Build then Burn

Napolean really knows how to build bridges and then burn them down as fast as he can! By the time I was reading about the wood and how he was going to sell it to Pilkington and all the hoopla around the whole thing, I knew he was going to sell it to Fredrick. Then he wants Pilkington to come help them fight. Ha, like that was going to happen! And the darn animals still don't see through the little bugger (big bugger actually and getting bigger every day). Why can't the animals see that the pigs are getting fatter while they are all getting thinner. They were told that there was no money and then a big crate of whiskey shows up for the pigs-come on animals! Put the pieces together already! But they don't, and they still have hope in the end. Is that how real supressed societies think and feel? The Last Commandment is a killer. "ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS". What the heck is that! It's a contradiction.

I also thought is was interesting how Orwell wrote about the rising generation and how they did not fully comprehend how Animal Farm came to be and did not fully appreciate it but once a year at the celebration of the Rebellion. I would compare that to our own country. I think sometimes that we forget all our founding fathers did so that we can live in the country we live in and have the freedoms we have. We didn't fight for them so some of the meaning gets lost to us. We only remember it once a year on July 4th. And even then, is the holiday only about fireworks? And now, it seems that the beliefs and values that our founding fathers had are going by the wayside and our country is suffering for it. That is just my little soap box for the day, thanks for reading.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Animal Farm and Farenheit 451. Both books really helped me reflect on my life and my actions. I guess I have a question though. When those pigs confessed to being in league with Snowball and tearing down the windmill, were they lying? I think that they were but it doesn't really make sense. Why would they lie? The only reason I can think of for them to lie is that they were smart enough to realize where everything was going and they wanted out so they decieded to committ suicide by dog.

Manor Farm! That's a killer!

Yuck! If I'm not careful, I could freak out and be paranoid. How dismal! So they change the name to Manor Farm (man, get it?) I thought it interesting how Napoleon and company (Squealer) kept changing the commandments to keep up with their bad behavior. I'm glad we read this book.

Manor House! That

from man to pig, and from pig to man again

If Orwell was to be compared to any character, I think the closest comparison would come to Benjamin (the donkey). Benjamin wasn't excited about the rebellion, because he knew it wouldn't change things, and it didn't. Orwell seems pretty disenchanted with leaders in general as well as with those who could lead, but for whatever reasons don't.

One message I get from this book is not pin all your hopes on one person (or political leadership structure) and not to pin all the blame on one person (Farmer Jones, Snowball, etc). Especially as to the blame thing, when you get in the habit of pinning it all one person, it makes it easier for you not to look around and see where blame might elsewhere be attributed right in front of you. Although to the animals credit, if they looked around much, they were liable to get their heads snapped off by a dog.

Pretty disturbing - disturbing because Orwell nailed it right on the head.

Welcome to Orwell's mind!

I think that this book is very sad. It makes me sad that all the animals got slaughtered so viciously. It makes me sad that Boxer works so hard and has no reward for it. It makes me sad that Napolean is a ruthless leader and does not care about the other animals. It reminds me of the people in Hatti and how their government is now charging custom taxes upwards of thousands of dollars to get much needed supplies into the country. They don't seem to care about their people either. It makes me sad that the other animals are ignorant and can't help themselves. It kills me that they get so close to figuring something out just to get talked out of it by the smooth talking- poison tounged Squealer! (Clover going over to read the commandments to see if the pigs should be sleeping in the beds or not). Do our senators and congressmen talk to us like that? Smooth things over and tell lies? I would venture to say yes, alot of the time they do. I know our goverernment is not as bad as it could be, I am just making a few parallells. Napolean is spreading so many lies. Telling the animals that Snowball was in league with Jones from the beginning and that he knocked down the windmill. Did everyone forget the storm the night before or did Snowball knock down the tree too?! I read both Shyla's and Karen's take on Boxer and I am not sure which one I agree with. I will have to think about it some more. I am grateful he is willing to work so hard and sacrifice for his comrades (and the bird that wakes him is sacrificing too, we can't forget the little people who do the things most people don't want to do but that need doing) but I wish he could think a little for himself. However, if he could think then things would be different. Overall I am liking the book and am very interested to see how it ends up. I hope there is another rebellion but this time against Napolean.

451

I never posted my last post. I liked what this book had to say, but not how he said he. All the weird repetition, like "back and forth, back and forth, back and forth". My head was "swimming, swimming, swimming", made it so dramatic. Anja says it was just the style back then. I think it is good to reflect on how we are made to think. Just yesterday, John was asking me about a tomboy's and wanted to know what you called boys that were girlish. I kinda didn't know what to say, so I just mumbled that it's ok for girls to be boyish but not for boys to be girlish and that I didn't know a name. Society and all it's pressures.

I'm glad I read this book, but I liked to Kill a Mockingbird better.

And I hate to say it, but I just haven't read Animal Farm. Eddie read it though! It wasn't his favorite. Sorry, I'm just tired and haven't felt like it. Nothing personal Shyla!

Power Corrupts

I felt like this was a history book, with the names, place and circumstances changed.

I think most rebellions start out on improving life for all, and then power goes to a few leaders heads and they become worse than those they despised.

What happened to Snowball? Couldn't have helped lead the other animals from exile?

Sadie wants to choose the next book.