Animal Farm- Chapter 6

While building the windmill, Napoleon declares that dealing with humans would be crucial in order to finish it. The animals didn't like the idea because they had sworn off dealing with humans all together. The compromise was that there was only one human they would deal with to do all the trading through, Whymper. Later on in the chapter it is found out that the pigs had broken one of their commandments by sleeping in the beds that were in the farmhouse that served as the pigs' headquarters. When the animals went to go double check the commandment plaque, the commandment had read "No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets." This reminds me of how today when people break some sort of law or rule, they always twist the law to their benefit. Laws used to be so black and white and nowadays there seems to be all kinds of shades of grey. At the end of the chapter the windmill had been destroyed, and the destruction was blamed all on the exiled pig, Snowball. It's so funny how people do the same thing when something in the world goes wrong, they blame somebody else.

Animal Farm- Chapter 5

In chapter 4 the animals successfully manage to hold onto the farm when the farmer comes back to reclaim his land, and the animals killed in this battle were honored as "heroes" of a sort. Now the pigs have come to a crossroads because there are 2 different pigs who want to lead, but each has a different direction on where they'd like to take the farm. Snowball is the genuine pig who truly wants the farm to advance with the times by building modern conveniences like a windmill to lighten the work load. Napoleon is the pig who reminds me of a crooked politician. He makes the argument that the windmill idea is way too human, which is what they were wanting to avoid in the first place. The ideas of how to defend the farm from future attacks is also a issue of debate between the two pigs. Each pig has their own followers, which divides the farm community. Again, in a country there are always people who have different views on which direction they should go as a nation. The leaders have their own followers which causes a civil divide. In the book Napoleon chases Snowball out of the farm by force thus forcing the animals to recognize him as leader. Opposing him would almost mean certain death. Although the animals were scared they accepted Napoleon as their ruler and followed his orders, which were to build the windmill after all. Napoleon then recruits Squealer as his mouthpiece to explain to all the animals his reasoning for the decisions he has made, and to squash any doubts the animals might have had against Napoleon and his motives. In the end of chapter 5, Napoleon makes the windmill plan seem like it was his all along, and he opposed it only as a tactic to get rid of Snowball who now suddenly is a shady, untrustworthy enemy who only wanted the farm for evil purposes. Again, the animals of the farm just accept this as the truth.
This chapter specifically was really powerful to me because it's almost a certainty that every country will have 2 or more people vying for the leader position. Sometimes there is a truly genuine candidate while the other candidate is selfish and only wants to rule to push their own personal agenda. In the event that the bad candidate eliminates their competition, it's by force as a tactic to scare the people into being loyal to them. This also makes people too scared to ask questions about rules/laws/projects the new leader has put into place. After the leader comes to power they suddenly become too good to mingle among the rest of the people, and they often have their own person they designate to do their bidding and explain things to the people in a way that makes them seem like bleeding hearts.
I can see why this book had such a hard time getting published in the 1940's with all the war that was going on in the world back then.

Animal Farm- Chapters 3 & 4

After the animals came up with their seven commandments that acted as their laws, they each were assigned a job on the farm in order to keep it running. The pigs took command of the farm as the leaders, and decided  to educate the other animals by teaching them to read & write, as well as divide the food into rations for all the animals. This is interesting to me because the farm mimics a country that has decided to be self-sufficient, and there always is somebody that emerges to lead the people. From there the leaders decide who has to do what in order to keep the country running. 

The pigs took it upon themselves to create their own headquarters, and shortly after they did this they decided that they were the only animals who could consume the milk & apples of the farm. This again reminds me of a country because almost always the leaders of the country think that they deserve special treatment. When people start to ask questions about why they deserve special treatment when they had agreed that all people were equal, the leader always has a way of persuading them they need certain accommodations, which the people just accept. For the moment things run smoothly, but it's not long before the leaders demand more unnecessary luxuries. I'm wondering how long it'll be before the animals on the farm revolt...

Animal Farm -Chapter 1 & 2

I ended up starting the term off by reading "Animal Farm" by George Orwell. I read this book my sophomore year of high school, and didn't really care for it back then. I really don't even remember anything that happens in this book. However, nine years later I am really enjoying it so far. It's amazing how your taste in reading can change with age! I love how this book is told from the animals point of view. I wonder how George Orwell came up with the idea of writing a book like this. So far in the book the animals of this farm have all come together and decided to revolt against the farmer because of his cruel treatment toward them. The animals have labeled humans as 'the enemy,' and all other animals are considered 'comrades.' I can't wait to see how the animals will use the conquered farm they now have all to themselves. I wonder if the farmer will ever come back, or if there will be any human visitors in the future. If so, I wonder what the animals will do to them since humans are now enemies.

Decisions, Decisions...

I'm really excited to choose a book to start reading. I have a few different options I'm considering. The person I admire, my boyfriend Andrew, recommended I read the book "Catfish and Mandala." I've never heard of this particular book but it should be an interesting read because I believe Andrew has great taste in pretty much everything. The other choice I was thinking of was a non-fiction book about the Salem Witch Trials because this topic has always intrigued me. I guess I will make my final decision on which book I will read first when I go to the bookstore and see which book is cheapest.