creating all food; for them and for Party members. When Party took almost everything from them, they were starving; many of them died. They have tried to fight against it, but they lost. Same thing happened with Russians; they tried to do something but Party solved that very brutally and successfully.

[d-nice]

Hens - Peasant Farmers. In Chapter seven, Napoleon calls for the hens to 'surrender their eggs'. This is a reference to Stalin's attempt to collectivize the peasant farmers of Russia. The hens attempted to resist the order at first, just as the peasant farmers of the Ukraine. But, just as in real life, they were eventually starved into submission. In the book, 9 hens died during the incident. In real-life, it is estimated that somewhere between 4 and 10 million Ukrainian peasants were starved to death by Stalin.
In the book, it was also said that the Hens smashed their own eggs to protest Napoleon's actions. In real-life, Ukrainian farmers would slaughter their own livestock before joining a collective as a form of protest. So many farmers engaged in this practice, that livestock in the Ukraine dwindled by 50%-80% between 1928 and 1935. The problem got so out of hand that Stalin eventually executed any farmer found guilty of engaging in this practice. Even the act of 'neglecting' your livestock was punishable by death.

[ennison]

d - nice is correct. It pays to be politically and historically alert when reading AF.

[bazarov]

Hens - Peasant Farmers. In Chapter seven, Napoleon calls for the hens to 'surrender their eggs'. This is a reference to Stalin's attempt to collectivize the peasant farmers of Russia. The hens attempted to resist the order at first, just as the peasant farmers of the Ukraine. But, just as in real life, they were eventually starved into submission. In the book, 9 hens died during the incident. In real-life, it is estimated that somewhere between 4 and 10 million Ukrainian peasants were starved to death by Stalin.
In the book, it was also said that the Hens smashed their own eggs to protest Napoleon's actions. In real-life, Ukrainian farmers would slaughter their own livestock before joining a collective as a form of protest. So many farmers engaged in this practice, that livestock in the Ukraine dwindled by 50%-80% between 1928 and 1935. The problem got so out of hand that Stalin eventually executed any farmer found guilty of engaging in this practice. Even the act of 'neglecting' your livestock was punishable by death.



Yes, that tragedy is called holodomor; Russia and Ukraine are still fighting about that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor

Stalin once said: Death of one man is a tragedy; death of millions is just a statistical value.

[Victoria 1983]

The hens did all self sacrfice firstly be smashing their eggs- like the peasants starved themselves into submission and then my annoucing their 'crimes' like the trials Stalin had.