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*** Also, his complicity in hoarding the milk and apples is only mentioned in a single line and it's not said why he consented to it. Was he really that onboard with it, or did he have misgivings but went along with the other pigs out of pragmatism? The book notes that Squealer was sent to placate the other animals which suggests Snowball didn't want to defend it himself.

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*** Also, his complicity in hoarding the milk and apples is only mentioned in a single line and it's not said why he consented to it. Was he really that onboard with it, or did he have misgivings but went along with the other pigs out of pragmatism? The book notes that Squealer was sent to placate the other animals which suggests Snowball didn't want wasn't willing to defend it himself.
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*** Also, his complicity in hoarding the milk and apples is only mentioned in a single line and it's not said why he consented to it. Was he really that onboard with it, or did he have misgivings but went along with the other pigs out of pragmatism? The book notes that Squealer was sent to placate the other animals which suggests Snowball didn't want to defend it himself.
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* {{Narm}}: When one of Snowball's "plots" is exposed, we're told that a gander confessed his guilt to Squealer "and immediately committed suicide by swallowing deadly nightshade berries." This is said so casually that it can come off as funny, especially if you picture it in your head.
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** Never assume that your group isn't capable of doing the same as another when put under similar circumstances. Old Major's HumansAreTheRealMonsters view gets deconstructed throughout the story by showing Napoleon and his main associates - who are all the same species as Old Major - acting more and more like the tyrannical and abusive humans he encouraged the farm to rebel against and break free of, culminating in the final scene of the novel, which hammers the point in with the farm animals [[HeWhoFightsMonsters until able to tell the difference between pigs and humans.]]

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** Never assume that your group isn't capable of doing the same as another when put under similar circumstances. Old Major's HumansAreTheRealMonsters view gets deconstructed throughout the story by showing Napoleon and his main associates - who are all the same species as Old Major - acting more and more like the tyrannical and abusive humans he encouraged the farm to rebel against and break free of, culminating in the final scene of the novel, which hammers the point in with the farm animals [[HeWhoFightsMonsters until able unable to tell the difference between pigs and humans.]]
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** Never assume that your group isn't capable of doing the same as another when put under similar circumstances. Old Mayor's HumansAreTheRealMonsters view gets deconstructed throughout the story by showing Napoleon and his main associates - who are all the same species as Old Major - acting more and more like the tyrannical and abusive humans he encouraged the farm to rebel against and break free of, culminating in the final scene of the novel, which hammers the point in with the farm animals [[HeWhoFightsMonsters until able to tell the difference between pigs and humans.]]

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** Never assume that your group isn't capable of doing the same as another when put under similar circumstances. Old Mayor's Major's HumansAreTheRealMonsters view gets deconstructed throughout the story by showing Napoleon and his main associates - who are all the same species as Old Major - acting more and more like the tyrannical and abusive humans he encouraged the farm to rebel against and break free of, culminating in the final scene of the novel, which hammers the point in with the farm animals [[HeWhoFightsMonsters until able to tell the difference between pigs and humans.]]
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** Never assume that your group isn't capable of doing the same as another when put under similar circumstances. Old Mayor's HumansAreTheRealMonsters view gets deconstructed throughout the story by showing Napoleon and his main associates - who are all the same species as Old Mayor - acting more and more like the tyrannical and abusive humans he encouraged the farm to rebel against and break free of, culminating in the final scene of the novel, which hammers the point in with the farm animals [[HeWhoFightsMonsters until able to tell the difference between pigs and humans.]]

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** Never assume that your group isn't capable of doing the same as another when put under similar circumstances. Old Mayor's HumansAreTheRealMonsters view gets deconstructed throughout the story by showing Napoleon and his main associates - who are all the same species as Old Mayor Major - acting more and more like the tyrannical and abusive humans he encouraged the farm to rebel against and break free of, culminating in the final scene of the novel, which hammers the point in with the farm animals [[HeWhoFightsMonsters until able to tell the difference between pigs and humans.]]
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** Never assume that your group isn't capable of doing the same as another when put under similar circumstances. Old Mayor's HumansAreTheRealMonsters view gets deconstructed throughout the story by showing Napoleon and his main associates - who are all the same species as Old Mayor - acting more and more like the tyrannical and abusive humans he encouraged the farm to rebel against and break free of. The final scene of the novel hammers the point in with the farm animals [[HeWhoFightsMonsters until able to tell the difference between pigs and humans.]]

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** Never assume that your group isn't capable of doing the same as another when put under similar circumstances. Old Mayor's HumansAreTheRealMonsters view gets deconstructed throughout the story by showing Napoleon and his main associates - who are all the same species as Old Mayor - acting more and more like the tyrannical and abusive humans he encouraged the farm to rebel against and break free of. The of, culminating in the final scene of the novel novel, which hammers the point in with the farm animals [[HeWhoFightsMonsters until able to tell the difference between pigs and humans.]]

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* AccidentalAesop: If things get bad, being apathetic will only make things worse. Benjamin is aware of what the pigs are doing, but his cynicism about things improving is what allows things to deteriorate on the farm. [[spoiler: Had Benjamin spoken up earlier, then poor Boxer wouldn't have been sold to the knacker.]]

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* AccidentalAesop: AccidentalAesop:
**
If things get bad, being apathetic will only make things worse. Benjamin is aware of what the pigs are doing, but his cynicism about things improving is what allows things to deteriorate on the farm. [[spoiler: Had Benjamin spoken up earlier, then poor Boxer wouldn't have been sold to the knacker.]]
** Never assume that your group isn't capable of doing the same as another when put under similar circumstances. Old Mayor's HumansAreTheRealMonsters view gets deconstructed throughout the story by showing Napoleon and his main associates - who are all the same species as Old Mayor - acting more and more like the tyrannical and abusive humans he encouraged the farm to rebel against and break free of. The final scene of the novel hammers the point in with the farm animals [[HeWhoFightsMonsters until able to tell the difference between pigs and humans.
]]
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* MisaimedFandom: As with ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', the book is often cited by conservatives as purely an attack on the evils of socialism. Orwell himself was a democratic socialist whose aim was to ''rescue'' socialism from the totalitarianism of Soviet communism, and the portrayal of the human farmers makes his view of conservatism clear. The point of the ending is that capitalism and Stalinism are, in Orwell's eyes, equally evil systems that oppress the lower class for the benefit of the upper one. ("The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.") And earlier on, the happiest period on the farm is the brief span between the ousting of Jones and the pigs' takeover, which would be analogous to UsefulNotes/TheSovietTwenties. Orwell wasn't exactly subtle; there's this line from Mr. Pilkington during the meeting with the pigs at the end that sums it up nicely: "If you have your lower animals to deal with, we have our lower classes!"

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* MisaimedFandom: As with ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', the book is often cited by conservatives as purely an attack on the evils of socialism. Orwell himself was a democratic socialist whose aim was to ''rescue'' socialism from the totalitarianism of Soviet communism, and the portrayal of the human farmers makes his view of conservatism clear. The point of the ending is that capitalism and Stalinism are, in Orwell's eyes, equally evil systems that oppress the lower class for the benefit of the upper one. ("The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.") And earlier on, the happiest period on the farm is the brief span between the ousting of Jones and the pigs' takeover, which would be analogous to UsefulNotes/TheSovietTwenties.UsefulNotes/TheSoviet20s. Orwell wasn't exactly subtle; there's this line from Mr. Pilkington during the meeting with the pigs at the end that sums it up nicely: "If you have your lower animals to deal with, we have our lower classes!"
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** Did Old Major truly want to bring about a world where all animals could live in freedom and equality, or did he know full well that the animals would simply be moving from one kind of tyranny and oppression to another, yet pushed them towards it anyway because he believed that his fellow pigs would be the ones to come out on top?[[note]]Interestingly, the entire Manor Farm revolution fits rather neatly with Orwell's opinion on revolutions (and why they [[FullCircleRevolution so often end up making things worse]]) in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', with the humans as the High, the pigs as the Middle, and the rest of the animals as the Low.[[/note]]
** Was Napoleon [[EvilAllAlong always bad]], or did he start out good before becoming drunk with power? If the latter, why and at what point did he make his FaceHeelTurn?

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** Did Old Major truly want to bring about a world where all animals could live in freedom and equality, or did he know full well that the animals would simply be moving from one kind of tyranny and oppression to another, yet pushed them towards it anyway because he believed that his fellow pigs would be the ones to come out on top?[[note]]Interestingly, the entire Manor Farm revolution fits rather neatly with Orwell's opinion on revolutions (and why they [[FullCircleRevolution so often end up making things worse]]) in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', with the humans as the High, the pigs as the Middle, and the rest of the animals as the Low.[[/note]]
[[/note]] Where the reader falls here likely depends on their view of the real Karl Marx.
** Was Napoleon [[EvilAllAlong always bad]], or did he start out good before becoming drunk with power? If the latter, why and at what point did he make his FaceHeelTurn?FaceHeelTurn?[[note]]Orwell claimed that the revolution did not become corrupted until the pigs arrogated the milk and apples to themselves, implying Napoleon ''was'' good or at least well intentioned at the start, and that the hoarding is the point where he turned evil.[[/note]]
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* ValuesDissonance: [[https://redsails.org/jones-on-animal-farm/ Some critics]] have pointed out how the story places a great deal of blame on the regular animals for how the farm ends up, portraying and calling them fundamentally stupid, and not just uneducated or politically repressed, (attempts to teach them to read fail, their attempts to get into politics result in nonsense, and the pigs get away with a lot of obvious villainy and lies before Napoleon becomes truly tyrannical.) Mapping this onto the USSR, it's a rather classicist idea as to why communism failed that matches some of Orwell's other writings about the poor, despite his good intentions.
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* AnimationAgeGhetto: The animated film contains the same political allegories and violence present in the novel. It was marketed as an adult film when it was first released, but the BBFC reclassified the original rating of X (18 and over) to Universal, meaning that they considered it to be appropriate for ''children''.

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And for the 1999 film.


* EsotericHappyEnding: The live-action film, made in 1999, tried to update the ending to reflect the fall of the USSR by showing [[spoiler: a new family buying the farm and the animals vowing to do things right this time.]] Given the actual history of the post-communist Russia, especially under Putin's reign, it's hard to look at this ending as anything but out of touch. And the animals are still going to be eaten. Not to mention that Jones wasn't presented any more sympathetically than the pigs were, and the original book is a critique of capitalism just as much as it is of communism. There is also the fact that Jones is clearly an allegory for the Tsar. This further makes the ending of the live-action movie bizarre, as it gives it a strange pro-absolute monarchy bend. Of course, given the cyclical nature of tyranny at the core of the book, maybe that ''is'' the message.



* HarsherInHindsight: The 1999 movie ends on a somewhat hopeful note that something better will rise from the ashes of Animal Farm, reflecting the cautious optimism widely held about post-Soviet Russia at the time. In the same year that the movie came out, UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin became president of Russia and eventually led the country down the road to a new kind of belligerent authoritarianism.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** The ending with Napoleon proclaiming that Animal Farm is going to revert to the old name of Manor Farm, while fraternizing with the other farmers in mutual agreement, seems a little hilarious when considering [[UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia modern Russia]] reversed a lot of Soviet names to Tsarist standards as well as taking back its old tricolor flag. Also when considering this was done by members of the former communist party (Gorbachev, Yeltsin and eventually Putin).
** In the 1999 adaptation, Patrick Stewart (Napoleon) and Kelsey Grammer (Snowball) are heated, ultimately fatal rivals fighting on the same side of a war for their oppressed species' right to survive. In ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', their respective characters ('''ComicBook/ProfessorX''', '''ComicBook/{{Beast|MarvelComics}}''',) are in very similar circumstances, only in a ''far'' less acrimonious relationship.

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* HarsherInHindsight: The 1999 movie ends on a somewhat hopeful note that something better will rise from the ashes of Animal Farm, reflecting the cautious optimism widely held about post-Soviet Russia at the time. In the same year that the movie came out, UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin became president of Russia and eventually led the country down the road to a new kind of belligerent authoritarianism.
* HilariousInHindsight:
**
HilariousInHindsight: The ending with Napoleon proclaiming that Animal Farm is going to revert to the old name of Manor Farm, while fraternizing with the other farmers in mutual agreement, seems a little hilarious when considering [[UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia modern Russia]] reversed a lot of Soviet names to Tsarist standards as well as taking back its old tricolor flag. Also when considering this was done by members of the former communist party (Gorbachev, Yeltsin and eventually Putin). \n** In the 1999 adaptation, Patrick Stewart (Napoleon) and Kelsey Grammer (Snowball) are heated, ultimately fatal rivals fighting on the same side of a war for their oppressed species' right to survive. In ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', their respective characters ('''ComicBook/ProfessorX''', '''ComicBook/{{Beast|MarvelComics}}''',) are in very similar circumstances, only in a ''far'' less acrimonious relationship.



* NarmCharm: The Grateful Duck's song in the live action version is oddly silly even though it's meant to be a brainwashing device but the way the duck sings and the lyrics (helped by the music) make it a deeply chilling moment.



* SpecialEffectFailure:
** While the majority of the animal characters in the 1999 film were created through [[SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome rather impressive animatronics]], there were several, such as the rat, that were created through CGI that was incredibly poor even for the time.
** Old Major ends up looking rather stiff and robotic, especially during his death scene.



* UglyCute: Old Major in the two film adaptations.
** In the 1999 film, he is just as chubby as before, with EyesAlwaysShut, big, floppy ears that are constantly bouncing, and a little, wet snout.



* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: In the 1999 movie, the animatronics used to help portray the animals are quite impressive.

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Moving some examples to the film adaptation’s own YMMV pages.


** In the animated film, why did Mr. Jones not flee the windmill after setting the fuse? Was he too drunk to get away in time or did he want to die?



* ObviousJudas: In the 1954 animated film, the design of Napoleon makes it far too evident that he is or will become the bad guy, especially if you compare him with the other pigs. Part of it is that he's [[DarkIsEvil dark in color]], which his breed (Berkshire boar) is in real life, and he's stated to be the only one on the farm. Just in case that is too subtle, he also wears a perpetual nasty grimace. His pre-coup actions are also more overtly shady than they were ever depicted as in the book.



* UglyCute: Old Major in the two film adaptations:
** In the animated film, while he can look intimidating [[https://o.quizlet.com/SIDtrOQZGdrPuSutMyCTBg.png when he has an angry expression]], he still has a chubby physique, long jowls, and fluffy ears that make him look like [[https://assets.mycast.io/characters/old-major-a-boar-575969-normal.jpg?1587063112 a nice old hog]] when his expression is more relaxed.

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* UglyCute: Old Major in the two film adaptations:
** In the animated film, while he can look intimidating [[https://o.quizlet.com/SIDtrOQZGdrPuSutMyCTBg.png when he has an angry expression]], he still has a chubby physique, long jowls, and fluffy ears that make him look like [[https://assets.mycast.io/characters/old-major-a-boar-575969-normal.jpg?1587063112 a nice old hog]] when his expression is more relaxed.
adaptations.
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* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: It can be hard at times to actually feel sorry for the other animals as the pigs' tyranny increases, and readers can clearly understand what's happening while the characters are too stupid/ignorant to realize it themselves. Then again, this could be a case of FourthWallMyopia.

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* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: It can be hard at times to actually feel sorry for the other animals as the pigs' tyranny increases, and as readers can clearly understand what's happening while the characters are too stupid/ignorant to realize it themselves. Then again, this could be a case of FourthWallMyopia.
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* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: It can be hard at times to actually feel sorry for the other animals as the pigs' tyranny increases, and readers can clearly understand what's happening while the characters are too stupid/ignorant to realize it themselves.

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* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: It can be hard at times to actually feel sorry for the other animals as the pigs' tyranny increases, and readers can clearly understand what's happening while the characters are too stupid/ignorant to realize it themselves. Then again, this could be a case of FourthWallMyopia.

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* UnconventionalLearningExperience: Intended as one for the history of the Russian Revolution, but is now more often used to teach the concept of allegory in Language/Writing class. History teachers are less enthusiastic about using it for Orwell's intended purpose because of the work's clear biases and the removal of groups and figures they feel are important. [[note]]Combining Lenin and Marx into one character and neglecting to mention the pro-Tsarist resistance after the revolution at all.[[/note]] However it's not uncommon for English and history teachers to team up while a class is assigned this book.



* UnconventionalLearningExperience: Intended as one for the history of the Russian Revolution, but is now more often used to teach the concept of allegory in Language/Writing class. History teachers are less enthusiastic about using it for Orwell's intended purpose because of the work's clear biases and the removal of groups and figures they feel are important. [[note]]Combining Lenin and Marx into one character and neglecting to mention the pro-Tsarist resistance after the revolution at all.[[/note]] However it's not uncommon for English and history teachers to team up while a class is assigned this book.

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* UnconventionalLearningExperience: Intended as one UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: It can be hard at times to actually feel sorry for the history of other animals as the Russian Revolution, but is now more often used to teach the concept of allegory in Language/Writing class. History teachers are less enthusiastic about using it for Orwell's intended purpose because of the work's clear biases pigs' tyranny increases, and the removal of groups and figures they feel are important. [[note]]Combining Lenin and Marx into one character and neglecting to mention the pro-Tsarist resistance after the revolution at all.[[/note]] However it's not uncommon for English and history teachers to team up readers can clearly understand what's happening while a class is assigned this book. the characters are too stupid/ignorant to realize it themselves.

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** Is Mollie, the only one who doesn't submit to the new tyranny and manages to escape, really the most "foolish" animal on the farm? Is she trading the new tyranny for the old one, or, since she chose her new life and is happy in it, are her new conditions not so oppressive? Is her new job slavery like the old regime of Manor Farm, or is she free? On that subject, why exactly did the animals choose to forget her? Did they choose to forget her because she went against Animalism, because she had the cushiest job on the whole farm when Jones was in charge, because she represented their loss of choice, or because, with what happened after she left, they didn't want to acknowledge that she might have been right in leaving when and while she could?

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** Is Mollie, the only one who doesn't submit to the new tyranny and manages to escape, really the most "foolish" animal on the farm? Is she trading the new tyranny for the old one, or, since she chose her new life and is happy in it, are her new conditions not so oppressive? oppressive? For that matter, is her new owner just as bad as Mr. Jones, or is he a kinder person? Is her new job slavery like the old regime of Manor Farm, or is she free? free?
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On that subject, why exactly did the animals choose to forget her? Did they choose to forget her because she went against Animalism, because she had the cushiest job on the whole farm when Jones was in charge, because she represented their loss of choice, or because, with what happened after she left, they didn't want to acknowledge that she might have been right in leaving when and while she could?
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** Is [[BrilliantButLazy Benjamin]] simply too apathetic to warn his fellow animals about the evil and hypocrisy of the pig regime, or does he believe that the only thing he'd accomplish is being the next one to end up on Napoleon's hit list? The radio version penned by George Orwell himself hints that it may be the latter, as he at one point (shortly after the first executions ordered by Napoleon) expands on his {{Catchphrase}} by saying "Donkeys live a long time, and one reason why they live a long time is that they never talk politics." His OOCIsSeriousBusiness moment at seeing [[spoiler: Boxer]] sent off to be killed fits either interpretation; the shock of seeing his best friend set up to die could've shaken him out of his apathy, or if he was just keeping his head down to stay alive, make it so he didn't care anymore.

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** Is [[BrilliantButLazy Benjamin]] simply too apathetic to warn his fellow animals about the evil and hypocrisy of the pig regime, or does he believe that the only thing he'd accomplish is being the next one to end up on Napoleon's hit list? The radio version penned by George Orwell himself hints that it may be the latter, as he at one point (shortly after the first executions ordered by Napoleon) expands on his {{Catchphrase}} CharacterCatchphrase by saying "Donkeys live a long time, and one reason why they live a long time is that they never talk politics." His OOCIsSeriousBusiness moment at seeing [[spoiler: Boxer]] sent off to be killed fits either interpretation; the shock of seeing his best friend set up to die could've shaken him out of his apathy, or if he was just keeping his head down to stay alive, make it so he didn't care anymore.

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