Animal Farm – Personal Choice

Mrs. Daniels:

The reason I am writing to you is to suggest a book that the class may read during the curriculum. The book I am suggesting for our class to read during our time in the curriculum is Animal Farm by George Orwell. We should read this book during our academic English year because we can learn a lot from the literary devices presented in the book, it can be compared with other books, can be compared amongst our peer group, can be related to the world, allows for us to grasp more concepts and has an interesting plot. A plethora of things can most definitely be taken from this book.

For starters, as with most books in general, there are some forms of literary devices that can be found within them. In particular, Animal Farm has a splendid use of literary devices throughout the novel which helps derive it. These literary devices include repetition, symbolism, allusions, imagery, and more. Another thing about the literary devices used in the book do is that they help individuals comprehend how the literary devices here work. Furthermore, with the help of these devices, the stories and ideas presented in the novel are able to get across what the author wants to get across. The use of the literary devices ultimately benefits the book in many ways.

One of the other things that Animal Farm would allow us to do is compare it with other books as well. The novel George Orwell wrote, in particular, can be compared with other works similar regarding the contents, ideas, and other things presented in the novel, Despite there being many books that can go head-to-head with Animal Farm, one of Orwell’s other works that could match closely would be 1984. One of the ways the books can be compared with each other comes in terms of the microcosms set in the novels. In the world of 1984, the higher class people regarded as “The Inner Party” have other certain privileges that others do not have. In Animal Farm, the pigs actually are portrayed to be good when in reality they are bad. Another thing that can be compared about the books are the characters. In 1984, the protagonist is Winston, who rebels against the Party but ultimately is changed in order to love the Party. In Animal Farm, the protagonist is Napoleon, who rebels against the humans and takes control of the farm. Another difference between the novels is that rebellion is good in Animal Farm, while in 1984 it is a bad thing to rebel. Furthermore, in Animal Farm, Napoleon abuses his power for good reasons supposedly, while in 1984, Big Brother abuses his power for bad. Last but not least, certain characters can be compared with each other as well. The protagonist in 1984, Winston rebels against The Party, who controls all of the society in a way, while Mr. Pilkington is the complete opposite of Animal Farm and how it’s run in Animal Farm. This just one of the many ways the novel can compare with other text of its similar content.

Another thing that the novel would also to do as a class allows for us to compare it amongst our peer group. The novel presents different characters, personalities, and opinions within the book. Not just that but throughout the book, certain people begin to change for the better or for the worse. Just like within our own peer group, there is a variety of opinions, personalities, and, people may change for the good or for the worse. Another thing that the book is able to show is the dark actions of manipulations. At times in the book, Napoleon and the pigs get the other animals to do the labor and end up with most food despite not doing any labor themselves. However, when questioned about getting the most food, the pigs respond saying they need more of it because they need to fuel their brains in order to run the farm smoothly. In some situations, amongst our peers, we may be manipulated intentionally or unintentionally without even noticing at all, which is scary to think of. Not only that, peer pressure is another thing seen throughout the book that is not mentioned as much and, through which some of my peer group has gone through at one point. This just makes the book even more impressive than it already is.

Another thing that the novel allows us to do is to put it up against different places around the world. In fact, the book was based on the fear of the Soviet Union and its practices of communism after World War II. It may not be recognizable at a first glance, but as the story begins to unravel, it becomes more noticeable that the characters start to resemble certain places and people. Moving on, besides the book about being Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union, many places and countries in the world were at one point practice communism. Some of these countries include Albania, Hungary, Poland, and more. As a class, we could be able to look at these countries and compare what they went through, see if they were treated differently in a way, or if they had the same fate as the characters in the novel. The book, in general, can relate to the world in many ways.

Animal Farm is an outstanding book for many reasons. One of those reasons has to be the interesting plot. For starters, he begins the novel with the setting of a farm. Once he describes the farm, focuses on particular character, Old Major, who is the oldest pig on the farm, decides one day to speak to every animal on the farm. During his speech, he begins to talk about overthrowing the humans since the animals are being killed off for food and are mistreated as well. After getting the animals rallied up together, they wait one day and decide to rebel against the humans on the farm. Once they overtake the farm, they begin to sing a certain song, create commandments, and more. However, as time moves on, the first leader, Squealer, begins to get out of hand. In order to control everything, the animals decide to get rid of Squealer and replace him with Napoleon. After Napoleon comes to rule, things start to change suddenly. The pigs now have more rations of food than the other animals regardless of special occasions and special work, the commandments and song change, and a lot more. The animals at times question the requests of Napoleon, yet they still carry them out. One day, however, they are attacked by Squealer and everything changes. The animals are now being killed, Napoleon begins to negotiate with humans along with much more. Now Napoleon had done all this, he made things worse by sending Boxer away to “get put down” when in reality, he sent to be recovered but the animals had taken it the wrong way. In the end, the entire farm had changed the rules to one simple rule and, was still ruled by the pigs. Truly an interesting, unraveling plot with so much tension.

Overall, I feel that if we were to read this book, we would be able to gain a lot from it. The book is truly versatile, which is a very ideal thing for any book. Besides it its versatility, it can be a book that should be read to better our learning. The book can truly improve our reading skills so much. Hopefully, you choose this book to read in our class.

Sincerely,

Terri Perez