Question #8_ Animal Farm

*Entry of your choice
*Original novel vs. Translated version

Famous books are translated into hundreds of languages, and Animal Farm is one of them. George Orwell is a really famous author, and I have seen this novel on the Korean high school recommended reading list. So I tried reading Animal Farm in Korean version during Lunar Vacation. I was pretty surprised for what I have gotten out of it. Since it hadn’t been a long time, reading Animal Farm in English, I didn’t get anything new; the story was really familiar to me. However, something was different! I thought over and over until I finally figured out that the mood was a little different. Dystopian mood was a lot stronger in the English version. I’d say it’s because of the variety of words a language can have. Korean version really sounded like a storybook or a novel without the explanation in the back of the book saying that it is symbolizing the Soviet Union. In contrast, when I read the original book, I could actually connect the story into the history, even without reading the analysis. Maybe it’s because the translator couldn’t find exact word for word meaning Korean, and had to use weaker word choice. This means that if you don’t know English and wanted to really enjoy Animal Farm or some kind of American Literature fully, it isn’t possible. That is one reason that almost everyone around the world tries to learn English and be fluent with it. Before, I thought it would be as good to read a novel in a translated version, but now, I don’t believe so. I should try to read the novels I read in Korean translated version, again in English and search for the real beauty of the book.

Question #7_ Animal Farm

*Are there any settings in this novel which you have found to be beautiful? or disturbing? or memorable?
*Describe these settings and comment on why they were meaningful to you

Major Farm, the Animal Farm, is a setting that I have found to be memorable. This farm at first was really old and the owner of the farm never cared about the animals. However, as the animal took over the farm, human things were used differently by animals. The structure of the farm had changed a lot. Contrastingly, at the end of the book, powerful pigs live the same life as humans on the farm, so the farm starts to look like what it was in the past. In another word, this farm kept on changing and changing as the story goes according to how animals lived and how nature of the animals on this farm had changed. All the good and bad things happen in this one place. Actually, almost the whole book occurs on this one farm; story starts here and ends here. It is very interesting, and at the same time shocking, to see how so many things can happen in a single setting. The unsteady rule of cruel and brutal humans, rebellion of animals, new leaders, changing of the nature of animals, process of destruction of a community, birth of communism, murders among friends (the trusting relations), discriminations, dictatorship, and lots more. Animal Farm, later changed name of Major Farm, symbolizes the Soviet Union during communism. Thinking back, I shiver again knowing how brave and smart the author, George Orwell, was to symbolize the Soviet Union in this book, and to criticize the country by sneaking from the government. I wonder if the same things could happen in South Korea, where the idealism of democracy is being used.

Question #6_ Animal Farm

*Please choose one passage from the novel that is significant to you.
*Why is this passage meaningful?
*Please type it into one of your entries and comment on what you think about the passage.

"All animals are equal
But some animals are more equal
Than others"

This passage was really significant to me. It is a single commandment left on the wall of the farm at the end of the book. The commandment kept changing, but almost nobody, except for the leaders, knew because they couldn’t read caused by lack of education. When I first read this passage, I didn’t really get what it meant. Equal is equal, how can you be “more” equal? It didn’t make sense at all. However, as I kept on thinking and made connection to the Soviet Union that this book was symbolizing, I started to nod without noticing. What is the ideal of communism? What’s so different from democracy? It is being EQUAL, however is it really? They distribute money equally, government assign people’s job, and everything is decided by the government so no one can fight against it. When a person is poor, everybody else is poor, and when a person is rich, everybody else is rich, equally. Then what about the people in the high position of the government? Aren’t they always better than these people controlled by them? Aren’t they ALWAYS rich? Don’t THEY decide for others? Isn’t that power and unequal? This is exactly what this quote means. In this book Animal Farm, same things are happening. There are always leaders and they get anything they want while others don’t. Napoleons, one of the pig leaders, always brings around dogs to get control of others.

“Common animals are equal
But animals with power and dictatorship are more equal
Then the rest”

I would change the quote like this.

Question #5_ Animal Farm

*What is the mood of this novel?
*Do you find this novel saddens you in any way?
*Why?

This novel, Animal Farm, is unspeakably depressing. The book starts with Old Major being the great and wise leader of all animals. Mr. Jones, the farm owner, was really harsh on animals and had no sympathy. He drank all the time and didn’t even feed animals regularly. Animals couldn’t bear their conditions of living anymore, so they decided to rebel and take over the Manor Farm. When they succeeded to do so, the renamed the farm and looked forward for a pleasant, happy life. The harvest was the greatest and some animals started to learn how to read. It was just a utopia. Even when humans came back to take over their past farms, they all worked together and had beaten them. However, as a new leader, Napoleon came along everything started to change and the farm animals were being treated worse than they were by humans. The story ends all depressed again. This novel saddens me in a way very much. It makes me feel like, “There are always bad things following after good things. Plus, life itself is always depressing.” Since this novel was based on the real story of the Soviet Union, it is not just fantasy but reality. The reality is this depressing. Many, not just a few but very many, people are treated really badly when others are so rich and powerful by controlling over the weak and helpless. Also, even when there are these good and great ideas, such as communism, created to brighten the world, they always end up failing by some kind of reasons. It just saddens me, even to think about it.

Question #4_ Animal Farm

*What is the climax of this novel?
*What happens?
*How do the events of this novel make you feel?

Interestingly, the climax of the novel is at the end of the book, the point when the pigs started walking on their hind feet like humans. In the beginning of the book, when Mr. Jones was the owner of the farm, everything was so out of control, and that is why the animals rebelled against and took over the farm. They started out really good; however, as time went on, everything started to change. When Napoleon becomes dictator and treats animals differently, apart from the idea they started out, “all animals are equal,” the greed of the animals started to show. Knowing the sweetness, powerful pigs started to change things so that everything benefited them, but not other animals. Many animals couldn’t read and that was really useful for the leaders to control over them. For examples, they didn’t know that the commandments had changed, to stupid to remember the old one, and didn’t know when Boxer was being taken away toward death just because they couldn’t read. As they changed this and that, it kept on becoming as it was in the beginning. This means, that for the pigs to be all bad, they have to be like human rulers; humans are bad. This doesn’t mean that all humans are bad, but dictators or some of the leaders of ours. The name of the farm started out as “Major Farm” and when the rebellion occurred, the name was changed to “Animal Farm.” But the story ends as “Major Farm” again showing that everything’s back to beginning. Pigs walking like humans and drinking alcohol was really ridiculous, and at the same time saddened me to realize how humans are ignorant. This was a really interesting climax as a novel.

Question #3_ Animal Farm

*Who are the main characters in the novel?
*Do you like them?
*Why or why not?
*What is special about them?
*What do they reveal about the universal human experience?

- Napoleon: He is the pig who emerges as the leader of Animal Farm after the Rebellion. He uses his loyal attack dogs to keep control of the rest of the animals. He is like the dictator of the Animal Farm. I don’t like Napoleon because just because he is smarter than the other pigs, he uses his skills of literacy to fool others and control them. He is representing Joseph Stalin.
- Snowball: The pig that is intelligent and eloquent to challenge Napoleon for the power over the Animal Farm after the Rebellion. Snowball is less brutal in a way of treating other animals. I like Snowball because he challenged the dictator, which is not an easy thing to do. He was smart enough to persuade others and sometimes passionate. He is representing Leon Trotsky.
- Boxer: The cart horse who is really strong. He does a great role in completing the windmill. He is also loyal to his leaders, and sometimes too loyal to look like a food who doesn’t know anything except for following orders. He allows the pigs to make all the decisions for him saying, “I will work harder” and “Napoleon is always right.” I don’t really like boxer. Although he is really helpful, powerful, and loyal, he doesn’t have leadership or the ability to come to the conclusion of something by himself.
- Squealer: The pig who is a great talker. He spreads Napoleon’s propaganda and bullshits among the other animals in the farm. One word to describe his character is “liar.” He always gives the wrong information and false statistics pointing to the farm’s success so that others can think that Napoleon’s the greatest. I hate Squealer the most, although it is a common scene in our lives. I just don’t like characters that spread rumors and make everyone think the wrong idea on something.

Question #2_ Animal Farm

*Are there are any current situations in the world that relate to the novel?
*What are they, and how do they relate?
*Does the novel shed any light on how current situations could be resolved or "fixed"?

Have you ever thought you are the best and you know everything? How do you feel when you think you are right, everyone agrees to it, but you were totally wrong? Despite what time period you live in, each one of us had experienced it at least once, since this is part of human nature. The novel Animal Farm, may seem like a story that is enjoyable when it is hiding its real meaning by symbolizing. It tells us that “communism” in this case is not right. Didn’t everyone think it was a right ideology in the beginning? But are there any who thinks that way today? Current situations in the world relates to the book like this. These past years, many communist countries have turned and are turning back toward democracy. Soviet Union had changed to USSR after its destruction. Even China is accepting some of the principles of democracy; however, there is a single country left untouched, North Korea. What is happening in North Korea is what had happened in the Soviet Union in the past, but they haven’t learned by seeing the failure. Although the president of the North Korea, Kim Jeong Il, would never accept it, North Koreans should read the book and learn something from it. This novel doesn’t actually shed the light of “how” the problem could be resolved, but it shows the frightful result of what might happen, if it keeps on going this way.

Question #1_ Animal Farm

*What is the major theme of this novel?
*Why is this theme important to a teenager living in 2007?

The book Animal Farm is full of symbolization. The story is symbolizing the background of the Russian Revolution which occurred in the Soviet Union. The farm is symbolizing the country itself, and the relationships between the animals are how the leaders of the Soviet were related to each other. The major theme of this novel seems to be criticizing the history and the rule of the government in the Soviet. The author tried to tell the world that although the idea of the communism might be really good and perfect, the reality is totally different. Since the individual rights of the people during this period weren’t given, the author had to symbolize what he wanted to talk about, so that he won’t be punished for it. Gorge Orwell wasn’t actually punished, but when this writing was first shown to the public, it was banned and forbidden to be published as a book.
The theme is important to a teenager living in 2007, especially in the democratic countries. During Cold War, two most powerful countries were United States and Soviet Union. U.S. was the leader of the democracy when Soviet was the leader of the communism. We cannot judge two different governments by the ideology they are using, but we can actually judge which works better. Decade ago, many countries were following communism because the idea was really good; however, had failed to make the “dream come true.” Today, all the powerful countries are democratic, and the teenagers living in 2007 should understand the pros and cons of communism.