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@christi-eaton @faithdk @gretald @belegteleri @hope @spradlin @hannah-c @sarah-h @overcomer @wordfitlyspoken @dbhgodreigns @zoe-wingfeather @hannah-olsen @writefury @anna-brie @hannah-krynicki @hislittlerose @vanna @jadamae @adry_grace @ingridrd @kate-flournoy @the-happy-bookaholic
Ladies, gentlemen, and robots scanning the web,It is with pleasure that I announce to you the opening of our first KeePers book club featuring Animal Farm as the subject of study.
Let me lay down the guidelines of study and then we may begin.
.First of all, don’t feel rushed. You can make comments all week, so there’s no need to skip dinner to get all your comments made on Monday.
.Stay on topic. Remember, our primary goal is to study the craft of writing and how we can learn from other authors. Things about the author, important facts, and philosophical analysis are also in line. Long rants on the habits of chickens and any discrepancies in the actions of the particular chickens in Animal Farm would be an example of going too far.
.If you have a thought, share it. No keeping great discoveries to yourself.
.This is just a side note, but when you’re reading the book, it might be helpful to take notes so you don’t forget all the amazing discoveries you made.Alright folks, you may begin to comment.
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Sorry, I forgot to mention earlier that I’ll be sitting out this round. 🙂 Happy studying to the rest of y’all!
Thanks, @daeus! The first thing I noticed while reading the chapters is the POV. I think Orwell intentionally kept himself limited to objective third-person so that he wouldn’t come across as “biased” against communism; this way he simply relates the events as they play out and lets the reader decide for him/herself. It wouldn’t have been the same if he had added his own thoughts and thus come across as influencing the reader.
@hannah-krynicki I agree with you. I also noticed the voice, which I thought was kind of tongue of cheek. He writes the facts, doesn’t expound on them, yet nonetheless there is a sort of irony. (ex., near the end of Chapter 2, the milk disappears)
On another note, this one structural, the inciting event takes place at about 13% through the book, exactly where it should. (The inciting event being the rebellion against Farmer Brown)
What do you guys think?
@dbhgodreigns That might be true, or maybe the rebellion is the key event. In K.M. Weiland’s diagram on the topic, the inciting event starts off the the events of the story, and the key event drags the protagonist(s) into those events. Old Major’s dream might be the inciting event, while the rebellion is the key event that brings in the farm animals. Then again, maybe Old Major’s dream is just the hook, and the inciting event and key event are both wrapped up in the rebellion. I’m not sure…
Good observations.
One of the first things I noticed was how much telling there is, but how it actually works out quite well. Orwell tells the story in classic fairy tale style but yet does so with a confidence that makes it seem real. I think this is because of the strong third person style where there is never a hint of Orwell sneaking in his own commentary. I’m not entirely sure what makes Orwell’s telling work, except perhaps that he sticks to the same style almost religiously. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?
One really good thing he did was to give each of the animals a solid introduction at the beginning of the book. He had already got our attention by saying that something important was about to happen and then he used that attention to set the stage with good character descriptions that are going to become important later on.
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@Daeus
I noticed the ‘telling’ too. It was a little hard for me to get used to at first but, I agree that it did work well.
I loved the different personalities of the animals. The pigs are the confident, highly regarded animals. The horses are strong, but not necessarily the brightest. (I think Molly especially is an interesting character.) The contrasting personalities make everything more entertaining.
One of the things that old Major said hit me pretty hard as I read it: “All the habits of men are evil.” Wow. That got me thinking about my bad habits and how I should begin to change some things. Who knew you’d hear such wisdom from a pig! 😉
Over all, I like it. It’s a unique story and keeps the reader engaged. 🙂A dreamer who believes in the impossible...and dragons. (INFJ-T)
Yes Ingrid, I actually think you hit on one of the biggest points there. The personalities of the animals are so vibrant. Orwell doesn’t seem to miss a single opportunity to point out the personalities of a single animal. That should be a good lesson on the importance of character even above action.
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One thing which struck me while reading the beginning of this story is how sound most of the animals’ reasoning seems to be. I’ve read the book, so I know how it ends, but even knowing that, the speeches and talk about overthrowing man seems reasonable and something which would be for the greater benefit of the animals. If I were there, it would be easy to agree with them and join in (Well, besides the fact I’m in the ‘man’ category.)
INTJ - Inhumane. No-feelings. Terrible. Judgment and doom on everyone.
@hope, you’re onto something there. Orwell was a socialist but not a communist (I know, right?), so I think he is emphasizing the sound reasoning behind socialism that goes wrong only under communist totalitarianism. Come to think of it, Orwell does occasionally throw in an opinion- but only in the form of the animals’ speech.
True, Major didn’t substantiate all his points, but he did make some good ones (considering the fairy tale setting). I think this probably has something to do with Orwell’s hidden bias. I’m not sure how many people know this, but Orwell was actually a socialist. What he didn’t like was totalitarianism. How in the world he thought he could have one and not the other is a mystery, but he did. As I understand it, the hero in the story is Snowball, while Napolean is the villain.
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@hannah-krynicki Well, to be technical, he wasn’t against communism (in fact, even though he’s called a socialist, I think communist would be a better term for him). Socialism according to Marx is the necessary middle point in transitioning from capitalism to communism. Socialism is defined as all property being owned by the state and (at least in theory) distributed fairly. Communism is defined as all property being owned by everyone.
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@daeus That’s true. So do you think he is speaking out against the absolute power of totalitarianism- that is, rule by a few when it should theoretically be rule by all?
@hannah-krynicki I think that’s a good guess, though if I hadn’t known Orwell’s own beliefs, I would have guessed it was against any form of socialist/communist government whatsoever. If you approach the book from a purely logical standpoint, I think you will find that it teaches the risk of attempting a communist society is greater than any benefits it would allegedly gain. (Though it would only have those benefits in a perfect society, in which case capitalism would work at least as well and probably better). He really didn’t do the best job at promoting his own idealist views 😉
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@daeus Ha, yeah, that’s also true from a logical perspective. It sounds like what Thomas More said at the end of Utopia: that his socialistic ideas would be perfect in an unfallen society, but it is not likely that they would ever work in the real world.
What about the use of imagery or metaphors in the story? I haven’t noticed much of that yet, but then this is my first time reading it. The best example I can think of is the dictators being pigs. 🙂
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