“Animal Farm” and the real world
The books are changing us. It’s interesting how over time we conceive the book we have read before differently. We will notice the things we didn’t notice before and our thoughts and feelings will be different.
One such book for me is “Animal Farm” by George Orwell. I have read this book twice and the second time during reading I had the question “Why didn’t I notice this before”?
This book shows us how the modern government uses manipulation and lies, how the government implements laws and with simplicity changes them.
I can pick out one notion from the book and this is MANIPULATION. Manipulation is the key component here.
Throughout the spring and summer they worked a sixty-hour week, and in August Napoleon announced that there would be work on Sunday afternoons as well. This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half.
Here we can see the illusion of choice. Hmmm, I see it in modern life. They say “You have a choice, it’s only your choice BUT it’s obligatory to do this or you will have a fine, or you don’t go there”. I started to read legislative acts thoroughly and I can assure everyone that everything in our life is strictly voluntary. It’s hard to believe. Once I learned it I was shocked. We live in an illusion, the illusion of our fear, and stupidity and we are fooled, we are being manipulated all the time.
In the plot, we can see a confrontation, a confrontation of everything. The confrontation is ruled by fear. Fear is the main thing here, animals are afraid of John being back, afraid of being hungry, afraid of saying something contrary to.
How easy it is to win in an unreal war, an unreal struggle against not real things. The main thing of the government is to create an illusion of confrontation. No matter what confrontation it will be. The main thing here is to divert attention from the real problem. It’s good for the “slave” not to pay attention to real problems.
At eleven o’clock Squealer came out to make another announcement. As his last act upon earth, Comrade Napoleon had pronounced a solemn decree: the drinking of alcohol was to be punished by death.
It was given out that the pasture was exhausted and needed re-seeding; but it soon became known that Napoleon intended to sow it with barley.
Forbidden fruits are so delicious. Here we see psychological manipulation. At first, you should forbid something and then you can allow it, but except for money. But at first, you need to punish someone who did a forbidden thing and it’s better to punish openly so people see it.
At the beginning, when the laws of Animal Farm were first formulated, the retiring age had been fixed for horses and pigs at twelve, for cows at fourteen, for dogs at nine, for sheep at seven, and for hens and geese at five. Liberal old- age pensions had been agreed upon. As yet no animal had actually retired on pension, but of late the subject had been discussed more and more. Now that the small field beyond the orchard had been set aside for barley, it was rumored that a corner of the large pasture was to be fenced off and turned into a grazing-ground for superannuated animals. For a horse, it was said, the pension would be five pounds of corn a day and, in winter, fifteen pounds of hay, with a carrot or possibly an apple on public holidays. Boxer’s twelfth birthday was due in the late summer of the following year.
One more interesting thing in the plot is about retirement. The government changes the law all the time. It’s hard for common people, even for lawyers, to learn and understand amendments. You may notice how often the retirement age is being changed.
Truth to tell, Jones and all he stood for had almost faded out of their memories. They knew that life nowadays was harsh and bare, that they were often hungry and often cold, and that they were usually working when they were not asleep. But doubtless it had been worse in the old days. They were glad to believe so. Besides, in those days they had been slaves and now they were free, and that made all the difference, as Squealer did not fail to point out.
People don’t remember about harsh times. People know that life nowadays is harsh and bare, they don’t have enough money, and many people live half-starving. At the same time, people are being told that they lived harsher before, many years ago life was harder. And if we see how we lose connection with past generations, the problem is evident.
But just at that moment, as though at a signal, all the sheep burst out into a tremendous bleating of — “Four legs good, two legs better! Four legs good, two legs better! Four legs good, two legs better!”
It went on for five minutes without stopping. And by the time the sheep had quieted down, the chance to utter any protest had passed, for the pigs had marched back into the farmhouse.
The previous slogan was “Two legs was bad, four legs are better”. It’s interesting how governors change the law all the time so finally, people don’t remember what the old law was like. it’s easy to inculcate into society the “right” opinion with the help of manipulation.
Commandment. It ran:
ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL
BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS
It’s a utopia to have equality. I am sure that it’s impossible to have equality, to have a basic income. It’s 100% true that some people will have privilege in everything. It’s the nature of human beings, it’s the psychology of humans.
