In George Orwell’s Animal Farm we get a multiples switches for in totalitarian rule. From Mr. Jones a cruel farmer who feeds his animals to little and works them to hard, to Napolean a pig that will have you killed for a bottle of liquor. Through stupidity, narrow mindedness and pure cowardice of some animals we view the inevitable as the farm animals become ruled by pigs.
Old Major probably not the first animal to think of as an animal to ruin a utopia for the farm, is in most cases not a favored example to contribute to the pigs takeover. This pig finally near the end of his better than average life chose to create a rebellion against the then in power Mr. Jones. A truly justifiable act executed in a time to late, for Major died too soon to lead the farm.
If Old Major had summed up an ounce of courage in his closer to piglet years further and earlier then his dying days the animals might have had a chance of a better life. Old Major can be seen as him being a late coward having what is thought on the farm to be a good life trying to end it a false legend or maybe Old Major was a slow hero wanting to leave a better life for his friends. Still though we should agree that for Old Major’s failing action or neglect was the time he chose to start a rebellion, in the few days before he died.
At one point in the story Napolean takes pups from a dog mother, this would seem strange to most parents a person wanting to raise your children in private without any visitation on the parent’s part, but yet this goes uncontested by the dogs who just seem to think nothing of it. If the dogs had given Napolean contest to him taking the pups, maybe Snowball would have become the presiding leader in the story or at least had a chance. I would say that the three dogs Bluebell, Jessie, and Pinscher could have drastically saved the farm.
In the story we hear of a rebellion on the hens’ part when they break the eggs so that they will not be sold. These hens were smart enough to know what Napolean was doing was against what Old Major had said. Being that hens are not considered a strong animal, they should have employed the aid of other strong farm animals in the last seen rebellion in the book.
The sheep were written by Orwell to have an extremely challenged intellect in the book. Though the sheep were not the brightest animals Napoleon used them as a tool quite often in the book. The sheep never really knew what was going on, therefore we should think of them as a hammer a tool of construction in the correct hands, a tool of destruction used by the menacing pigs.
Boxer had a good character in the story and always gave everything his best effort. This horse’s weakness was his inability to question his poor environment. More a follower than a leader, Boxer was on a chain gang with little recognition of his situation. He never complained about the hard labor or poor living conditions. Instead Boxer believed that if he made life harder for himself eventually it would become better.
Benjamin an opposite of Boxer never really fully devoted himself to the cause. This donkey, a very smart farm animal, could have done many actions to change the course of Napoleon’s rule. Of all the farm animals Benjamin is the most negligent.
The other pigs besides Napoleon could have tried to help the fellow farm brethren by ousting Napoleon but instead thought of their own welfare. Instead we see the pigs living better than average life growing fat off others labor, sleeping on beds inside a warm house. In their greedy eyes they saw no reason to save the other farm animals. The book gives as little evidence of any pig showing protest to Napoleon’s actions except of course Snowball and the other three executed pigs.
Old Major chose a poor time to launch a rebellion. The dogs showed little care for the outcome of their pups’ upbringing. The hens’ independence could be seen as a bad action to the taking over of the farm. If the sheep were genetically smarter the story’s course could have been changed. Boxer’s tolerance of the pigs could have been a factor leading to his death. Benjamin’s negligence could have been the downfall of the farm. Lastly the remaining pigs selfishness is a contribution leading to the worse than average life of the farm animals. All these animals were responsible for the pigs’ dictatorship.
