Animal Farm Chapter 8-10

Chapter 8 THE WINDMILL Central motif of this chapter The animals work, starve, praise, fight, are defeated Napoleon separates, cheats/is cheated, negotiates, drinks, alters Squealer orders, convinces, paints, absents himself, falls The humans cheat, destroy, are chased

SUMMARY “No animal shall kill any other animal without cause.” Reading of statistics, prove food production is better. Napoleon’s ego. Poem “Napoleon mill” N sells timber to Frederick. Attack AF and windmill blown up. Barley… POWER AND CORRUPTION

Napoleon glorifies himself More concerned with own importance. Creates a cult. Gun fired on his birthday Lives apart from other pigs Hardly appears in public Pinkeye tastes his food EGOMANIAC Minimus’s poem of flattery written on barn wall Animals file past him on a bed of straw Animals flatter him Eats only from the Crown Derby dinner service Names the mill after himself

Poem by Minimus Orwell makes fun of the poem by using: Religious references Formal use of words Weak rhymes Last line of stanzas

The animals are cheated “The animals deserve to be cheated” Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Motivate.

Battle of the windmill The animals win at a terrible cost (wounded or killed). Windmill is blown up. Pigs cannot admit this, S explaining away the price the animals have to pay. Boxer cannot believe him (Thanks to N they won back the ground). “Then we have won back what we had before” Windmill previously – symbolised animals’ hopes. Windmill now – dream has become a nightmare.

Incident of alcohol Betray principles of Animalism. Squealer alters Commandment. Plant barley in paddock – implications for Boxer.

Chapter 9 Boxer continues to work hard, wants to see windmill completed before he retires when he is 12. So far no animal has been allowed to retire. Rations “readjusted” – “reduced”, Squealer still uses statistics to make them believe they are better off.

The piglets 31 piglets, N is their father and – other animals will have to build a school for them. Not allowed to play with the other animals and get special privileges.

Ruthlessness of the pigs Pigs get a ration of beer every day. Other animals are kept busy with special celebrations – take minds off hardships they are suffering. Farm is a Republic, N only candidate for president. Moses returns… Sugarcandy Mountain. Boxer collapses and taken away by horse slaughterer’s wagon. Squealer convinces animals that he had been with Boxer when he died “happily and with dignity”.

… “Napoleon is always right” Special banquet to celebrate B’s life. Money to order a case of whiskey.

Sattire on the birth of a totalitarian state Pigs who are the ruling class get special privileges. Language is misused e.g. “readjusted” and “spontaneous”. Squealer continues to use propaganda, lies, false statistics, distortion of history to deceive the masses.

Wrath of the pigs Lower animals’ sacrifices have been in vain. Propaganda can make the biggest lie sound convincing. N hopes that the animals will be prepared to endure their sufferings in hope of a better life after death. CLIMAX – N ELECTION AS PRESIDENT Animals under oppression of the new ruling class – THE PIGS.

… Animals do not realise that they have new rulers. They think they are free of mankind’s domination.

Chapter 10 Farm is prosperous. Windmill has been finished, not used for power and to make life easier. Mill corn and make m0ney for the pigs, others don’t get share and still work hard. Type up reports and burn them. Still believe they are free and proud to be part of the only farm run by animals.

Changing of the pigs into humans Pigs are carrying whips and walking upright on two legs. Wear clothes, install a telephone, get a radio and newspapers. “Four legs good, two legs better” One commandment left: “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others” Neighbouring farmers come for a tour of AF.

… New rules: banning of Sunday marches past Old Major’s skull, the horn and hoof on the flag and the word “Comrade”. Manor Farm Animal Farm Manor Farm No difference between a pig and a human.

In conclusion Destruction of Major’s dream of an animal utopia. Narrator’s p.o.v sympathetic towards the common animals. The revolutionary leaders become just like those that they originally rebelled against.

ANSWERS CHAPTER 8 PLOT The animals The animals work even harder than in the previous year; eat no more than they had done in Jones’ day; praise Napoleon for ever-successful achievement, however trivial; are cheated by Frederick in the timber deal; fight the humans after they blow up the windmill.

Napoleon He separates himself from the other animals; approves of the poem composed by Minimus, negotiates with Frederick and Pilkington about selling the farm’s timber to them; cheats by playing one human off against the other; is cheated by Frederick who pays with forged banknotes; gets drunk on whisky; alters the Fifth Commandment to ”No animal shall drink alcohol to excess”.

Squealer He orders the animals to do what Napoleon decrees; convinces the animals that they are better off than they were in Jones’s day; paints Napoleon’s portrait on the barn wall; absents himself from the Battle of the Windmill; falls off the ladder while changing the Fifth Commandment.

The humans They cheat the animals out of the timber, destroy the windmill; are chased off the farm.

Napoleon glorifies himself This is when the animals file past him as he reposes, wearing his decorations, on a bed of straw.

The poem by Minimus The religious references give it a (false) holy quality. The old-fashioned words try to make the subject matter seem more important than it is. The weak rhymes lack poetic quality and make the poem childish and simple. The last line is predictable. All these devices have a satirical function; we laugh at the way Napoleon is praised to excess.

The incident of the alcohol It breaks the Fifth Commandment. The pigs have adopted the humans’ (and especially Jones’) bad habits and have become like the enemy they overthrew. He was suffering from a hangover and at that stage felt as though he was going to die. In spite of the fact that the animals see Squealer altering the Fifth Commandment, they still continue to follow blindly.

… The pigs betray the principles of animalism and pursue their own pleasures. Boxer will never be allowed to retire. This foreshadows his cruel death.

ANSWERS CHAPTER 9 14. rations 11. readjustment 4. figures 7. green 19 DOWN. mill 18. Willingdon 15. end 16. maxim 1. fourteen 6. knackers 5. whisky 19 ACROSS. Moses 2. Sugarcandy 20. mountain 10. beer 17. Clover 3. Benjamin 12. Napoleon 9. oration 8. loyal 13. TT

THE BRAINWASHING OF THE ANIMALS What the pigs say/do What the reality is 3. Napoleon is elected president. 4. Pigs’ decision only, no elections. 7. Snowball’s wounds were caused by Napoleon’s teeth. 5. They welcome him because he gives the animals hope of a better life. 9. Squealer stayed with Boxer to the end. 6. Snowball fought against Jones. 12. The pigs will hold a memorial banquet in Boxer’s honour 8. Boxer is sent to the knacker’s. 10. The sign “Horse Slaughterer” is correct. 11. Boxer had no grave; there was no laurel wreath.

CHAPTER 10 ANSWERS Nobody is left to remind the animals of the rebellion. They will unquestioningly obey the pigs and will not constitute a threat. All the animals were supposed to benefit; the reality is that only the pigs and the dogs are better off. Orwell is using satire. It is humorous as it imitates and mocks the actions of humans, and shows how effort is wasted.

… Orwell agrees with this opinion because he is not positive about a situation where too much power is held by a few. It drowns out any criticism the animals were about to voice. If all animals are equal, there can be no degrees of equality. This is the contradiction. Orwell wanted to show the abuse of power. By making the pigs “more equal” he is pointing out how the pigs have taken advantage of their power.

... They carry whips, walk on hind legs, buy themselves a wireless set, install a telephone, drink an play cards. They imitate the very beings whom they initially overthrew and rejected. The pigs have turned into humans and are just as corrupt and oppressive as Jones was. The qualities they both share are evil and vile.