"Animal Farm" :Were the animals right to rebel?

Essay by imagefrozen February 2007

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In the first two chapters of Animal Farm, Old Major made his speech about how and why he wanted the animals to rebel and try to overthrow the humans. He thinks that 'no animal in England is free. The life of an animal is misery and slavery: that is plain truth.' He influenced the animals and made them think about the pain they have gone through. With Old Major's speech giving them confidence and faith, they started to rebel, driving Mr. Jones, his wife and their pet raven out of the farm. I will give will write a discursive essay on whether the animals were right to rebel.

From the beginning of the rebellion, the pigs, mainly Snowball and Napoleon, can be seen to be taking charge. This was because the pigs were seen to be normally recognized as being the smartest and most intelligent of the animals.

"Comrades,' said Snowball, 'it is half past six and we have a long day before us."

The quotation above shows the pigs giving out orders to the other animals, similar to Mr. Jones but more well-mannered and friendly. The use of the word 'comrades' shows that Snowball is referring to all of the animals, not just a particular kind, making all the animals look equal. The use of the adjective 'long' shows that Snowball wants the animals to work for a whole day. Furthermore, the animals begin to trust the pigs more and more, allowing the pigs to give out instructions and the animals following blindly. This already breaks the seventh commandment which is 'All animals are equal.'

However, even though the pigs seem to be taking charge of the animals, the animals don't seem to care because they are all united.

"And among us animals let there be perfect...