Four Legs Good, Two Legs [Insert Here]!

I'm sure everyone knows the outcome of the election. I have been lucky enough to be able to post my blog right after, and in this I will try yo relate literature to what we currently see in our government. Literature is political, and that much is made clear with how often books ae banned. The best books are books that criticize even the best governments, and there is no perfect solution. I did what I hope was the best option after I saw the results: I read Animal Farm by George Orwell in three days.

 Animal farm is a story most well known for its criticism of communism, which none can deny has a strong effect. What I see it criticizing more, however, is the consequences a lack of education can create in a dictatorship. It is so important to understand any societal structure can fall to dictatorship. Nazi Germany, one of the most famous dictatorships, was itself an authoritarian capitalist state. We are not immune to dictatorship. It is quite important that a country is criticized and changed frequently, as if there is no proper criticism, the nation cannot grow. Change is inevitable and important, and without it a country can collapse.

Spoilers for Animal Farm

 Snowball, one of the pigs who aided the rebellion against Mr. Jones and fought bravely in the Battle of the Cowshed before being outcasted, tried to aid the animals in getting a proper education. Though most of the barn animals never got past A, B, C, or D. There is a specific line near the end of the book in chapter ten which I find quite interesting, saying many of the newer horses cannot move past A or B in the alphabet. I believe this specifically dwindled from the four letters average from before, and stopped before C for a reason. The letter C is often joked to be the extra letter, given it can make a ‘K’ sound, ‘S’ sound, and a ‘SH’ sound in words such as chivalry. When you can understand that, you can start to sound out words better and memorize them. 

Education and literacy is incredibly important in a large country, as if we wish for people to have free speech it is vital they can comprehend others speech, and interpret them to their own worldview. If the new leadership in this country dismantles the Department of Education, Title I funding, Parents Bill of Rights, and many others, it is directly and negatively affecting lower class education in this country. They are fully aware of this, and are happy to use it to their own gain.

Dictatorship is famously found in communism, but that is not the only societal structure dictatorship can be found in. Dictatorship can be defined as such, “A government or a social situation where one person makes all the rules and decisions without input from anyone else.” This does not have to apply solely to communism. If a lack of education in this society combines with a lack of repercussions finds the Trump administration, there will not be any stops to such a dictatorship. In fact, this can be seen by both the movie versions. We see often on the internet that movies are just as information dense as books. Though, in both versions of the movie, the ending is made to be happy, with either an overthrowing or an escape. The condemning point of the book was that they didn't find escape. That there wasn't a happy ending. By erasing that, it does not give proper insight to how dangerous these can be. Without literature, we could not see that in context.

Boxer can be said to be the most tragic as well as the most complicit character. He takes blame for the
Benjamin the Donkey is such a vital character in Animal Farm, and not simply because he is the ‘odd one out’. He is an animal who knows full well the dictatorship that will arise,  but knows full better that speaking out will only serve to get him killed, such as the animals claiming to be in cahoots with Snowball after the windmill topples for the first time.
Without cause.
He, as I see it, is the stand in for people who do not wish for repercussions to affect them solely and directly. He is not a bad donkey for simply standing by when he knows better, but he is no better than the sheep bleating for Napoleon's greatness.

The sheep also play a significant role in showing how propaganda affects the masses. The sheep do not think before screaming 'Four legs good, two legs bad' at the beginning. It is implied they are taught this by Napoleon, as later in the story the sheep are taken into a separate area for a week, and come out bleating 'Four legs good, two legs better'. Any time the sheep bleat out this response, it is done for an extended period of time after one of Napoleons more controversial speeches. This undying devotion silences any protest from animals who start to question his leadership.
More equal than others.
This can be equated to anyone who finds undying devotion in right wing extremes, and the screeching of diversity being bad when points are made against such ideals.

Dictatorship is rightfully a terrifying thought. What we thought we were nearly immune to, we find ourselves falling to. Nationalism is a dangerous thought, when you cannot criticize nation on the basis of having it better than before, the nation can quickly fall with nothing proper to be done about it.

In the end, the animals don't escape, and it ends on the chilling card game, drinking beer with the humans.
In excess.
When the animals look back at Napoleon, Squealer, and the rest of the pigs speaking with the men, they can no longer differentiate who their oppressors are. There isn't a freedom for animals, and Mr. Picklington even congratulates the pigs on how little they give the animals, for the amount of work the unequal animals do. A minimum wage for an extremely laborious job. Who knows which was which.

misgivings of Napoleons dictatorship, and any time something goes wrong, he knows "I will work harder', and understands especially that 'Napoleon is always right'. he works himself without proper food or rest,

Without sheets.

and is literally lead to his death by Squealer and Napoleon.