Q. What is the main theme of this novel? Why is this theme important to a teenager living in 2008?
A. To find the theme of this novel, I did the four-step analysis of finding the theme, which is the Title, Character/Conflict, Climax, and Resolution.
To start with, the title of my novel is “Animal Farm.” This is a somewhat awkward title because when we think of animal, we have ideas such as “food, friend, idiotic, labor force, and exploitation.” The title literally means a farm owned by animals or a farm that domesticates animals. Because a farm that domesticates animal is too common, we need to consider the title as a farm owned by animals. It feels quite awkward to imagine a farm owned by animals. So wee need to find why the animal farm was made and what it means.
The next step is character/conflict. The characters in this novel are mostly animals that each represents something in the human world. Napoleon, which is a pig and a leader, represents a dictator in our world. The novel illustrates pigs as smart animals, and usually dictators are intelligent people who could speak well so that they could convert people to one’s side, and intellectual enough to control a nation. Other animals, the cats, birds, horses, dogs, and chicken are civilians in the nation. The difference of the animals and their roles represent specializations. In this story the pigs and other animals each take roles and create their own farm which represents a nation. This represents a group that goes off from the rest of the world.
The climax of this novel is when the six pigs and six human meet and play. This novel, I think doesn’t have a distinct falling action or resolution that could be separated from the climax. The climax is playing poker and finding out that each side are cheating the same way and the resolution and falling action is when the animals watch the pigs and human fight. I think this climax represents the fight between two ideas.
In the resolution of this novel, animals just merely watch their leaders fight with human. I think this represents the people finding their leaders all cheat for power and wealth.
The theme, I think, of this novel is the cons of communism. Probably it is because that I know the author’s intention, this book seems obvious that it is written for democrats criticizing communists. Yet, this doesn’t connect to us. As a teenager living in 2008, I think this idea relates to us that no one can stand up of someone and rule equally. Therefore, we shouldn’t feel superiority over others who lack in tangible abilities such as intelligence, and we shouldn’t promote someone as a leader. Therefore, we don’t have to feel inferiority over other people.
2 comments:
I agree with the fact that the main theme of this book is about communism. Napoleon shows the exact example of a communist leader, who does whatever he wants. However, about the relationship of the theme to a teenager living in 2008, I have one question. Aren't there any example of communist countries such as North Korea? What about the teenagers living there?
Just my thoughts....
Nice post!
I would like you to think more about the main theme that you have created. I am not saying that it is wrong but there are more message behind this novel and more application of it can be done referred to the events of this novel. Think about the spade ace part, it was not only Napoleon who was cheating and fighting over each other and revealing their shocking truth of politics. Pilkington and Frederick was not a communists and think about the conversation that they had right before putting out two spade ace. They accept communism as part of them, different ideas but the same goal, which makes them a united fellowship. So this book doesn't only criticize communism and isn't saying that communism itself will never work. It is trying to say that any ideals and ideology brought up and run by a few leader will always fall to depravity and create mutilation of ideals.
For the things for teenagers to think can be things like. What is true meaning of equality? because that is what creates social level and jobs. Also think about the way of ideology. Are they always a failure? or is there a successful example of it? or is it incomplete?
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