Animal Farm: Q8

• Put entry of your choice.

After reading “Animal Farm”

When I just grabbed this book, the thickness of the book drew my attention. I had only three weeks to finish my book and my ‘bloggings’, which I thought that this book would be perfect for it. As I was reading through the novel, I found it very funny of what the animals thought of the humans. I will have to say that I was disappointed by the animals, but I was more disappointed to the humans. This novel has two leaders: the human leader and the animal leader. They all lack successful skills to become the right leader.

First of all, the human leader, Mr. Jones, could’ve been more responsible for what he was doing and what he was supposed to do. If he was just more cautious about the security of the farm, he wouldn’t have lost everything. One of the themes of this novel is that irresponsible acts bring to ‘lost of success’. If Mr. Jones had the right amount of dictatorship, not too little but not too much, since he was the one ruling over them, this Manor Farm would’ve worked peacefully. However, this incautious act of human lead to the lost of everything.

Secondly, the animal leader, Napoleon also lost his “people”, even though the windmill was built and everything looked successful. The dictatorship later disappointed the animals and brought them to have rebellious minds. The main reason that brought Napoleon into extreme selfishness and failure was because of his over-powered dictatorship. He only thought of himself and was self-centered about everything he decided. If he was more democratic and thought more about the society he was responsible for, I surely guarantee the readers that the animals would’ve taken over the human possession.

This book gives some advices that leaders that would lead the world next generation should be aware of these things, because this is a human nature that we were innately born with it. By reading this novel, I started thinking more about the “right and wrong” leadership. I think this is a very good book, using symbolism, trying to reveal the wrongness of leadership these days.

Animal Farm: Q7

• Are there any settings in this novel which you have found to be beautiful? or disturbing? or memorable?
  
• Describe these settings and comment on why they were meaningful to you.

I found the part where human and animals fight very disturbing. Usually when we think of farms, we could picture it as a peaceful and serene piece. However, when the animals decided to start the “Rebellion” and defeat the farmer, Mr. Jones, the violent acts of the animals just spoiled the whole scene of the tranquil and peaceful farm. I think everybody has the violence inside themselves, and when the rebellious and insubordinate feeling comes to our mind, that violence actually comes to the act. I thought that the violent and bloody behaviors of the animals didn’t harmonize with the background scene. The first novel that I read also didn’t match the background with what they were acting like. These kind of dystopia-related novels all have dark and negative side, reversing to the settings, whether it is beautiful or not.

The part where the animals gathered together to listen for Old Major’s speech was memorable, too. They all came to the assembly, gathered around with each of them in the finest position they could feel, and listened to what the older one said. Gathering around together represent a ‘group’ and harmony of the people, enabling to be one as a team. It reminded me of my family gathering during prayer time; each of us thinking and caring for others so much that we just can’t express it fully. It always looks to peaceful to gather around and listen to one certain person. Just picture it: animals listening quietly to the speech of their old ones. Isn’t it just so peaceful and relaxing by just picturing it in your mind? Discussing together also amazed me, because it’s so beautiful, even though it later leads to the democratic world.

Animal Farm: Q6

• Please choose one passage from the novel that is significant to you.


• Why is this passage meaningful?


• Please type it into one of your entries and comment on what you think about the passage.
  

“For once Benjamin consented to break his rule, and he read out to her what was written on the wall. There was nothing there now except a single Commandment. It ran:
ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS” (Animal Farm, Chapter X, pg.147).

This is almost at the last part of the novel, where the ‘resolution’ of the novel happens. It’s describing the discrimination of animals themselves and what is it like to have more power than others. This passage is very meaningful to me, because it is well related to the human rights. There are many human discriminations going on these days. For example, White people (I’m not going against the White people, but…) discriminated the Black people in the 80’s and early 90’s. This is a very daring and presuming thing to do to God, because it’s insulting God’s special creation. God made us to be equal and have all of the rights to enjoy His creation of this beautiful earth. In the novel, while all of the other animals were suffering and tired of building the Windmill, the pigs-who first made the rule of “Four legs good, Two legs bad”-were enjoying their mealtime in the house, in the kitchen. They think that they are higher than the rest of the animals just because of the intelligence they have.

This relates to the theme again that over dictatorship can make our self grow more to the sinful and self-centered nature of our selves. Sometimes even I unconsciously act like I’m ignoring someone, or looking down at them when I’m feeling like I’m better than that person. However, we all should be reminded every time that all human are equal, and we all are special in God’s eyes.

Animal Farm: Q5

• What is the mood of this novel?
• What happens?
• How do the events of this novel make you feel?

The mood of this novel is very opinionated, intense, and strict. The novel starts out with Mr. Jones, the owner of the Manor Farm, being careless about the security of the farm. Old Major, the old pig who had a severe speech about rebellion, begins to convince the animals about the plan of rebelling. The speech was very opinionating and fierce about the plan. By the first taste of the novel, I could feel that this novel is going to be about two opinions, fighting over the power and authority. Even though they made strict rules to follow and started off intensely, later on, the rules didn’t seem like it mattered because of the change the pigs made for their benefit. The reason why I thought that this is a strict-toned novel is because this novel was all about being under one’s control and power. Having the ‘Seven Commandments’ also symbolizes the holding of society between the animals. When Napoleon orders them to make the windmill, even though he doesn’t do it, Napoleon makes harsh commands that eventually bring to failure of no food and destruction of windmill.

These made me think that rule is not the only thing to hold us as a society. In the novel that I read for my first book, I just thought that rules are the ones that hold us as a society and bring us together. However, by reading this novel, I felt that rule is important, but the value we have in each other and our cooperative minds bring us together. I think the reason why the animals couldn’t make a good society even with the rules was because they were too simple-minded. They were dragged off to Napoleon’s idea and thinking that the failure of Napoleon itself brought the whole society to become ruined.

Animal Farm: Q4

• What is the climax of this novel? What happens?

It was really hard to find the climax of this novel, because every part of the novel was so exciting and surprising. The climax of this novel is in Chapter 5, where Napoleon orders the dogs to attack Snowball. Snowball, who was worshiped by the animals for making the Windmill plans, was chased by the dogs and barely maintained his life. On the assembly, where Snowball was going make a speech to announce that the plan is completed and the works has to be started, the dogs came from somewhere after Napoleon’s little sign, and started chasing after Snowball. It was so obvious that Napoleon had ordered them, because for one reason, there were increasingly lots of disagreements growing between them, and for another, the dogs were the ones who were especially trained by Napoleon since they were young. Without Snowball, Napoleon gained too much power and had dictatorship over the animals that the story ends with showing shameful destruction of the leadership.

• How do the events of this novel make you feel?

This event made me so surprised of the fact that they do such things because of the ambition of gaining power. It was so disappointing to see that even people nowadays try everything, regardless of the rules and society, to just gain that power. I think all humans have the self-centered mind, and we never can stop looking for our own benefit unless we are like Jesus, which we never can. Even though we try to avoid the temptation of gaining power, we can’t ignore the innate nature in our heart. Since this is a ‘fact’ that we have to admit, we should just straighten up our minds and look for the big picture of something.

Animal Farm: Q3

• Who are the main characters in the novel?
  
• Do you like them? Why or why not?


• What is special about them?


• What do they reveal about the universal human experience?

The pigs-Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer, are the main characters in this novel. When the Rebellion first started, they were collaborating with the opinions and united in one. They were equally in power over the animals, just because of the reason that they are more intelligent than others. However, they fall into a great failure, when they start to divide by different opinions.

Napoleon: He is the worst character, and is the one who accuses others for his own good. He is cruel and evil with the ambition of gaining the power and eventually, he does, when most of the opinionated animals are dead. As we compare him to the Russian Revolution, Napoleon is Joseph Stalin, who tries to gain the highest power with military forces and cruelness. I am so against the people like Stalin or Napoleon, because they are just so self-seeking. They live for themselves, and rely on themselves too much. They reveal the evil greediness that all humans have.

Snowball: Snowball is the main opponent of Napoleon. He is like Leon Trotsky in the Russian Revolution, who is intelligent and supportive with his opinion. The reason why Snowball is my best character is because Snowball is a socialist. He works for the good of others, and even though he never got the highest power, I could anticipate that he would’ve made a better society. Even though he was the most intelligent one, he didn’t force himself to gain the highest power, because he knew that it didn’t really matter when they are all one. He reveals the innocent enthusiasm, only for the good of the society.

Squealer: Squealer is the one who works as the ‘loyal secretary’ of Napoleon. Even though he knows that Napoleon’s decision is not always right, he tries his best to persuade others. If we compare this novel as the world right now, he is one of those people who bribes and tries to live for the benefit of its own self. Squealer reveals the empty minds humans have, trying to look good in front of the higher people (even though they don’t really mean it) and gather things for their own benefit.

Animal Farm: Q2

• Are there any current situations in the world that relate to the novel?
• What are they, and how do they relate?
• Does the novel shed any light on how current situations could be resolved or "fixed"?

The current situation in the world that relates to the novel is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which is commonly known as North Korea. The reason why I emphasized the original, long name of the country was to show that the word ‘democratic’ is included. Animal Farm is a novel about fighting over the power and one character having dictatorship more than they need to. President Kim Jung Ill is like Napoleon, who has extreme dictatorship over the people they rule. Napoleon was living an abundant life while all of the other pigs were working for the Windmill, which generally was working for the pigs.

President Kim Jung Ill is known as a dictatorial leader, criticized by world governments and international NGOs for human rights abuses carried out under his rule. North Korea is also widely known as the production of nuclear weapons, which in the novel we can relate to the Windmill. There are also problems like deficiency of food, murdering babies, and gross violations of human rights when the government is only focusing on their good and their benefit. President Kim Jung Ill sets the first priority as himself and the nuclear weapons, not his people. These dictatorships eventually fall into failure, in both of the situations: the novel and in North Korea. The novel is vaguely giving the solution of these problems. Since it is saying that over-powered dictatorships eventually fall into failure, we should have a democratic system, considering of people’s opinions. Of course, the decision is made by the ‘leader’, but in able to make a government where everybody harmonizes and live peacefully, considering other’s opinions are necessary.

For my first book, Lord of the Flies, I also related the current situation to the war that separated Korea. I think the reason why this question always makes me think of the situation in Korea first is because all Koreans have the sorrow of one nation being divided into two. Dystopia-related books all have one common thing, coming to a failure. I think this is a consideration or a warning to the leaders living in 2007.

Animal Farm: Q1

• What is the major theme of this novel?

Nobody in this world would hate ‘power’. We all admire power, and people in this world nowadays worship the powerful ones. The theme of this novel much relates to power. Power can lead us to nowhere. Once we have it, we can’t let it go, because of the greediness that all human nature have. Even though people with power tend to go to the right path, they sometimes lose their ideals and relay too much on their power, because it’s the temptation of dictatorship that we all have. In the novel, Napoleon, the leader of the Animal Farm takes over and has dictatorship over the animals. First, it seemed like everything was better than they were when human were in charge, but later on, the pigs turn out to be worse than the humans. Eventually, they get to the point where the animals worship the pigs and work for them. The use of power in Napoleon’s situation was the worst, because Napoleon was too concentrating on the little detail, the windmill, that he couldn’t care about the whole society. The major theme in this novel is that power will eventually contaminate our minds, our values toward the society, and our ideals, because of the endless cupidity and greed we have in our inner side. Unless we put our first priority to God the most High, we all are to be declining toward the selfishness of our selves.

• Why is this theme important to a teenager living in 2007?

Teenagers living in 2007 are the ones who would lead this world in the next generation. The reason why this theme is so important to them is because we might fall into the same situation as the novel. They should realize that the ambition of self-seeking will eventually lead us to failure, because that’s how all human nature react to. We shouldn’t deny the fact that we have endless greed in our heart, but we should try to think about how to overcome this difficulties and mistakes that our ancestors made.

Lord of the Flies: Q8

• Put entry of your choice.

Symbolism

I was so confused with the novel, because I knew that the book was trying to metaphase something but I just couldn’t understand it. This is the reason why I read the book one more time during the break, and I still don’t think that I fully understand the novel as others do, but there definitely are some metaphors and symbols in the novel that the author is trying to tell us about the theme.

The beginning of the novel starts out with the plane crash. This shows and symbolizes the destruction of this world right now. How this world is so contaminated by the act of people’s evil nature. The adults, who could hold them with rules and orders, are all dead and there seems to be no public orders without them.

Ralph, the chosen leader of the group, symbolizes and represents the democracy world that we all want, and he basically shows us that society rules are what hold us together. On the contrary, Jack, the main rival of Ralph, represents the anarchy and savagery of human instinct. He is one of the groups of people in this world who doesn’t care about the laws and the orders and rules that we have. Piggy, the follower of Ralph, also shows the democracy world, but he also shows the intelligence of the people in the world. There are people who just have to prove everything scientifically, intellectually, and logically. However, when those people exceed the level of normal people’s thinking, they might get ignored by the society, like the situation in the novel. Simon, in this novel, is like Christ Jesus, when we metaphase as the Bible. He has kind nature, and doesn’t want to be involved in the evil acts of people. Roger is the devil Satan, who follows Jack, and later on becomes crueler than Jack.

The Beast is the evil nature that all human beings have. This is probably the main start of Jack’s evil conducts. The Lord of the Flies represents the evil conducts that we are showing outside. The Beast is related to the Lord of the Flies by being the origin and primary opening to the evil world. At the very last part of the novel, the Navy officer comes, which I think, is the metaphor of the coming Christ.
I really enjoyed reading this book, even though it was very hard understanding the real meaning of the book. It really made me disappointed of how the world is so contaminated these days. However, it also gave me strength and hope that we as Christians should head up first and try to implant the right thoughts in people’s mind. I hope my next novel “Fahrenheit 451” will be as meaningful and inculcating as the first novel.

Lord of the Flies: Q7

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• Are there any settings in this novel which you have found to be beautiful? or disturbing? or memorable?


• Describe these settings and comment on why they were meaningful to you.

The most disturbing setting in the novel was, frankly, the whole, entire part of the novel, from the beginning to the end. It’s just not understandable that these kinds of cruel and violent events were happening in the beautiful setting of the novel: the uninhabited island surrounded with ‘crystal clear’ turquoise color of the endless ocean.

Jack’s evil conducts were started from the greed and the desire of gaining great power. Later on, they become so rebellious about the rules that others made, and show how all human beings have savagery instinct like him. The violence just continues, and eventually, they overtake the world. They kill two boys, one beating up, and one being pressed under a rock. I think this is why the book was so appealing to me. The contradiction of the setting and the major event going on, regardless to the setting, was the appeal of this book, because this is my first time reading a kind of book that was just so contradicting with the settings.

However, not all of the parts were awful; some of the events are a little based on the setting: littluns enjoying the nice sunshine and the beach, Jack’s tribe taking a good shower in the emerald water, and people gathering around to have assembly. These settings are so memorable to me after all of the violence that Jack’s tribe committed, and it reminded me of this series of TV show, “Lost”, I watched. I could just picture the peaceful and beautiful images in my head.

Lord of the Flies: Q6

• Please choose one passage from the novel that is significant to you.
• Why is this passage meaningful?
• Please type it into one of your entries and comment on what you think about the passage.

“Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!” said the head. For a moment or two the forest and all the other dimly appreciated places echoed with the parody of laughter. “You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why thing are what they are?” (Lord of the Flies, Chp.8)

This passage was just so meaningful to me, because before reading this passage, I just didn’t have any little guess about what the Lord of the Flies is, and why is it so important to be the title of the novel. This passage is the most important passage that the author is trying to emphasize, I think. It’s revealing the truth that the Lord of the Flies is not a physical beast that the boys in the island are afraid of, but actually a ‘spiritual beast’ inside our own self. It is telling us the fear we have in our own self, and how we also don’t realize by ourselves that we have evil nature innately born with.

I also didn’t know that the evil nature in us could be disposed in such a violent and savage way. When I first read the novel, I thought that the author was just going too extremely, and exaggerating about the human nature, but when I was answering question 2, I really saw the related situation that was occurring in the real life here. I also was wondering, when the world and the human nature started to be so destroyed; when did people just leave the common sense and the rules, organization, and society.

This again brings that Christians are the only one to save the people’s life, because that is what God expects us to be doing right now. This is why God is being still about the situations that are happening all over the world, and not punishing like He did in the old days, because we, as the faithful follower of God, should be going out there, making some differences and giving impacts to the ‘worldly people’.

Lord of the Flies: Q5

• What is the mood of this novel?
• What happens?
• How do the events of this novel make you feel?
  

The mood of this novel is dark, pessimistic, tragic, violent, cruel, evil, and unsparing. The novel actually doesn’t start very moody at all. The setting, character, and everything just seems like it goes well, when actually Jack was plotting something. The part I enjoyed was where everybody seemed to be doing ‘okay’ without the adults who hold them with society’s rules and organizations.

However, from the part of the novel where Jack rebels to Ralph and makes his own tribes to go hunting, the words in the novel just altered into violent and vicious words. The events that were happening in the island were too aggressive and cruel that reality seemed to be failing as I was reading the book. Later on, Simon dies from getting beaten up by people, and Piggy dies by being pressed under a rock. The brutal actions of the boys didn’t just surprise me, but also made my mouth not able to shut. After the death of both young and smart boys, Jack still wants to get rid of Ralph, the leader of the boys. He chases him after, setting fire on the island, and later on, Ralph gets beaten up and knocked down by Jack’s tribe. When Ralph runs away from them to the beach, he finds a Navy officer who was attracted by the smoke of the fire in the island. The Navy officer later takes them all to the Navy cruiser.

From then, I thought, how could human beings be so aggressive to each other, and I started questioning, when did origin from. According to the theme, we all have evil nature born with us, and I think the expression and revealing of the evil nature depends on the environment we are living on. This book just taught me a lot of lessons of how human beings are so destroyed from the birth.

Lord of the Flies: Q4

• What is the climax of this novel?
• What happens?
• How do the events of this novel make you feel?

I was thinking and thinking about the climax of the novel, but it really didn’t give me one clear and evident event of the novel. According to the definition of Oxford Dictionary, the word climax has two meanings. (1) The turning point at which the conflict begins to resolve itself for better or worse, (2) The final and most exciting event in a series of events.

To look at the first definition, the climax is where Jack rebels from Ralph’s group and forms his own tribe. From this point, the conflict between Jack and Ralph, which started from the very first part of the novel, gets worse. Now, there are two entire different groups: Jack’s group who goes hunting and becomes the group of evil and cruelty, and Ralph’s group who insist that they will a high possibility of being rescued when they light the fire up.

According to the second definition, the climax occurs when Piggy tries to preach the democracy world and Roger kills Piggy. It was so surprising to know that these kids are so cruel to kill a person they dislike, so violently. After the death of Piggy, who died because of the preach he made in front of Jack’s tribe about democracy, Jack’s tribe head for the life of Ralph. This again, gave me a big shock of the boys who were innocent and peaceful at the very beginning of the novel, and how the evil nature could just change the whole, entire being of human.

Lord of the Flies: Q3

• Who are the main characters in the novel?

Ralph- the protagonist of the novel, chosen as the leader of the group, even though he didn't really have the authority to decide anything. He maintains the conflict with Jack throughout the entire novel, always keep on attempting to make rules and orders that Jack’s tribe isn’t disturbed about. He represents the human beings’ civilizing instinct, opposed to the evil and savage instinct that Jack has.

Piggy- the main follower of Ralph, who tries very hard to cling to civilization, and to keep the peace in the uninhabited island. While he is the smartest, most philosophic, and most scientific boy among the group, he lacks social skills and has trouble fitting in with other people. He also represents the democracy, as the follower of Ralph.

Jack-the antagonist of the novel, who keeps on persisting that people should go hunting first. He becomes the leader of the hunters but longs for total power and becomes increasingly wild, barbaric, and cruel as the novel progresses. He represents the instinct of savagery within human beings, as I mentioned at the before, as opposed to the civilizing instinct Ralph represents.

Simon- Simon plays the important role here, even though it seems like he’s just a normal boy at the very beginning of the novel. He embodies a kind of innate human goodness that is somehow related with nature, and is willing to work for the good of their community. Because of this spirit inside Simon, he becomes the first and only person to realize the problem with the beast and the Lord of the Flies, which is that the beast on the island is not a real, physical monster existing, but rather a savagery and evil instincts that each human being has.

Lord of the Flies (the “beast”)- This name, ‘Lord of the Flies’, is actually a name given to the pig’s head that Jack’s group of hunters offers to the “beast”, while the beast is not really existing. The Lord of the Flies represents the evil and savagery instincts of power and cruelty that takes over and control Jack’s tribe.

• Do you like them?
• Why or why not?
• What is special about them?
• What do they reveal about the universal human experience?

I really like Ralph’s group, which represents the democracy world. My favorite character of this novel is Piggy, who supports Ralph’s idea of democracy world. If we see the novel as this world, we need someone like Piggy, who knows how to impose and state what is right or wrong, aggressively. Piggy, who lacks social skills, tries the conch to get the attention of people, and to build up some organization and orders. The main reason why I favor them is because they are one of those few people who try to say what is right, among the people who are in the wrong conception.
Even though Piggy later dies, the novel is saying that people like Ralph ultimately win what they want. Nowadays, it is hard to find these kinds of people who insist and claim what is really right, among the group of people who just try to look good from the outside. This is another little theme that William Golding is trying to say through the novel, that people who head up eventually wins the game.

Lord of the Flies: Q2

• Are there any current situations in the world that relate to the novel?
• What are they, and how do they relate?
• Does the novel shed any light on how current situations could be resolved for "fixed"?
• This situation is not a very current situation, but I really think that it relates to the novel very well. In 1950, there was a war between the Korean democracy party and the communist party. The conflict continued and it resulted in a war that separated Korea into two countries. In the novel, Jack’s group is like the communist party who just do what they want without thinking of others but themselves. Ralph’s group is the democracy party, that listen and concern about others, trying to figure out what is right or wrong, together.
  
• The novel is showing us that those people that overcomes the difficulties and stand up is the democracy group. To look at the Republic of Korea, by economics, technology, education, and government, we are exceeding level of the Communist of Korea (North Korea). When I was reading the novel, it was hard for me to picture the situation in the novel to the real life, but as I was thinking about my country, it just made me so emotional and sad that these kinds of small conflicts can result in some serious consequences, like the divide of one country and one nation, or even taking away the precious life of many people.

I was also wondering and thinking, ‘from when did we start to divide and result in a “war” or enemies. Do we really still have the violent and sinful nature a lot in the inner side of us?’ I think this is why God is still not punishing the world fiercely like He did in Noah’s time, because this is what God is expecting for us, Christians to do. He want us to go out and spread the real truth to those who are still wandering for the real purpose of their lives and looking for the evil nature of themselves and how would they apply it to the world. The reason why God is still about these problems is because He wants us, Christians, to see and lead them to the right path. These kinds of situation like the novel, is still happening in the real life, and those people should be reminded one more time that they also have the kind nature in themselves, and it is much harmless than the revealing of evil and savagery nature.

Lord of the Flies: Q1

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• What is the major theme of this novel?
  The major theme of this novel, "The Lord of the Flies", relates mostly to the human nature itself. The internal conflict between Ralph and Jack points out the major theme of the novel, which is that rules, orders, organization, and society holds everyone together; without these conditions and environments, our purposes, ideals, and the discernment of what is right and wrong are lost. Without the severe and rigid rules that the society has, anarchy and savagery can be applied to our lives very easily and unnoticeably. It also points out that all human beings have evil nature innately, but we also have the power to overcome this vice. Because of the evil nature born into them, this reveals the loss of human innocence, like the example in the novel.

• Why is this theme important to a teenager living in 2007?
  
  History repeats itself. What was needed in the old days will be required to live for a teenager living in 2007. To survive in the tough competition in this era, teenagers have to be ready for any evil deeds that will be bestowed upon them. Teenagers nowadays try to ignore the society’s rules and often forget what the purpose of their life is. The novel is clearly showing us the result of the chaos of society; society without rules and orders, and without adults who could lead them to a more mature decision. Teenagers these days should be constantly reminded that rules and laws hold us together, and without these organizations, we also will be too confused to be able to live in this chaotic world.