Animal Farm

[00:00:02] Speaker A: Welcome to BMC Book Club. I'm Kristen. [00:00:04] Speaker B: And I'm Summer. This is the podcast where we bring you all the comfort and gossip of a regular book club. But just between you, me and her. [00:00:12] Speaker A: And you may be wondering what the B and the C stand for. Well, the B stands for bling and. [00:00:18] Speaker B: The C stands for crater. [00:00:21] Speaker A: Nice. How are you doing recently, Summer? [00:00:24] Speaker B: I am doing great. I'm puppy sitting right now, so I've had a puppy around me for the last day and a half and she'll be here for the next two days as well. [00:00:36] Speaker A: Whose puppy are you sitting? [00:00:38] Speaker B: My in laws. What about you? How's work going? [00:00:42] Speaker A: Actually, much better. [00:00:43] Speaker B: So much good. [00:00:45] Speaker A: We finally got a sub that's going to be at least semi long term. Okay. But today we are going to be going over Animal Farm by George Orwell. [00:00:57] Speaker B: Oh, Georgie. [00:00:59] Speaker A: This was published August 17, 1945. And I have to say, for how old this is, I'm kind of upset about how relevant it is. [00:01:11] Speaker B: It's so relevant. I will say I was very nervous about. Once I found out what the premise of this book was. I like, I'm not big into like, discussing politics with people. Like, it just makes me uncomfortable. And this is very. Obviously it's heavily based on politics, so I was a little nervous getting into it, but I think we'll be fine. Yeah. Yeah. [00:01:35] Speaker A: All right, so a little background here. George Orwell's name is actually not George Orwell. It is Eric Arthur Blair. And he was born in 1903 and he died in 1950, so only five years after this was published. [00:01:50] Speaker B: Wow. [00:01:51] Speaker A: Was his sixth book and his first book was published in 1933. Also, his name, George Orwell, was inspired by his favorite location, River Orwell, and then the patron state of England, George. [00:02:09] Speaker B: Oh, that's interesting. So it's a writer's name. It. It's a pen name. [00:02:13] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. He fought in the Spanish Civil War and was wounded. And then during the Second World War, he served as a sergeant in the Greenwich Home Guard and worked as a journalist for the BBC. [00:02:30] Speaker B: That explains a little bit of like, kind of his writing style because he's very, like, factual in his sentences. He doesn't stray a lot. [00:02:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:02:42] Speaker B: Even though it's a fictional book, it's very factual at the same time. [00:02:48] Speaker A: Yeah, that's totally true. And he does have six rules for writing. Never use a metaphor, a simile, or just another figure of speech. Never use a long word when a short one will do. And if it's possible to cut a word out Always cut it out. Never use a passive when you can use an active. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of everyday English equivalents, and then break any of these rules sooner than be, than say anything outright barbarious. [00:03:24] Speaker B: Interesting. [00:03:25] Speaker A: I just thought it was fun. I was like, those are actually kind of cool rules to, like, make your writing. [00:03:30] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:03:31] Speaker A: Like, obviously it's an exercise. He's. He's done writing so often that he's like, in order to make my writing the best that I feel it can be, this is the exercise that I'm going to use. [00:03:39] Speaker B: Yeah. It's also interesting that, like, we know that too, because, like, I don't know a writer that, like, says what their. Their rules are when writing, especially since he's obviously, like, before tv. [00:03:53] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. This is kind of cool. And then I'm just going to say this because I didn't know any of this. And I mean, I'm probably going to say stuff that I'm saying, but I don't honestly know anything about. But according to Orwell, Animal Farm reflects the events leading up to the Russian Revolution in 1917 and then on to the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union during the time in which Russia lived under a communist ideology with Joseph Stalin. So he has, like, issues with this. [00:04:26] Speaker B: Right. [00:04:28] Speaker A: And it's like a. It's a satirical allegorical novella technically, but it also is like a takedown. He's like, you know how you guys are wrong? I'm gonna tell you that you guys are wrong. [00:04:40] Speaker B: Remember that? Yeah, I haven't forgotten. [00:04:42] Speaker A: Exactly. And while I had never read this book before, I have read 1984, which is also by George Orwell. And that book was really good. And so I had pretty high hopes for this one. [00:04:57] Speaker B: I came into this book knowing absolutely nothing except for the title name. I didn't even read the back of it. I was like, kristen picked this book. We're just trusting it and we're going with it. [00:05:12] Speaker A: It's less than 100 pages. It sucks. [00:05:16] Speaker B: And then I read the before chapter, like, the preliminary of the guy who basically republished it in 2020. And he basically. He explained that it's. It's about, like, Stalin and all of that. And that's all. That's all my pre thoughts. I've got nothing else. So we start off the chapter. Mr. Jones, who is the owner of the farm, he goes to bed drunk. The farm animals all come out because a pig named Old Major has had a dream and he wants to Share. And everyone usually just listens to what he has to say once they're all there. Old Major, he's 12 years old, and he's a pig. He says that he thinks he's going to die soon, and he wants to impart some wisdom on them because, you know, pigs are meant for the slaughter and blah, blah, blah, blah. He says that all of their problems have stemmed from men and that all of the animals labor is not their own. They're all doing it just for men. And that all of their things, like their eggs and their, like, laborers are just to benefit someone who's not them. He says that we should all only consider animals friends. And everybody starts getting a little bit excited about it. And then they. A rat comes out at some point, and they're like, wait a second. Are rats considered friends? And they have a little vote. And then rats are considered friends because they have four legs. And that's what we've decided is like the divider is how many legs you have. [00:06:56] Speaker A: But then he was like, but even if you've conquered them, do not adopt his vices. It's like foreshadowing. [00:07:03] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Foreshadowing up the wazoo. He declares that all animals should be equal and that his dream is that Earth should be ruled by animals and all men should be gone. Then he remembers the song that he heard from his childhood that his mother used to sing to him about being free and how living life is great. And they all sing it, and it kind of becomes their, like, mantra throughout this whole book. I kind of liked it. It said it was to the tune of Cuckoo Cucaracha. [00:07:40] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:07:41] Speaker B: And I tried singing it like that, and it did not fit. And I was struggling. [00:07:45] Speaker A: You don't think so? I thought it was pretty good. [00:07:48] Speaker B: I really tried, and I don't think it fit. Yeah, it didn't work very well. So he says all this. The animals are all excited. They are learning the song. And it kind of wakes up Mr. Jones, who shoots the side of the barn because he's mad that he's been woken up. And then the animals break up and go to bed. After this chapter, I'm like, okay, so the pig's their leader. He's calling everyone comrades, and he does it. They do that very, very often throughout this whole book. And he's saying that it's humans against the animals. And that's what starts us off. [00:08:25] Speaker A: My theory is that this is going to be about how we're eventually. About how power eventually corrupts people no matter what. Okay. So we're on chapter two, and it says that three days later, old Major dies naturally, and they bury his bones underneath a nice tree. And the intelligent animals start planning for the rebellion. And the teaching and organizing ultimately falls to the pigs, because they're some of the most intelligent. And. And Snowball, Napoleon and a porker named Squealer are the ones that are mostly in charge. They made old Majors teachings into a system of thought called animalism. And they had some pushback at first with some of the animals, but after months and months and months, they have basically all of them committed to their cause about a rebellion. It doesn't necessarily have to be now, but they're just quote, unquote, getting them ready for whenever this time will come. And the rebellion actually happened sooner than they think because Mr. Jones has been hard on his luck because of a lawsuit, and he lost a bunch of money. And now because he drinks all the time, he doesn't have any money still. And so one day he goes to town and he gets drunk, and he doesn't come back until the next day. And all the workers that are on the farm, they milk the cows, but then they leave without feeding any of the other animals. And then when Mr. Jones comes back, he just falls asleep. And so this is too much for all of the animals. And so they break into food storage, which is exactly when Mr. Jones wakes up. So then he and all of his. His workers try to beat the animals for getting into the food supply. But the animals are super frustrated about not getting fed and being treated super badly. And so they fight back, fed up after this long day. And they are able to actually drive the men out and out of the gates. And because Mrs. Jones is seeing this from the farmhouse, she's like, looks like something bad is going to go down. I should probably also leave. And so she also dips. [00:10:36] Speaker B: Gotta go. [00:10:37] Speaker A: And Manor Farm, which is what the. Mr. Jones's farm was called, is officially theirs. And they get excited, and they're kind of running around the farm and burning everything that is tied to men and their oppression, which is like their ribbons and their girdles and their leashes and like, things like that that are symbols of them being bought or like, possessed controlled. Yeah. And so then they go into the food and they eat some more, and then they sleep before surveying, like, the entire land they have. And they also tour the house and decide to leave it as is, with no animals living there. Then Snowball and Napoleon call a meeting. And the first order of business that they have is to change the name of the farm from Manor Farm to Animal Farm. And while they were getting ready and everything, they had learned to read and write over the last couple months. And so they engrave their new commandments onto the barn wall. There are seven of them. They are two legs. If you have two legs, you're an enemy. If you have four legs or wings, your friend. You shouldn't be wearing clothes. You shouldn't be sleeping in beds. You shouldn't be drinking alcohol. There is no killing animals, and every animal is equal. Then they say that they're going to have to harvest the wheat soon because it's coming up. But the cows that are there complain that they haven't been milked yet. And so the pigs are able to figure out how to milk them, and then everyone goes off, but then nobody knows what to do with the milk because they're like, normally, we have to give this to the farmer, but what are we going to do with it now? And Napoleon's like, it's fine. I'll figure it out. You guys go ahead. And then when they come back later, the milk is gone. [00:12:23] Speaker B: The pens kind of mentioned that the milk was put in their feet as well. [00:12:27] Speaker A: But, yeah, I'm like, I know that this is a short book, but we're really just going right into it. [00:12:31] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, immediately also, I thought that. [00:12:35] Speaker A: The name Napoleon, like, Snowball's a good guy and Napoleon is a bad guy. I'm like, that feels a bit. A little bit on the nose, but okay, it does. [00:12:43] Speaker B: And I was like, interesting that we named him Napoleon, but I'm gonna move on from that real fast. I also was like, at this point, I was like, are the pigs gonna take the milk and claim it as, like, oh, well, we work so hard, so this is our payment? Which they didn't really do that, but they did. [00:13:03] Speaker A: I mean, they kind of did, because nobody really hears about the milk again. And then that's. We. We find out later that they actually had it in their food the whole time. So they kind of did. They just didn't tell anybody that they did. [00:13:13] Speaker B: Yeah. So the next chapter, they are talking about harvesting all this grain. The harvest was a success. The pigs didn't end up working because they were the leaders. They were directing everyone. They figured a way out of every difficulty that we came across. They were the kind of the brains, like managers. So, like, when you have an issue, you go to the manager, even though the manager's not actually working the floor. Right. They finished two days earlier than they normally do. And it was the biggest harvest yet, so they're all pretty proud of themselves. All summer, it's going fine. They have a little bit difficulty with the corn harvest, but they end up making it so, like, time is passing during all of this. There's a horse named Boxer. We love Boxer. I'm just gonna put that out there. [00:14:07] Speaker A: I think Boxer is my favorite. [00:14:09] Speaker B: Boxer was great. Boxer and his actual. The other horse, her name is Clover or Molly. Molly. I like Molly because Molly is like, I just want ribbons, bro. She just wanted to look pretty. [00:14:23] Speaker A: I know. And it's so dumb because she's. They're like, you can't have your ribbons. And then literally, a year later, all the pigs are wearing ribbons on their tails. I'm like, bro. [00:14:31] Speaker B: Right? Like, that's rude. Anyway, Boxer is able to pull them through the corn harvest. He's kind of doing, like. Like, a lot of heavy lifting. He's doing the job of three different horses. Morning. Tonight, he's. He's working. If he sees something's wrong, he's working even harder. He's never complaining. He's just like. His motto is like, I'll just work harder if something's happening, which is like, love him. None of the animals are stealing or are grumbled about rations. Rations are kind of, like, waning a little bit because they're. The pigs are figuring out that we're not getting as much food, but everybody's still eating. Well, they make a flag and they hoist it. It's a green flag with, like, a hoove and a horn. And they host a little, like, council meeting every Sunday to discuss and vote on things. So they're, like, starting as a. As a democratic governing body. [00:15:37] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [00:15:39] Speaker B: In the meeting, they find out what they plan for the week. They go over everything, and resolutions are put forward, and then they debate them. The pigs are the only ones who really ever put any resolutions forward because the pigs are considered the smartest, and no one, like, honestly thinks of anything else. So they just don't try to say a resolution for an issue. They always end by singing the song the Beast of England, and they have nothing else to do for the rest of the day. And they'll usually just, like, communicate and, like, talk to everybody. They try to re. Educate the wild animals, but most animals on the farm can read and write to some degree. But the dumber. And they call them the dumb animals, really can't figure it out, so they just, like, move on. I think the sheep are the dumb animals who just. [00:16:32] Speaker A: Yeah, they say they Go up to B, or they can get up to D. And then once they got E through F, then they forgot the first four. And so they went back to the first four letters, and then they're like, this is it. This is good. [00:16:42] Speaker B: Yeah. It's a struggle. The commandments are shortened to four legs. Two legs. Four legs good, two legs bad. And that's the sheep, because they can't understand any of the rest of the commandments. They're trying to teach them and have them memorize it, but they cannot memorize it for the life of them. So they're just like, four legs good, two legs bad. And they're like, oh, okay, that's simple. Four legs good, two legs bad. And that's all they say. From this point out, you never hear anything else from the sheep. Napoleon saying he has no interest in re education of all animals. He instead is focused on the littles and is trying to indoctrinate them from the beginning. So as soon as a litter of puppies is born, he, like, takes them up to where he does all of his teaching, and they're not seen for a while. They're just with him learning things. They're so far away, most of them actually forget about it. This is when I said, that's a little fishy. [00:17:40] Speaker A: Yeah. Total bat omen. [00:17:43] Speaker B: And then we find out that the milk that went missing before actually has been mixed into the pig mash this whole time. And that it's actually so that the pigs can get all the vitamins they need. Because they need those vitamins. They're very desperate for those vitamins. And if they don't have them, they can't be smart and they can't figure everything out for everyone. So they can't lead. Everybody's like, yeah, that makes sense. And they go along with it. And then there's a huge windfall of apples that they store until it's decided only the pigs get them because they need the milk and apples for their brain power. And in order to make Jones doesn't come back because we don't want Mr. Jones to come back. Why would we want that? And everybody says, yeah, of course. Why would we want Mr. Jones to come back? You keep those apples and the milk. [00:18:33] Speaker A: Yeah. And power is so easy to succumb to because either you have it and it's easier to succumb to, or somebody close to you is saying they can stop something, quote, unquote, worse from happening to you. So then that also makes it easy to succumb to the only way to. [00:18:50] Speaker B: Keep Mr. Jones out is to give the milk the pig. Give milk and apples to the pigs because that's what keeps them fed and brain powered, to keep him away. [00:19:01] Speaker A: All right, so for chapter four. The news is spreading in the outside world about what happened at animal farm. And Mr. Jones's neighbors, the two neighbors, Mr. Frederickson and Mr. Blinkerton, thought that the animal farm would just blow over because they were like, there's no way that animals can actually run a farm. And they're also scared that their own animals would want to rebel, but nobody really does. But all of the animals now know the Beast of England song just everywhere because the birds were teaching it to people. And no animal in other farms is as compliant as they used to be. Now that they know that there is a farm in the world that is being run by other animals. Then in October, Mr. Jones and some men come and try to take the farm, but the animals are ready, and they basically destroy them. They just, like, knock them down so fast. They. Everything that they do works because they were reading all these books about ancient civilizations and fighting techniques. Snowball was so. He was the one that, like, created the plan to beat them back. And they get the men to flee. There's one who they thought was dead because Boxer hit him in the face with his hoof. And Snowball's like, war is war, man. It's fine. You don't need to feel bad. But it turns out he didn't die, and he was just unconscious. So he ends up running away later. And a couple of sheep have died in this, but for the most part, they get away with minimal energy injuries. And then Snowball and Boxer get honors of animal hero first class. And they collect Mr. Jones gun from the ground. Yep. [00:20:50] Speaker B: And then they, like, fire it once a year to commemorate the. Both the rebellion or. I'm sorry. They fire it twice a year. Once is for the rebellion, once is for the battle of. I think they called it the barn or something. Yeah. I feel bad because poor Boxer, he hurt the human, and he was taking it hard. [00:21:12] Speaker A: He was. [00:21:12] Speaker B: And now. Now we have a military honor system. [00:21:15] Speaker A: Yep. [00:21:18] Speaker B: So chapter five. The horse Molly, the one that I like, she. Turns out she went missing. Nobody ever saw her again. And then a bird was like, yeah, actually, I just saw her with a human being. They were petting her nose and giving her sugar, and she had ribbons in her hair, and she just wanted those damn ribbons. If you would have given the ribbon, she would have stayed. But whatever she was never talked about again. Everyone accepts that the pigs are in charge as long as any changes are still put to a vote. Snowball has been kind of. He kind of led the charge against the humans when they came to the farm. He's better at speeches. Napoleon is better at canvassing. So in between the meetings, he's like, getting people onto his side. But Snowball, in the moment, can get people on his side. The biggest debate turns out to be this windmill that Snowball says, we'll give them electricity to help out around the farm. And the windmill is a big plot of this book. Snowball is making all these plans. He says he read about it. He knows how to build the windmill. He knows all what they'll need and everything. And he's trying to get everyone to vote on actually building the windmill. But Napoleon is like, that's not happening. He's going against it. He pees on the plans. Snowball's like, yeah, it's going to be hard, but we're going to be done within a year. And everyone starts taking sides, except for Ben the donkey, Benjamin. He's also like an old soul and I love him. They decide they're going to vote on the windmill, and Snowball wins, many in his favor with a rousing speech. And he's got everyone on his side before, right before the vote, and then right before it actually happens, dogs come in. These are the dogs that Napoleon took from their litter when they were born, and he raised them and taught them everything they know. And they chase Snowball out of the farm. Snowball is never heard from again. Technically, we never actually see him. We don't know technically what happens to him, but there's a lot said about him past this point. [00:23:32] Speaker A: There is so much said about him, but he's literally just a device for them. Yep. [00:23:39] Speaker B: Past this point, he is no longer an actual physical. Yeah. So now Napoleon is officially the man in charge. He declares that Sunday meetings are over. He doesn't need the debates happening anymore. He's going to provide. He's going to. He's going to preside over a committee of pigs to make the laws. Most animals are dismayed by this, but once they speak up, they're quickly shut down with the dogs. And Squealer says that we should appreciate the sacrifice Comrade Napoleon is taking by being our leader. Napoleon sometimes has to take the decisions out of their hands because there are times that the wrong ones, like following Snowball, are made. And obviously he has to do this because if he doesn't, Mr. Jones will come back. And so they all decide to Follow Napoleon. [00:24:29] Speaker A: They dig up old major school, and now it's put in the middle of the town. [00:24:33] Speaker B: The third Sunday after Snowball is gone, they say that they're moving forward with the windmill. Everybody's like, what the heck happened? Napoleon now claims ownership of this windmill. He said he was actually the one who made the plans in the first place and that the only reason he ever opposed it was to get rid of Snowball. And I was upset. First of all, we lost Molly just because she wanted ribbons. They tried to kill Snowball because he was the obvious vote immediately made it a dictatorship. Napoleon had these pups trained to follow him. He's manipulated everything from the very beginning. And this is when I was like, everything's gone to shite. [00:25:19] Speaker A: And this is when I was like, wow, how is this so relevant to today? Just when everything goes off the rails, I'm like, parallels, I see. [00:25:29] Speaker B: Yes, I saw parallels from the very beginning as well. But, like, I'm not gonna name names. [00:25:37] Speaker A: No, we don't have to name names. So that year, they were, quote, unquote, like slaves, and they were working all the time, but they were really happy in their work. And they worked about 50 hours a week throughout spring and summer. In August, Napoleon starts making the animals work on Sundays. He says it's completely voluntary, but also, if they take the day off, they're going to get their rations cut in half. So is it? Is it? The windmill is super difficult to construct because the stones that they have are hard to cut, since they're animals and not people. And they can't use the machinery that they usually use to cut these stones. [00:26:15] Speaker B: They don't have thumbs. [00:26:16] Speaker A: Yeah. And so they finally realize that they can roll the huge boulders up the hill and then, like, send them off the hill in order to break them apart to get the sizes that they need. But it takes a really long time, and it's really, really hard for them to do it. And honestly, if they didn't have Boxer, they probably wouldn't have been able to do it because he and the other horses do most of the work. Summer is fine. They had about the same amount of food as they did under Jones, but as time has gone on, they now need oil, string nails, iron for horseshoes and, like, dog treats, as well as more seeds and artificial manure so that they can actually keep this farm running. And they can't get all of that just by doing it themselves. And then one day, Napoleon says that they're going to start trading with other farms in order to get the stuff that they need. And he says the windmill is going to come before everything, so we're going to actually sell some of our wheat. And if that doesn't cover it, we're also going to sell some eggs if they're needed. And the hens are like, yeah, haha, yeah, I'm sure that that's what we do. But they never actually think that they're going to have to sell their eggs. And the animals are uneasy about working with the humans. But Napoleon is like, it's fine, you will never have to deal with them. We're gonna get a specific person to come and handle the farm and I'm the only one that's gonna talk to him. So it's not a big deal. And so then the animals are like, didn't we say that we weren't supposed to do any trade with them or use money or something like that? And then Squealer is like, how could you even say that? That's just what. What made you even suggest that? That was never even in our rules. I have no idea what you're talking about. We never even talked about that. You're. You guys are imagining things. I think you guys are just making it up. You guys are. I don't remember that. I remember something very different. And so now, every Monday, Mr. Whimper comes to the farm for instructions for the week. And the animals are really weary of him, but they also like that he's taking orders from Napoleon. And so they feel like, eh, about it. They're like, they're. They like it, but they also hate it. Also now all of the farms on the outside are calling Animal Farm Animal Farm. Now, even though they still don't like it and they still think the thought of it is preposterous, they are actually giving it the respect of calling it Animal Farm. And then around this time is when the pigs start to move into the farmhouse. And all of the animals are weary of this, obviously, because they're like, why? We. I thought we said we were never going to use the farmhouse. And Squealer's like, no, I think we need the farmhouse because we have all the brains we need some required to think. And so that's what the farmhouse is going to provide us. And they kind of accept that. But then not only do the pigs start working in the farmhouse, they also start sleeping in the beds of the farmhouse and they start going into like the drawing room and other things in the farmhouse. And they're like, what the heck is that? But nobody says anything because they've kind of just moved on from it. Now Squealer is also calling Napoleon leader. He's not calling him Napoleon anymore. He's just saying the leader. And, like, the animals are just having a really tough time, and they used to have a better winter. They're. They're really suspicious of this. So Clover asked one of the other animals to read the old commandments on the wall because they're pretty sure it said something about no beds. But then Muriel reads it on the wall, and she was like, it says no beds with sheets. And so then Squealer comes back and is like, yeah. The whole thing was that we're against, like, beds are beds, okay? Like, any straw can be a bed. We didn't say no beds. We're talking about beds with sheets. Because the humans made the sheets. And so if man made the sheets, that's what we actually mean. It's not no beds. It's no bed with sheets. And so they make an addendum. And again, the questions stop when they're like, okay, but do you really want Mr. Jones back? Because that's what we would be dealing with. [00:30:34] Speaker B: And then they don't make the addendum. They just add it to the wall without saying anything. And then everybody just assumes that it was always there because their memory is just bad, right? It's been there the whole time. [00:30:46] Speaker A: And now the pigs are getting up an hour later than all the other animals, which is fishy in autumn. They're tired, but they're really happy. They work on the windmill but have to take a break because it's too wet to mix cement. And then after a windstorm, they come out and the windmill is destroyed. And I'm pretty sure it was just weather, but Napoleon immediately says that it's snowball and that he came and sabotaged them and that the tracks are coming from Foxwood Farms. [00:31:12] Speaker B: They're just giving him a common enemy. Everybody has this enemy now, and it's snowball. [00:31:17] Speaker A: Motivation. Yep, motivation. [00:31:20] Speaker B: Then we continue on, and they have a pretty bitter winter. Everybody's starving. It doesn't really get better until February, because in January, the harvest was really short. So they went a lot of days without any rations. So their corn was rationed up, and they were gonna get potatoes to kind of, like, even it up and so that they'd still be getting food. But then they realized the potatoes even, weren't good anymore, and so they had to go a couple of meals without. Mr. Whymper, our human kind of liaison, he spread news that there was no food shortage in Animal Farm. And this is when Napoleon finally decides to emerge from the farmhouse. He only comes for ceremonies and nothing else. So a lot of the animals are saying that they don't really see him very much anymore, but he's supposedly their leader and in charge of everything. On a random Sunday, it was declared that all of the hens have been required to now give up their eggs because Napoleon accepted a 400 egg a week trade deal. So, which really stuck out to me because in the very beginning of this whole book, like, one of the selling factors was, you know, the. The animals aren't in charge. The humans take everything that animals have to give, and they don't get to keep their eggs or their. Let's say, their milk or anything like that. And so now that we're giving up all of our eggs and the hens are not happy about kind of like starts to show that we're going directly against why we began this. In the beginning, some of the hens are. Are, like, protesting and saying, no, I'm not giving you my eggs. And they're like, fine, you're not getting any food. So some of them even die because they refuse to give up their eggs. No one has even seen Snowball. But Snowball was on an opposite farm that Napoleon is friendly with. And every time that he's on the opposite farm, Napoleon gets to make a deal with the other farm. And so they keep switch watching wherever Snowball is, just so that he. He's like, oh, they're not the bad guys. I'm making a deal with them because the other farm is the bad guy because they're harboring Snowball. And then the next deal goes through and they're like, oh, actually, Snowball's at the one, the other one. And so now I can make a deal with these guys because they're. They're not the bad guys either. They're. They're the ones who are saying, he's not there, and it's just what it is. They also say that Snowball has been coming to the farm at night to perform mischief. Napoleon says that there's going to be a full investigation into Snowball, when in reality, Napoleon just sniffs the whole farm and says, snowball has been there and everybody's taking his word on it. Like, Snowball's been here, Snowball's been there, and every. So, oh, my God, he's plotting against us still. But we never really see Snowball. [00:34:19] Speaker A: I wouldn't be surprised if Snowball is dead. [00:34:22] Speaker B: Yeah, like, immediately after he got put out. Died. Yeah. Wheeler tells the animals that Snowball sold himself to a farm to plot an attack on them and that he's been in league with Jones, Mr. Jones, our human owner, farmer or whatever, from the very beginning. So everything that's happened is because. Beaten because Snowball and Mr. Jones made it happen and that it was all a ploy. The animals are, like, really puzzled by this because they're like, he kind of led us in the battle against the humans. Like, what are you talking about? And everybody's like, no, no, no, no, no. It was all a plot. And Boxer's like, actually, he fought alongside me against the humans. Like, I was there. [00:35:08] Speaker A: I remember all Squealer said was that Napoleon said it. He was like, well, Napoleon says Snowball has been plotting this from the beginning. And because one of Boxer's, like, little catchphrases is, Napoleon is always right. As soon as he was like, Napoleon said it, then Boxer's like, oh, he. If you. If you said Napoleon said it, you should tell me that in the first place. What are you talking about? Of course he's the traitor. Napoleon said it. [00:35:32] Speaker B: Of course. So after this, Napoleon calls a meeting. His dogs go after four pigs, and after tasting blood, they try to go to go after Boxer. And. But Boxer's able to pin them down. Is like, what is going on? Why is everybody fighting? The pig confesses that they were in league with Snowball. Don't know how they confessed this or why. Don't explain anything else. So the dogs rip their throats out. They died. Three hens come forward and say, snowball appeared to me in a dream. Bam. Also slaughtered. They're dead. More of the animals say, actually, I've been with Snowball. I've talked to Snowball. Blah, blah, blah, Snowball. And they're all dead now. Finally, the crowd dissipates, and everyone's in a very grim mood. Everybody. The animals are like, what's going on? We weren't supposed to kill animals. No animals have been killed since Mr. Jones was here. He's the one who shot the one sheep. Like, other than that, no one died. And animals don't kill animals. Boxer says, you know, this is all. [00:36:49] Speaker A: My fault from actual killing. But they've died from starvation. [00:36:53] Speaker B: Yeah, that's true. Boxer is like, you know, I just need to work harder, which is rough. That poor guy. Clover has some thoughts. She can't really articulate them. She feels like something's off. They sing the Beast of England as they normally do the next day. And then finally Squealer comes and is like, actually, that's forbidden now. We no longer need it. The Beast of England no longer is allowed to be sung anymore. [00:37:24] Speaker A: Yeah. Because it was a song of the rebellion. And so since the rebellion is over, we don't need to sing this anymore, obviously. Which just means that they're destroying everything that they sought to build. Like, all they. This is when they start turning their back on what they said this was all for. [00:37:41] Speaker B: Yep. And the farm kind of just falls into a depression. [00:37:45] Speaker A: Yep. So in summer, they remember Commandment 6, which states that you should probably not kill fellow animals. But when it's read aloud by Muriel again, without cause has been added to the end. So it's now, no animal shall kill another animal without cause. And the animals have to work harder this year than they did in the previous year. But Squealer tells them that numbers are up. They are doing well to the farm. They're producing 200, 300, 400% better than they did last year in some cases. And so, like, everything is better at the farm now than it used to be when they had human overlords. But the humans, the animals can't really remember what it was like before because it's been so long that it's been like this. They're like, surely it has to be better than it was before. Right. Otherwise, why would we still be fighting for this? And Napoleon is barely seen. He takes his meals alone in the house, and he has the other pigs served for him. He's just doesn't talk to anybody. And they call him our leader, Comrade Napoleon. And they attribute every single thing that ever goes right on the farm to Napoleon. And we always say, like, grant us our leader, comrade Napoleon, for giving us a sunshine day. Like, that's the type of stuff they attribute to the things that Napoleon is doing. And they also make him a song. And they add his picture to the wall of the barn, and it's huge. So in the summer, some hens say that they were inspired by Snowball. And so they entered into a plot to kill Napoleon and try to poison him. And they are quickly killed themselves. But now many safety precautions are taken with Napoleon. He has somebody who eats his meals before he does. So he's not poisoned. They make sure that he only has the best of the best ingredients that no other hands touch. Like, all these sorts of things to make sure that he will be okay. [00:39:48] Speaker B: They even have three dogs sleep or stay next to him while he sleeps. And then three more dogs stay next to him during the Day. [00:39:56] Speaker A: Right. His bodyguards are all times when the rare times they do see him, he is bodyguard up. And then Napoleon says he's going to sell some extra timber that they had on their land. And he's entered an agreement with Mr. Plinkerton and with Foxwood Farms. And so the animals are happy because They've heard that Mr. Frederick from the other farm is abusive to his animals and he's no good. And so they're like, oh, that's great. We're going to be in agreement with the other farm. And apparently Mr. Frederick also has Snowball. So they're all bad. And that's the bad farm right now. And so Napoleon is selling the timber to the other people. And also the windmill is very close to being completed. Snowball, not the right way to say that. Some farm animals say that Snowball strikes again because he added weed seeds in with the corn seeds, and so they have a bad harvest. They also say that he never received his order of Farm Animal First Class, or whatever it is. And like his. His great order when he was in the battle, they say that it was just a legend. Like that was just a legend that some of the other animals did, but he never actually was a war hero. And by autumn, the windmill is finally finished, but they don't have any machinery installed because they can't afford it. And then a couple days later, Napoleon comes and tells all of the animals that he actually sold the timber to Mr. Frederick, because apparently all of the stories that they heard about him being abusive were false. And Snowball was actually planting those stories. And Snowball was actually at the Plinkerton farm, not at this farm with Mr. Frederick. And so he was able to make them work off of each other in order to get more money from Mr. Frederick. And Mr. Frederick, he was going to give him a check, but then Napoleon was like, no, no, I'm too smart for you. You need to give me it in bills. But then turns out those bills were counterfeit. So they thought they pulled one over on the humans, but the humans actually pulled one over on them. So then Napoleon calls for a dense death sentence on Frederick, and he tells all the birds and everything to tell all the animals that he has a death sentence on him. He also says, oh, maybe we should brace for an attack soon, because you know how we heard about, like, inklings of Mr. Frederick calling up an army to attack us? Yeah, I thought that was a lie because we ended up going into a deal with him. But because he has the counterfeit money, obviously he is still trying to attack us. So, like, be aware, they attack the farm the next day with dozen men and half a dozen guns. And the animals don't do very well this time. The humans are able to beat them back into the barn. And then all of the animals see the humans blow up the windmill that they finally completed after all of this hard work. And so because they blow up the windmill, the animals get pissed and they go out and they beat them back. Finally, they charge them once again and they are able to. They're able to get them out of their farm and they're able to run them out of the farm. But they're. Everyone is injured. A lot of them are dead and everything is ruined. They don't have anything else anymore. And the animals are having a really tough time because all of them are injured and they. All of their hard work of the windmill is now destroyed, and half of their fields are destroyed and everything. But Squealer's like, no, no, no, this is a victory. We. We won. They're not here anymore, are they? We won, so it's fine. And so they distract them with a celebration for a couple of days. And then right around this time is when they find a crate of whiskey in the farmhouse basement. And they have a weird night. Napoleon comes out in a bowler hat. Seems like he might be like swaying around. And then Squealer comes out the next day after a late night and tells the animals that Napoleon is dying. And as his dying wish, he says that no animals should drink alcohol. And then the next day when Mr. Whymper comes, apparently Napoleon is asks as Mr. Whimper to get him books on distilling and barley. And then he decides that he's going to also add a barley field to their crops and, like, have a little barley field next to the farmhouse. And also Squealer falls off the ladder changing the commandments on the wall for no alcohol to no alcohol to accession. [00:44:47] Speaker B: Which is like, not even a big deal because, like, yeah, he's finally been figured out. But like, other people are like, honestly, we can't do anything at it about it at this point. Right? [00:44:58] Speaker A: And it's like he not only did the no alcohol policy, he also did the no clothes policy because he was wearing a hat. And it's not supposed to be hats, not supposed to be ribbons, not supposed to be hats, not supposed to be anything. [00:45:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:45:09] Speaker A: And so they're already going bonkers off the wall. [00:45:11] Speaker B: Okay? So during the last battle, Boxer was injured and he kind of has like a split hoof. And it's bothering him, and they know it's going to take a long time to heal. But he still says, I'm. I refuse to take a day off. I'm just gonna work harder. It's fine. Which is like, poor, poor Boxer, dude. When the laws of animals were first created, horses were supposed to retire at 12 years old, along with the pigs. So Boxer is, like, at 11 right now, and he's like, I'm just counting down, counting down the days until I need to retire. It's only a couple months away. Like, it's fine. I'll just work through it and then I'll retire and I can heal. Their old age pension was supposed to be very generous. Food happens to be even shorter than the last year. Everyone's getting a reduction except for the pigs and the dogs. So everyone's still kind of starving a little bit. Squealer always tells them the farm is doing better than it was previously, which, it feels like a lie. But nobody can remember how they were when Mr. Jones was there. So everyone's just moving on and listening and believing. Squealer. The pigs litter this year is 31 piglets. And Napoleon declares a schoolroom should be built for them so that all the little piglets can learn how to read and write, become little leaders just like all their other pigs, until their house, their school, is built. He's taking over their education. In the farmhouse, the piglets are discouraged from playing with the others. So it's very segregated just after this. Every other animal is made to step aside when the pigs walk by. Rations are reduced again in December and January and February, but the pigs somehow are still putting on weight. All the barley is delegated for the pigs, along with the pint of beer daily. So now, obviously, it's known to everyone that the pigs just drink all the time. They have parades just to distract kind of everyone from what's going on. In April, they become a republic, and they vote in a president. Obviously, Napoleon was chosen. Boxer. His hoof is finally healed. This is from what, like, I think it happened in, like, November. Ish. And now we're in March. The schoolhouse is getting started. Boxer was like, I'm kind of getting, like, worse off. Just like, my strength in general, my body in general. But I'm not going to stop because I'm so close to retirement. And then finally he falls and his lungs give out, and he's struggling. After 15 minutes of everybody kind of like, oh, my God, what's happening? Are you okay? Squealer says that they're really upset, and Napoleon's really sad, and he's going to arrange for Boxer to be taken to a veterinary hospital. Hospital. Everyone's really nervous about this because they don't trust the human. They don't know what's going to happen, but it's for the best. So they're like, okay, like, we're going to trust, like, a vet to take care of Boxer and heal him. And so Boxer's in a stall for about two days until a van comes and takes him away. And Benjamin, our donkey, our old guy, who refused to learn how to speak or read or write or anything, and it's just been going with the flow. So Benjamin, the donkey, he runs out and he tells everyone that he's going to be slaughtered. And all the animals are like, what are you talking about? And he says, the side of the van says, glue farm. And everyone's like, are you kidding me? And it turns out he's been able to read and write the whole time, that he just didn't want to conform to what they wanted him to do. He. They're trying to scream at him to get out, but Boxer doesn't hear them. And then finally he does hear them, and he tries to get out, but it's of no use. He can't escape the van. And so the van drives off and Boxer is never seen again. Squealer comes out to everybody, says he was there for Boxer's last moments. The humans took great care of him at the hospital. He was doing really well, but there unfortunately was nothing that they could do to save his life. Napoleon has a speech about Boxer and what a wonderful animal he is and that we should all adopt his sayings, I will work harder. And Napoleon is always right. That night, they discover that the pigs had a bunch of money to buy more alcohol all of a sudden. And everyone was a little weary, saying, like, didn't he go to a glue farm? And they were like, no, they just bought that. The vet bought that van off of a glue farm. He never actually went there. It was just. They haven't repainted it yet. So he. He went to the vet. It's fine. So everyone's like, oh, okay. And they move on. And this is the point where I was, like, done reading, and I was like, I don't want to continue. [00:50:46] Speaker A: Everything that can go wrong has gone wrong. So it's a very. It gets. It gets very bleak. It gets. It doesn't help. That it's very relevant is the problem. If this wasn't an issue anymore. I think it wouldn't hurt so much, but because it is, you're just like, oh, damn, there goes Boxer. Yeah. So now years have passed, and there are few that are still there who even remember Jones or what it's like to be under a human leader. And Clover is too past the years of retiring, but no animal has ever actually retired on Animal Farm, and they can't even remember if they were promised that from the beginning or not. So some creatures have come to Animal Farm, but less than they're expecting. And they've also bought other animals to get them to the farm. They also bought more land from Mr. Plinkerton at some point. And somehow the farm is richer without any animals being richer except for the pigs and the dogs. So it's working for somebody, just not most people. And Squealer just tells them, like, hey, we have a lot of stuff to do, all right? We have a lot of paperwork, we have a lot of files. We have a lot of writing that we have to do. You know, it takes a lot of work. And then we just throw it into the fire. So, you know, I have a lot of work to do, and I can't be out plowing the farms, all right? I have to incinerate all of the work I just did, Obviously. Obviously. And all the animals feel like their life was bad, but they keep thinking, like, it had to have been worse before, right? Like, we're under animals, so we're fine. It had to have been worse before we were under humans. And a couple of days into summer, Squealer orders the sheep to follow him into the grass because he wants them to go somewhere. But then they're gone for a week. And Square's like, no, it's fine. I'm just teaching them a new song. It's not a big deal. And so then one day, all the animals hear Clover neighing super loudly, and they're like, what is going on? So they all just go into the yard, and they see Squealer come out on his two hind legs, and he's walking around the yard. And then all of the other pigs come out on their two hind legs, and maybe they're a little wobbly, but they're walking just fine. And then Napoleon comes out on his two hind legs, and he holds a whip, the whip. That was Mr. Jones's whip. And all of the animals are silent, and they're about to say something until all of the sheep start bleeding. And this is how a lot of arguments would end was the Sheep bleeding, four legs good, two legs bad. Because like, that's how they got about out of a log of arguments was just like, we don't want Mr. Jones back, right? So four legs good, two legs bad. But now all of the sheet starts bleeding. Four legs good, two legs better. They start bleeding that for so long that it seems like no animals can ever interject to say that they don't like it. [00:54:11] Speaker B: So wrong. [00:54:14] Speaker A: Ridiculous. And now the wall in the barn has been changed so that there's only one commandment that says all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. [00:54:28] Speaker B: Dun, dun, dun. That's what I thought when I read that. [00:54:34] Speaker A: Basically that is like a dun, dun, dun. Yeah, I've heard this said so many times and kind of phrases and other places especially lately, but I didn't realize that it was from this. I assume it's from this. [00:54:44] Speaker B: I've never heard this said, but like, it makes sense that that's the one thing repeated after this book. [00:54:51] Speaker A: I'm not, I've not heard it in this, like, exact sense, but it's like, oh, all blank are good, but some blank are more equal than others. Like that's sort of. [00:55:03] Speaker B: Yeah, what I've heard. [00:55:05] Speaker A: Not this exact phrasing, but yes. And then after this, it just doesn't really seem strange that the pigs are now walking on their hind legs and holding whips and being like humans. They also get a telephone and newspaper subscriptions as well as wearing all the clothes that were in the house and buying more clothes that fit them just fine. A couple weeks later, many farmers have been invited to take a tour of their farm and they do so. And a lot of the animals don't even look up because they're just so frustrated and afraid that all of these humans are there. And then they go inside the farmhouse and start playing cards. And so the animals go and listen at the window and look at them, especially Clover and Mr. Plinkerton, before the toast. Pre toast toasts them and is like, oh my gosh, you guys are awesome. Your production is up so well and you don't even ration very much to your animals. Like, you have the highest production with the lowest amount of cost, basically because you, you, you, they're basically your slaves and that's awesome. And we're going to take a lot of what we see here and we're going to implement it in our own farms and make sure they also give us more work for less pay. And we just want to thank you for that. Okay, this is all you And Napoleon, they. They have their little brief, like, speech, and then Napoleon also has a little speech. But Napoleon has never been good at speeches. Remember, Snowball was one that was good at speeches. Napoleon is like, just gonna make it short and sweet. And he says that. That little thing that all of the animals do where they feel like they're so connected to each other and they have to call each other comrade because everybody's friends. We're gonna get rid of that. We're going to get rid of that. Just want to let you know there's not going to be any marches. We're going to take down that random skull that we have out there. Yeah, we're going to take that down. We're also going to change the flag. It's no longer going to have a hoof and a horn. It's just going to be a green flag. Like, we're, we're not doing any of that. Nothing. He's like, yeah, I loved everything that you were saying. Everything you're saying is correct. There's just one thing I want to say, and it's that this farm is actually not called Animal Farm. No, no, no. This farm is called Manor Farm. And that's actually the original and correct name. So we're gonna go back to that one. Okay. But other than that. Here, here. Cheers. Have a good time, everybody. And so then the animals leave because they hear all this stuff and they're discouraged, but then they hear fights break out in the farmhouse, so they run back. And then when they run back, they see that a fight has broken out, but they also can't tell the difference between the humans and the pigs. And that's the end of the story. [00:57:59] Speaker B: Right back to where it all started. [00:58:03] Speaker A: Yep. [00:58:03] Speaker B: With nothing changed. Except instead of humans in charge of the Manor Farm, it's now what used to be pigs, but are now basically. [00:58:14] Speaker A: Humans, because you should not adopt the vices of those who've come before you. [00:58:24] Speaker B: So what did you think after reading all of that? [00:58:28] Speaker A: I mean, to not get too political is a little hard. Is just an overview, but it just, the amount that still resonates 79 years later is mind boggling. And I sort of had the same realization when I read 1984 the first time, where I'm like, do people never change? Do people not understand how to break cycles? That's. Yeah, but I, I enjoyed this. And like we kind of said in the beginning, because he is a journalist, because he has those rules of if you can say something in a shorter way, make it shorter. I think this is the perfect example of that. It's just under 100 pages. It's like, 95 pages. It's short and sweet. I get every single thing. It's an entertaining read, and there's nothing extra. It. It makes its point. You're like, this is exactly what it needs to be. There's no excess anything. [00:59:31] Speaker B: It's 141 pages. [00:59:33] Speaker A: So, you know, mine is 95. [00:59:36] Speaker B: Mine is 141. [00:59:38] Speaker A: Give me one second, I'll find it. [00:59:41] Speaker B: But mine is also, like, a small copy, so it's like, half the size of a normal book. Did you have the before word and afterward? [00:59:50] Speaker A: I didn't have an afterword, but I had a note on the text. I didn't have a forward. [00:59:54] Speaker B: Oh, I have an introduction, and I have an afterword. [00:59:59] Speaker A: Oh, well, the actual. Like, it starts at one on the actual chapter one, and then it doesn't have. It literally is 95 pages. [01:00:09] Speaker B: Well, hold on. Yeah, mine starts on page three, but, like, there's, like, a lot more pages before that for the before word, and it goes to 141. Weird. I guess it just depends on what cup you get. So you didn't have an afterword, which is interesting. I read all of it. Most of it just floated in my head and out the other side, if I'm being honest. But he said something at the very end that I thought was very interesting. His name is Russell Baker. I. I would assume he wrote this in 2020, because this is the 2020 print of the book. And they. Because the very initial part of this said that it was all in 2020 that they wrote it. So I'm going based off that assumption. At the very end of this book. In the afterword, he said. It's his last sentence. He said, in Animal Farm, Orwell left us a lesson about the human contribution to political terror that will always be as up to date as next year's election. It's so accurate to this. Like, we're recording this, and I'm gonna date us specifically because the election is so close. We're recording this the end of October, and the election's the very beginning of November. And our candidates, like, I can relate this to who we have in office, which is crazy. And I think anyone out there, it doesn't even matter who they assign to each role in this book. I think they can understand, at least from their political view, how accurate this is. Yeah, crazy. I will say I enjoyed reading it because I could see the contrast to, like, our current election and everything happening so. And it was an easy read, so it wasn't hard for me to get through at all. I'm excited for some of the other books we're going to read, though. Well, I think we're done, so. So we will talk to you guys next week.