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*nods head sagely* We approves of all this most wholetheartednessly. I won’t repeat it all— I’d sound like a broken record. But one thing I noticed about AF (can we use initials please? Thanks) is that because Orwell simply states the facts without making it clear what his true opinion is, the book is more easily molded to suit the worldview of the reader, no matter if that worldview agrees with Orwell’s or not. The first time I read it, I thought it was an awesome book completely against both communism and socialism. A little research soon apprised me of my mistake, but I had NO. CLUE. that Orwell was a socialist before I researched it.
This can actually be dangerous. If you’re not clear on what it is you’re promoting, people can read the book and choose for themselves what it says.@sarah-h You can probably find a classic like Animal Farm at your library. Check there first, and if you can’t find it, you might locate one at Half-Price books or some other popular bookstore.
I love what everyone has been saying so far! I also noticed how Orwell didn’t put forward his own beliefs/views but seems like he’s allowing the reader to make up his/her own mind, which I think is good.
I’m the type of reader who always looks for the humor in a book, even if it’s one of the most serious novels ever written. I always search for subtle humor. So far I’m loving Molly’s character, and I couldn’t help but laugh as I read on page 23, “Some hams hanging in the kitchen were taken out for burial…” 😛
Excellent thoughts guys! I agree with Hannah. I love a book that has good humor in it. 🙂 …anyways, I don’t have much more to add, but I really like the book so far.
@Hannah-Krynicki Thanks!
Hey, guys! Sorry I’m late! (Better late than never I hope 😉 ) So I just have one question (ish) @daeus , before I get started discussing, and that is: How fast are we supposed to be reading the book? Are we on chapter 2, 4 … or does it even matter? I just want to be sure we’re all on the same page. (No pun intended 😉 )
@overcomer Hey, I love that pun!
So we are officially reading through at a pace of two chapters a week, but you can read ahead if you want. All I ask is that you don’t give away any spoilers. Right now we are discussing the first two chapters, but we will be starting the next two on Monday.
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Cool beans! Thanks, @daeus 🙂
Ok, and we’re back with the next two chapters of animal farm. I’m here with my copilot Imaginary Bob flying over the shadowy lands of Animaldom and we’ve got a great bird’s eye view. I’m sure you do to, so let’s get into this.
To start off, I thought I’d just mention the big thing that hit me in reading this. It’s the characters. They’re not very complicated. In fact, you practically know them as soon as they are introduced. This might sound bad, but we’ve noted before that characters are the strongest part of this story. Now let me provide a theory for why this works. I don’t think it actually has anything to do with the simplicity of the characters, but everything to do with their distinctness. Each of the animals has distinct mannerisms and habits from all the other animals. Also, each of the animals can be counted on to express themselves in consistent ways many times over. This may sound bad too, but it’s really just like in real life. If you’ve known someone for a while for instance, you’ll probably learn to like their distinctive smile and will only like it all the more the more it is expressed.
So to summarize this, I think what Orwell is showing us is that bold characters are more important than complex characters (though you can certainly have both.)
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Hey, good point @Daeus. I hadn’t thought of that. But you’re right. Wow. I’ll have to remember that.
One thing I’ve found interesting is how much telling there is in this book. Almost everything is told, not shown…something I’d normally put down to bad writing, but here it works because it’s the style. It a bare bones type of style, with each character having a particular distinguishing characteristic and that’s about it. And yet, it’s very powerful.
INTJ - Inhumane. No-feelings. Terrible. Judgment and doom on everyone.
Hmm, it looks like maybe a few people got busy this week and forgot. Busyness is all cool, but if it’s just plain old forgetting, I’m on a mission to remind. Here goes.
@christi-eaton @faithdk @gretald @belegteleri @spradlin @hannah-c @sarah-h @overcomer @dbhgodreigns @zoe-wingfeather @hannah-olsen @writefury @anna-brie @hannah-krynicki @hislittlerose @vanna @jadamae @adry_grace @ingridrd @the-happy-bookaholic🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢
Sorry @daeus, it’s a matter of busy-ness. I can join in later this week. Thanks for checking up, though.
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@daeus strangely, i never received an email when you tagged me that first time. sorry for jumping in late. :/
i’m not sure what to say really here, except that i had to read this for lit last year and it was VERY HELPFUL to use the first few blank title pages for a character log. just look up which character in the book represents which person in real life, and log it. it really helped stupid me to understand the real life history and masterful allegory of the book. 🙂
Ah! I’m finally caught up.
Okay, @hannah-olsen, I’m beginning to see what you mean about the humor, especially with Molly learning to decorate her name and leaving work early.
I’m also seeing more serious warnings from Orwell, most noticeably, when Napoleon takes away all the calves from their mothers for the sake of “education,” claiming it is best for them to learn from a young age. I also found it a little bit disturbing when the pigs insisted that Science had proved that they needed more milk and apples. Yes, it’s like the USSR, but it’s also eerily like what is happening today in America- and I’ll stop there before we get into a political debate. 🙂
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