Animal Farm

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Animal Farm is a novel. However, it has a significance. It is not just an ordinary novel. It is actually a political satire and also an allegory to the Russian Revolution.

Now, for those of you who have not read Animal Farm, this is a brief summary on it. There is this farm ruled by a man, Mr Jones. On one night, a respectful old boar, Old Major, who is also the leader of the animals, gathered the animals and told them about a dream which he had. It is about a Rebellion against the humans. Old Major feels that it is unfair that the animals were under control of the humans and tells the animals of a song, which is all about a Utopian society. He also teaches the animals principles of Animalism, which is also communism. Soon, the animals chase out Mr Jones and the pigs rise to power. The prominent leaders among the pigs are Snowball and Napoleon. As there was a power struggle and Napoleon had a thirst for power, he reared newborn dogs and made use of them to chase away Snowball. As Napoleon has total control of the animals, he gradually amends the principles of Animalism without the animals notice except for the pigs and in the end, he becomes just like the humans.

In this book, the main characters represent some prominent people in history, during the Russian Revolution. Old Major represents two people in history, Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. Karl Marx was the inventor of the principles of communism while Lenin taught the principles of communism to the peasants of Russia. The animals of Animal Farm represent the peasants of Russia, doing all the blue collar work. The more prominent peasant in Animal Farm is Boxer, blindly following the leader, Napoleon. However, he was sent to be slaughtered in the end. He was a very hardworking peasant and was loyal to the farm. Snowball and Napoleon represent Trotsky and Stalin, who fight with each other for power over Russia. Napoleon has the dogs as a backup to chase away Snowball, just like Stalin having the KGB as a backup. Napoleon also has a propaganda tool to make use of to convince the animals on the farm to agree with his plans. The propaganda tool which he uses is none other than the pig, Squealer. In history, Squealer represents Pravda in Russia, getting support for Stalin.

However, after Stalin gains complete control of Animal Farm, he starts to deviate from the original teachings of communism, making decisions which are not in line with the principles of communism taught by Vladimir Lenin and became more equal than the people of Russia. This is similar to how Napoleon makes decisions which are not in line with the original principles of Animalism and became more equal than the other animals. In order to convince the animals that he did not deviate from the teachings, he requested Squealer to change the 7 commandments overnight when the animals were asleep. There was this time when Squealer fell down from a ladder while changing the commandment and caused quite a ruckus which awoke the animals. All the animals did not understand what was happening except for Benjamin, the wise old donkey. Although he understood what was happening, he chose not to do anything. In history, he represents the cynics in society. He has a high level of literacy level but chose not to do anything although he knew what the pigs were doing. This caused the pigs to go into complete control and deviate from the teachings of Animalism, becoming more equal than the other animals without the animals knowing about it. If he was not so apathetic, the animals would have understood and chased away the pigs based on equality as the animals also chased Mr Jones away based on equality. However, the other animals were not to be blamed for the pigs rising to power and becoming more equal than the others without them rebelling due to their ignorance. It was quite obvious right from the start of the Rebellion that the pigs had a higher literacy level than the other animals.

I personally feel that the pigs should not become so "drunk with power". However, it cannot be helped unless you have a really good self-control over yourself. Power corrupts as people become "drunk with power". People usually have a thirst for power and become corrupted and a perfect example would be the incident in Animal Farm and the Russian Revolution.

Well, this is all I am saying about Animal Farm. Perhaps, if you want to know what the other characters represent specifically, you could click here for more information!

Honesty

Honesty is the best policy. We have all learned that since young. But why are there still thefts? Why? Is it because of some financial problems at home? Is it because of one of the seven deadly sins, greed? There are many possibilities that might have led to the thefts we have today. From the thefts I have witnessed and experienced, it is most of the time because of greed and because of one's mistake of not taking good care of your belongings.

Why would I say that it is because of one's mistake of not taking good care of your belongings? It is because people normally just leave their belongings and valuables on their desks or anywhere where the things can be easily stolen. This leads to tempting people to steal your things. It might be just for that split second that the thief steal your belongings. It could be when you are looking away and the thief just takes your belongings and walk away.

However, if you keep your valuables by your side all the time such that the thief cannot steal, you are actually helping the thief not to repeat his mistake. He did all these thefts because of his habit. If you keep your things properly, the thief will not have any opportunities to steal and he will slowly stop stealing and lose this bad habit.

Although I said that if one leaves his belongings somewhere where people can steal easily, he is at fault, the biggest one who is at fault is still the thief. If he saw the belongings on the table, why can't he just resist the temptation of stealing so that his morals will not be badly affected and he will not have any bad records? If the person finds it difficult to resist the temptation, he should just look away or just simply run away so that he will get away from the valuable.

Honesty is a moral that should be taught to young descendants. Honesty is a moral that should be kept by people. Finally, honesty is the best policy! Being honest does no harm, but helps you instead so that you will not have a bad record. Theft is an offence punishable with imprisonment of up to three years or with fine or both. It will just ruin your future. You don't want your future to be ruined, don't you?

Let me reiterate what I am trying to say, HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY. Be an honest person. Hence, my last piece of advice is stop stealing if you have done so or don't steal at all!

For some interesting facts on thefts, click here.
To see what is the true meaning of honesty and find out more about this virtuous behaviour, click here.

Punctuality

Punctuality. This has been one of the problems in my school. There have been people going to school late, that is after the flag raising ceremony. For that, they were given demerit points, which will affect their conduct grades. The conduct grades will then follow them for the rest of their lives. If their conduct grades were so bad, they might be even restricted from achieving certain scholarships.

There are also other cases in my school and also in Singapore where people are not punctual whether in returning their books to the library or not being able to meet their friends or teachers punctually. Did they ever think of the consequences of not being punctual? Therefore, certain measures have been taken to ensure that these people are punctual, such as implementing fines of 10 cents or above. The condition has been improving but not very good yet. With many people getting better pays from their jobs, they do not mind forking out the 20 cents or 1 dollar. This is a wrong mindset and we should not learn from them. Did they ever think that it may bring inconvenience to the other people? If you borrowed a reference book and did not return it, other people who need the book for research will not be able to find the book and they might not be able to submit their projects or assignments by the deadline.

Besides, when people are meeting their friends, they should always be punctual. As everybody knows, time is precious. Not all people have the time to waste to wait for us, especially when the person you are meeting is a busy businessman. If you are not punctual in meeting your client for a important business deal which might cause the company a lot of money, you might be fired from your job and the company will incur heavy losses. Surely you do not want that, don't you?

Thus, please be punctual. Do not waste other people's time. If you feel that you will not be able to make it, please turn down the appointment and change it to another time when you are sure that you can make it on time.


For more information regarding the National Library Board's actions to those who have overdue books, click here.