Propoganda in Animal Farm

The misinformation that the pigs spread around animal farm is astouding. I'm thinking the animals must be quite stupid indeed if they believe it, and I wonder if the propoganda in the book bears any resemblance to real-life propoganda. Where the Russian commoners truly decieved so much? While I suppose that this is a possibility, I think that the propoganda within Animal Farm bears more resemblance to the propoganda floating around North Korea. Honestly, it just seems ridiculous what Kim Jong-Il tells his people, and if they stomache such lies, I suppose thats just as bad as what the animals in the book believe. Then again, the people of North korea where raised on such lies (or many of them were. Similarly, only a select few animals at the end of the book even remembered the revolution (just Clover, Old Benjamin, the Raven and some of the pigs if I'm not mistaken).

Beasts of England

I wondered if the song Beasts of England itself was perhaps a parody of another song. While looking this up (and I don't think it is a parody by the way) I read somewhere where it said that the Soviet Union eventually replaced its original anthem (The Internationale) with the National Anthem of the Soviet Union. In the book, I believe that the replacing of Beasts of England symbolizes the fall of the ideals that carried the animals to freedom. In short, that was when animalism died. It had been slowly ailing, but I believe it finally passed away when the pigs outlawed the song that the animals sang on the very night the revolution was conceived.

On page 78, it says that the Humans grew to despise Animal Farm even more because it was prospering against their predictions. This seems like one of the few places in the book where actual fiction is used and nothing is based upon real-world events. I'm sure that nobody in the outside world hated the Soviet Union simply because it was prospering. Indeed, during Orwell's time, weren't people praising communist ideals? Isn't that the entire reason Orwell wrote the book, because so many people were, he believed, being misled by the Russians?

Its such a shame Napoleon drove Snowball off animal farm. It seems like everything just went downhill from there. Snowball was, along with Old Major, the visionary. He was kind of the driving force behind animal farm. He was extremely enthusiastic, and he had quite a few great ideas (like the windmill) and it was him who inspired the animals at the beginning of the book. Perhaps it was because of his influence that he was chased off. At the end of the book, it seemed like animal farm was devoid of both ideas and visionaries, so Snowball's absence was certainly something for the animals to lament about. Had they been able to think for themselves, they might have actually realised what a loss Snowball's absence was.

The Farmers

I wonder what the Farmers symbolize in Animal Farm. It seems that they represent any outside enemy, real or imaginary, because the pigs use them to scare the other animals into submission. Specifically, though, I would have to say that I believe the farmer's represent the Nazis. The pigs would always flip back and forth between alliances with the two neighboring farmers. What I mean is they would always change who they were allied with. The Russians did this in World War II when they started out fighting on the Nazi side, before eventually changing to be allied against the axis powers. They were also attacked by their supposed ally, Pinkerton, as they were negotiating with him. It is worth mentioning that the Nazis betrayed the Russians in World War II, and were repelled at great cost (just as Pinkerton's group was).

After the Animals peeked...

I wonder what happened after the animals took a peek inside the farmhouse and heard the pig's conversation. Certainly such a sight must have troubled them, but I wondered if they had any other reaction beyond that. A revolution seems like it could have happened with more assertive and intelligent animals, but the ones on Manor Farm were docile, obedient and unimaginative. I think that someone like Old Major would have to come along to inspire the animals to revolt, but I have no idea who on the farm would be so capable. Perhaps Old Benjamin could manage it (if he wasn't quite so cynical). The crow could also do something to stir up rebellion, but he seemed preoccupied with his own interests. After all, why worry about the fate of others when you can fly anywhere you wish, and flee nearly any trouble?

Too many pigs...

On page 116 I noticed that 31 young pigs were born on the farm. 31 is a ridiculous number when talking about babies...and I'm sure all the piglets will survive because the pigs have the best standard of living on the entire farm. 31 pigs.... That can't be good for the farm. When you think of all the pigs as potential rulers, then the possibility of a power struggle arises. With 31 pigs, I would say that such a thing is likely, especially since the book says all the pigs were born at once, and thus are the same age. Also, the pigs don't do any work. They sit there, and eat and sleep and get fat all day. With so many pigs (and I'm sure all 31 pigs are going to have kids of their own eventually), how is the farm going to provide enough food or money to feed everyone. With 31 pigs eating so much and doing no work, it seems that animal farm is destined to fail, but that's just my opinion.