Animal Farm Chapter 11

My Chapter11 is on Leon's blog.

Connections Between Egypt and Animal Farm

     The connections that I saw between the uprisings and Animal Farm were things like how one rebellion on Animal Farm led to the rebellion or thought of rebellion on the other farms who hear about the reasons for the rebellion in the first place. Like in Egypt, when their rebellions succeeded last Friday, Iran and other nearby areas began to protest on the streets hoping to find a way to break through their governments the Egypt was able to do. Egypt started a huge state of rebellion for many other countries around it and was very much like Animal Farm being the start of a successful rebellion.
     Another connection I found was that in Animal Farm, a small group of animals, or actually, just Major the pig, began the ideas and thoughts of rebellion. Then the idea was spread throughout Animal Farm and an actual rebellion occurred after Major died. It's very very similar to what happened in Egypt. The rebellion started in Tunisia and when the man burned himself to death, the idea of this rebellion spread to Egypt where it ultimately took off and a rebellion really happened. This man is like Major. He sparked the rebellion.
     Another connection is where in Animal Farm, when the humans meddle into the politics and the world where animals ruled is the same as how Americans are going into Egypt and trying to help one side or the other. The humans were fought off in Animal Farm because they embraced the freedom of choice they had without outside rule. In Egypt, many despised how Americans meddled into the rebellions and the business of the Egyptians and their government. They enjoyed having the power and the fact that they are able to "speak" through their own actions and not by some foreign country.
     Orewell is truly a genius. Even though he wrote this book many years before, the connections between Animal Farm and what is currently happening in Egypt are incredibly similar and it amazes me how he wrote something like this in his book even though he knew nothing of how the future would be like.

Animal Farm Prompt 1 MiniEssay

     One pig that plays a huge role in the book Animal Farm by George Orwell is the prized pig, Major. Although Major died early on in the book he is the very core of the plot of the story. Major was the pig to ignite the ideas of Rebellion and presented the cases of all the animals publicly in order to find a way to solve them. Major speaks with a lot of conviction and determination. Major's words aren't the only things that affect the influence of his speeches, but it is also the way he says things and the order he says his ideas in. Major's ideas bring about the very essence of Orwell's plot.

            The beginning of the book is Major’s long speech which covered around four pages. His speech’s main purpose was to give rise to a rebellion and to a cause that he believed had to be addressed. Major’s speech included a lot of the problems and concerns that the animals did not realize or were afraid of challenging. Major uses his position as the prize pig and assembles the group of animals into one place and then gives an extremely persuasive speech. In this speech, he presents many rhetorical questions in which the answer is always to his favor. The rebellion is to overthrow Mr. Jones, yet, Major uses all men in his speech, making them all enemies of the animals. He makes it hard for any animal to go against his words without looking as if they were siding with the humans. Using this tactic, Major uses the many opportunities to take advantage of the animals of Manor Farm

            Major doesn’t necessarily use big words in his speeches, but the sentences that he uses and his syntax bring out the things that he is trying to emphasize. His sentences are filled with accusations and assumptions that the other animals want to hear. For example: 

"Only get rid of man, and the produce of our labor would become our own. Almost overnight we could become rich and free." (Orwell 30)

 In this quote, Major says that if the animals ovrthrow men, they can grow stronger in a short span of time and can get everything they ever wanted. These statements were filled with assumptions. Major brought out the accusation that men were the cause of the animal's torturous lives and used this accusation to form the idea of rebellion. Major uses this bold comment to raise the hatred towards Mr. Jone, the farmer and owner of Manor Farm. After this statement, Major puts out a question to which the answer should be obvious to even the most dimwitted animal would be able to answer.

"What then must we do? Why work night and day body and soul, for the overthrow of the human race!" (Orwell 30)

With this, Major sets up his speech for the climax of it all and provides a buffer for the main point of his meeting. This rhetorical question is answered directly after the question is presented. It doesn't give any time for any discussion or any real thought for the other animals. The question followed by the answer forces animals to think only of the idea given to them. After this, Major's true point is revealed.
"That is my message to you, comrades: Rebellion!" (30). As Major plants this idea into the animal's heads. Major is able to manipulate and capture the minds of the animals throughout the strength of his words and through the true determination of rebellion for the good of Animal Farm, not for the good of himself with the act of selfishness.

Governent- Corrupt?

     In my opinion, political power does corrupt those who attain it. Power itself makes people do things and brings out their selfishness. Power isn't something that necessarily "create" selfishness, but it brings out the selfishness that people already have within themselves. During class, when Mr. Sutherland put out the question about is the US government corrupt, the idea that came into my head was that no government can possibly not be corrupt. There will always be something or someone within the government who uses his or her power to do corrupt things. Crystal mentioned that the government itself isn't corrupt. The government is a blueprint in which people simply fill in and complete the tasks. I thought differently. I thought that a government's "blueprints" change with the change of power because everyone has their own personal interests and ways of handling things.These are my thought on whether or not political power corrupts those who attain it and whether or not the US government is corrupt.
     I think that George Orwell would agree with me that power corrupts people. In Animal Farm, Orwell tells a story of animals who take over a farm. The plot is actually about the Russian Revolution. In chapter one, he writes

 "So the animals trooped down to the hayfield to begin the harvest and when they came back in the evening it was noticed that the milk had disappeared." (44) 

While the animals were out working, the pigs had drunk the milk that all the other animals wanted. Although the pigs were the ones who meant good for the animals, they took advantage of the power they had over the animals and worked it to their own benefits. The pigs were extremely corrupt later on in the book. For example, they would change the laws to fit their ways of living and to their luxury.