Animal Farm why did the rebellion fail in the end after all the work, time and, most of all, effort that they put in?

“Animal Farm”

In this C.E.L. I will be writing about a novel called “Animal Farm” by George Orwell, which describes a ‘revolution gone wrong’. This is told through the use of animals on a farm in England. But why did the rebellion fail in the end after all the work, time and, most of all, effort that they put in?

The novel focuses on animals in a farm in England, called “Manor Farm”. While building a windmill for electricity they encounter many problems such as greedy pigs, spiteful men and death. The animals drive all of the men off the farm in anger at what they had done and rename the farm “Animal Farm”. The pigs sell Boxer, the old horse, for whisky and everything starts to go downhill.

The power-hungry pigs were the main reason for the failure of the rebellion. As the pigs (especially Napolean), unlike any other animal on the farm, could read and write. They wrote seven commandments, which, since no other animals could read, were not set and kept changing depending on what the pigs wanted. If they dared to disagree they would face the threat of Mr. Jones returning. The pigs were very good at twisting words to get the animals to agree and follow their lead. They did very well in convincing Boxer to think that “Napolean is always right” especially since he was a very wise horse. All of the commandments were being gradually removed until there was only one left that read, “All animal are equal, but some are more equal than others.”

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The characters in this novel resemble people from the Russian Revolution. Old Major strongly resembled Karl Marx in that he taught Animalism and Karl Marx invented Communism. They also both die before the start of the revolution. The Animalism represents Communism in that everyone is equal and every animal owns the farm just like everyone owns the Government. Snowball represented Leon Trotsky because they were both leaders in the revolution and they both wanted to make life better for everyone. Napolean was a lot like Joseph Stalin as they both were cruel, brutal, selfish and devious, they both aimed for power and wanted to kill all of the opposition. The Dogs that Napolean used to control the rest of the animal, were like the secret police (KGB). They completely obeyed their superiors. They are a secret army that can be used as a threat if the animals refuse to work.

The pigs had many ways of threatening the other animals such telling them that they could get Mr. Jones back to take over again. They also used the dogs to scare them. Napoleon trained the farms’ puppies up to be vicious blood-sucking mongrels. They were used to chase Snowball off the farm once he had been banished.

Boxer was always too tired to rebel as the pigs were constantly working him hard to get the windmill built. Clover looked to Boxer for leadership but in a way went along with what Napolean said. Boxer had always looked to Napolean for leadership but this wasn’t always a good thing. Boxer had said to himself, “I will work harder.” This quote demonstrates how determined Boxer was to get everything done. Clover was also one of the most anxious to work and help out in everything they did. All of the animals were tired, underfed and concentrated solely on the windmill. The windmill was a great plan and it would have stayed up and running if the humans didn’t interfere.

Benjamin was an old donkey who, although he was wise, no one listened to because he was old so he tended to keep to himself. All of the sheep had been brainwashed to support Napoleon. They were brainwashed into thinking and bleating, “Two legs good, four legs bad” when the other animals were going to say something or disagree.

The raven, Moses, had partly managed to convince the animals that, when they died, they would go to a place called “Sugarcandy Mountain”. He also said that there was linseed cake and sugar lumps just growing on the hedges. He claimed this would only be achievable if they worked hard. By doing this he is distracting the animals from the fact that they are starving.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel because of the way it is written. The main reason that the rebellion was disastrous was the fact that the pigs were power-hungry, they had too much control and had the horse, sheep, donkey and raven wrapped around their trotters. So these are the main reasons of why I think the rebellion was a complete and utter failure.

Rory Innes

Peer Reviews

Here's what a star student thought of this essay

sydneyhopcroft

23rd of Feb 2012

Quality of writing

The Quality of Written Communication (QWC) is eaverage. Though the candidate's answer is easy to read and there are few spelling mistakes, comma splice and other grammatical errors lower the QWC mark. A more extensive range of puncutation could have been used also.

Level of analysis

The Level of Analysis is very good. With recognition of the characters and their roles within the play, the candidate explains to an extent how the rebellion failed. There could be more emphasis on how the animals were helpless without Boxer the horse, and how the animals' stereotypical personalities (the sheep being mindless followers of authority and power) are expressed in the novel. The candidate draws from a range of moments in the play, though a better use of quoting may serve the candidate (and other candidates wishing to do well in any analytical essay) better stead because this shows an ability to construct a detailed analysis of novels with evidence to back up points made.

Response to question

This question orientates around the main plot in George Orwell's 'Animal Farm'. There is an excellently expressed understanding of how the novelis influenced by the Russian Revolution, the KGB, the Birth of Communism and also how the certain animal represent real life political figures (Old Major being representative of Karl Marx, as an example). There is a lot of emphasis on the characters and what they represent although some are omitted completely or could be explored a little more.

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