Animal Farm Study Guide Responding Chapters 1-4

PERSONAL RESPONSE

Q1) What is your reaction to the animals' complaints and goals?

Ans: I think that the animals were right in starting the rebellion to make the animals the owners of the farm. Under Jones' rule, they suffered greatly. They had the rights to overthrow him as the owner of the farm.

Q2) Do you sympathize with the animals' complaints and goals? Why and why not?

Ans: Yes, I sympathize with the animals' complaints and goals. Jones was a tyrant. He ill-treated the animals by making them do the maximum amount of work but only giving them the minimum amount of food to keep them alive.

ANALYZING LITERATURE

Q1) Describe how the Rebellion takes place. How does the animals' behavior during the Rebellion suggest both human and animal characteristics?

Ans: The animals cooperated and chased Mr Jones and his wife and his workers out of the farm. Some of the animals, for example, the pigs, became greedy for authority and became selfish. This shows no difference between them and humans.

Q2) How do the pigs gain the rights to the cow's milk? Why do the other animals allow this to occur? What does this event suggest about the power hierachy on the farm?

Ans: They convinced the animals that the cow's milk was essential to the well-being of the pigs, who were the thinkers of the farm. The other animals allowed this to occur because they did not want Jones to return back to the farm. This shows that pigs held the greatest power in the farm and that the other animals were inferior to them

Q3) How does the original vision of Animalism become the slogan "Four legs bad, two legs good"? In your opinion, do the animals want rules with simple language? What kind of language do the pigs use?

Ans: Originally, the slogan was "Four legs good, two legs bad". The animals did not know how to read and write so they wanted rules with simple language. The pigs used human language.

Q4) What technique does Orwell use to cast doubt on the likelihood of a successful revolution?

Ans: He portrayed many characters that were sceptical of the revolution being able to be successfully completed, even though they were submissive to Napoleon.

Q5) Characterize Snowball as a leader. Do you think his reaction to the stable-boy's death is the appropriate reaction to have during a revolution?

Ans: I feel that he was looking at the big situation. Since war will definitely have sacrifices, his reaction was appropriate in that sense.