Page 71 - DENG203_ELECTIVE_ENGLISH_IV

Elective English—IV

Notes raising questions about the farms future. They begin struggling with one another for control
and influence among other animals. Snowball devises a scheme to form an electricity-generating
windmill, but Napoleon strongly opposes the idea. Snowball then gives a passionate speech at
the meeting organised to vote on whether they should take up the project. Even though Napoleon
gives only a brief response, he immediately makes a strange noise, and nine attack dogs—the
puppies that Napoleon had taken away to “educate” them rush into the barn and chase Snowball
from the farm. Napoleon, then takes up leadership of Animal Farm and announces that no more
meetings will be conducted. From that very moment he declares that only the pigs will make all
the decisions for the good of all animals.
Napoleon quickly changes his mind about the animals and the windmill, and says that animals
particularly Boxer, should devote their efforts to completing the windmill. One day, after a
storm, the animals see that the windmill collapsed. The human farmers in the region announce
arrogantly that the walls made by the animals were too thin. However Napoleon states that
Snowball had returned to the farm to damage the windmill. Napoleon stages a great purge,
during which several animals who have supposedly taken part in Snowball’s big conspiracy—
which means that any animal opposing Napoleon’s uncontested leadership shall meet immediate
death at the teeth of the attack dogs. With his leadership unchallenged Boxer takes up the second
maxim, “Napoleon is always right”. Napoleon then starts expanding his powers and begins
rewording history to show that Snowball is an antihero. Napoleon also starts acting more and
more like a human being. He starts sleeping in a bed, drinks whisky, and engages in trade with
neighbouring farmers. The actual Animalist principles strictly prohibited such activities, but
Napoleon’s propagandist, Squealer, defends Napoleon and justifies all his actions in front of
other animals, convincing them that Napoleon is a great leader and is doing good and making
things better for everybody—despite knowing that the other animals are hungry, cold and
overworked.

A neighbouring farmer, Mr. Frederick then cheats Napoleon in the purchase of some timber. He
also attacks the farm and explodes the windmill, which was reconstructed at great expense. After
the windmill’s demolition, a pitched battle follows, during which Boxer gets badly injured. The
animals defeat the farmers, but Boxer’s wounds make him weaker than before. After falling
while working on the windmill, Boxer realises that he is nearing his end. Boxer suddenly
disappears and is nowhere to be found. Squealer feels that Boxer is no more and died in peace
after being taken to the hospital. He praises the Rebellion with his last breath. In reality, Napoleon
sold his long-suffering loyal worker to a glue maker so as to get money for whisky.
As years pass, the pigs become more and more like human beings in the Animal Farm. They
start walking upright, wear clothes and carry whips. Ultimately, the seven principles of
Animalism, known as the Seven Commandments and engraved on the side of the barn, get
reduced to a single principle reading “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal
than others.” Napoleon then calls a human farmer named Mr. Pilkington for dinner and announces
his intention to partner with the human farmers against the labouring classes of both the animal
and the human communities. Napoleon also changes the name of the Animal Farm back to the
Manor Farm, saying that this is the “correct” title. Seeing the party of elites through the farmhouse
window, the common animals are no longer able to distinguish between the human beings and
the pigs.

Notes Animal Farm is most famous in the West as a stinging critique of the history and
rhetoric of the Russian Revolution. Retelling the story of the emergence and development
of Soviet communism in the form of an animal fable, Animal Farm allegorizes the rise to
power of the dictator Joseph Stalin. In the novella, the overthrow of the human oppressor
Contd...

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