When Animal Farm opens, the reader is introduced to Manor Farm and Mr. Jones, its owner. When Mr. Jones goes to bed in a drunken stupor, the animals of the farm gather to hear the Old Major's speech. In the speech, the Old Major expresses the need and the hope for rebellion against human control. In the second chapter, the animals take control of Manor Farm, and the pigs, under the leadership of Napoleon, assume the role of the ruling class. In doing so, the pigs impose a set of "commandments" on the other animals. For a short time, this system works well, as the animals eagerly work under the new rulership.
As the novel progresses, the animals come to realize that the leadership of Napoleon and the pigs is just as oppressive as that of Mr. Jones. By the last chapter, the pigs, after having named the farm Animal Farm, change it back to Manor Farm. This is a significant event in that it marks the acknowledgement that the farm has come full circle. When the animals find they cannot distinguish the pigs from the humans, the circle completes itself.
The systems of government at the beginning of the novel and at the end share a great deal in common. The perception of oppressive government in Chapter I becomes more of a reality by Chapter X. In this sense, they are no better off by the end of the novel. The only way the animals are any better off at the end is that they are wiser. They have witnessed how "communist" government, for all of its protestations of freedom for the proletariat, leads to the same oppression it sought to replace.
No comments:
Post a Comment