MODERNIZATION OF ANIMAL FARM CREATED SOCIAL CLASSES

Modernization of Animal Farm Creates Social Classes

When people gained knowledge or enlightenment, people start to be equal.

After that, more convenient and comfortable life required. In addition, people start

developing from primitive to advance or from basic to complex. For examples, rules

and laws have been regulated to organize people in community and make them to

obey. Furthermore, machinery has been invented and bought to support or utilize in

factory. However, in order to reach the convenient and comfortable society people

needed lower classes to operate a labor work. This essay aims to analyze novel named

Animal Farm. Equality was the main purpose of establishing an Animal farm.

Nevertheless, modernization of the farm, regulated by Napoleon and his cohorts,

creates class inequality.

Firstly, seven commandments have been completely changed from the

beginning to the end of the story, and its have changed in the way that benefit

Napoleon and his companies. Beside this, it was small changes in text but its effected

whole meaning of seven commandments. After establishing of Animal Farm, 7

commandments have been sat as a law of the farm. Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer

were the one who wrote all seven commandments in white color on the wall of big

barn. As the story going on, pigs slowly start changing seven commandments to make

an excuse for their mistakes and benefit their people. Squealer was the one who came

at nighttime and added extra part in to seven commandments. Apart from that, other

animals cannot read accept Muriel and Benjamin, and no one could notice that seven

commandments have been added with new information. As George Orwell mentioned

in the beginning of the story and quote also provided with additional information that

added by pigs (later changes to the rules notated in parentheses):

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MODERNIZATION OF ANIMAL FARM CREATED SOCIAL CLASSES

1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy (Four legs good, two legs better).
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed (No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets).
5. No animal shall drink alcohol (No animal shall drink alcohol to excess).
6. No animal shall kill any other animal (No animal shall kill any other animal
without cause).
7. All animals are equal (All animals are equal, but some animals are more
equal than others). (p.24-25)

As you can see from the quote, Squealer and Napoleon just included new lines or

information to seven commandments; the whole meaning has been changed into the

way that benefit Napoleon and his cohorts. The pigs used new commandments as an

excuse for themselves after they did a mistake or done something that against rules

and laws of Animal Farm. Moreover, the pigs used new commandments to superior

themselves among other animals. For examples, Napoleon was sleeping on bed inside

house and drinking alcohol, which no other animals could punish them or do anything

to them. Because seven commandments were laws and rules of Animal Farm, and

every animals have to follow. Therefore, every other animals have to follow Napoleon

According to Whitely, (1997), Such benefits may not have been apparent, however,

if literacy was restricted to small group. Certainly in Animal Farm, the lawgivers

themselves, the pigs, do not merely breach the principles of animal socialism. They

break their own laws. They befriend human; they betray other animals; they learn to

wear clothes, sleep in beds, and drink alcohol; and finally, they kill other animals(p.

636-637).

Secondly, at the beginning right after rebellion foods are fairly distributed to

all animals but when Napoleon comes to control over the production means, pigs have

more privileges over the food and money. The animals have to do all the hard work in

the Animal Farm, but they received just small amount of food and welfare. Since the

rebellion passed, all animals were working for themselves instead of Mr. Jones. Foods

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MODERNIZATION OF ANIMAL FARM CREATED SOCIAL CLASSES

have been shared to every animal equally. However, Squealer has introduced an idea

that pigs have done all brain works so they must have a better quality of food, and in a

large amount. Moreover, other animals have been worked harder than when they

worked for Mr. Jones. For examples, Boxer, a strongest animal in the farm, he has

pushed his effort to do hard work in the farm and build windmill, until he died

horribly. In addition, the wealthiest group of animal was not horses; cows or hens,

pigs and dogs were the wealthiest animal in Animal Farm. As George Orwell provided

in the story, Napoleon said Not only the most up-to-date methods, but a discipline

and an orderliness which should be an example to all farmers everywhere. He

believed that he was right in saying that the lower animals on Animal Farm did more

work and receive less food than any animals in the country (p.137) and Somehow it

seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves

any richerexcept, of course, for the pigs and the dogs(p.129). Napoleon and his

cohorts, Squealer used his speaking skill to convince other animal to do all labor

duties and other animals willing to the work. Because they believed in Squealer

speech that they were doing the works for themselves, but in fact it was not. Another

reason was fear, other animals were afraid of nine dogs that Napoleon breeding up.

Therefore, chickens were not able to fight back against Napoleon when he took their

eggs and Napoleon left chickens starving until they died. According to Robert studied

(1980) Finally, this and other examples make trouble for the widespread view that

fearing always involves believing that one is in danger, believing that (something) is

dangerous, or believing that there is a danger of (something) happening(p.562).

Animals believed that they were working for their own and they believed that

Napoleon and his dogs could harm them.

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MODERNIZATION OF ANIMAL FARM CREATED SOCIAL CLASSES

Lastly, windmill was the ultimate goal in life of animals in Animal Farm,

because Napoleon told them to do so. In addition windmill was planned to make all

animals life better. However, windmill was build to show the superior of the pigs

among other animals and neighbor farms. Snowball, white boar of Anima Farm, he

decided to build windmill for a better quality of animals life. Windmill could produce

electricity to support Animal Farm and improve production phrase of the farm. For

instance, gave a light to the farm during nighttime, and created heat for animal while

heavy wintertime of England. After the construction of windmill begin, other animals

except Napoleon and his cohorts have been suffered from hard time working. The

animals have to be worked as harder than when they were working with Mr. Jones.

After the windmill finished, Napoleon has been changed name of the farm from

Animal Farm back to Manor Farm, which was the name when Mr. Jones was an

owner. At the end of the story, Napoleon opened his farm for human to visit. When

humans were arriving, they astonished with the modernization of Animal Farm. As

George Orwell mentioned in the end of the story, As for the others, their life, so far

as they knew, was as it had always been. They were generally hungry, they slept on

straw, they drank from the pool, they laboured in the fields; in winter they were

troubled by the cold, and in summer by the flies (p.130). According to the quote,

animals life did not seem better as they expected in and as Napoleon said in the

beginning of the story. Napoleon used windmill as a tool to demonstrate that pigs

were better than human. Napoleon has a better quality system of farm production and

he can press other animals under his control. While neighborhood farms were visiting

Animal farm, they were astonishing, because they could not be as modernized as

Animal Farm. According to Kenny research (2011), Its origins were important, for it

harked back to a tradition of socially patriotic and undogmatic communism which had

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MODERNIZATION OF ANIMAL FARM CREATED SOCIAL CLASSES

enjoyed its finest hour (p.1). At first, windmill was set to increase comfortableness of

all animals, but in the end its benefit only Napoleon and his cohorts.

In conclusion, Napoleon and his cohorts established social classes in Animal

farm because of farm modernization. All other animals were working hard to make

Animal Farm be better than before, but they did not notice that they had been

positioned in the lowest class of the farm. Additionally, Napoleon and his cohorts

were the one who supervised the farm and having control of every thing, resources,

making decision, and convenient. In the future, Napoleon will live in the highest point

of the farm that has no enemies from inside and outside of the farm. No animals will

rest or live peacefully in Animal Farm.

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MODERNIZATION OF ANIMAL FARM CREATED SOCIAL CLASSES

Reference:

Whitley, J. (1997). Cretan Laws and Cretan Literacy. American Journal of

Archaeology, 101(4), 635-661. doi:10.2307/506828

Gordon, Robert M. Fear. The Philosophical Review, vol. 89, no. 4, 1980, pp. 560

578. www.jstor.org/stable/2184736

Kenny, M. (2011). Habits of the mind: Marxism Today and today's left. Public Policy

Research, 18(3), 130-135. doi:10.1111/j.1744-540X.2011.00653.x

Supachip Thongrong