MODULE III

Language+Culture+Imagination+History

“Someone looked for his son, another for his mother; someone for his wife,
another for his daughter.”

“She is fair and very beautiful; she is taken after her mother, not me. She is
about 17. Large eyes, black hair, there is a big beauty spot on her right cheek.”

“Young Volunteers”, “eight young volunteers”

“Mole on the pale face”

“Sakina’s corpse moved…”, “She is alive, my daughter is alive!”

“not merely the Santhals but all tribes appear the
same…”

“neither uniform nor Scriptures could relieve that

depression”

“Dopdi and Dulna belong to the category of such

fighters”

“..the falls and springs are the only source of

drinking water”

“..the search for Dopdi continues…”

“It is she who is saving the fugitives now”

“If mind and body give way under torture Dopdi would
bite off her tongue”

“The untouchables don’t get water”

LET US CREATE AN
ADAPTATION
“An exceedingly lean little peasant…”

“We people…”

“That’s what you are educated people for, to

understand, you kind gentlemen”, “a peasant
like us, with no understanding at all”

“You know best, we are ignorant people, what

do we understand?”

“You ought to judge sensible, not random”

“The man bends down to look through the gate”

“I am Powerful”

“Law should be accessible to anyone at anytime”

“…as great men do”

“ …into a single question he has never asked the doorkeeper”

“the doorkeeper has to bend down to him for the difference in size…”
A FEW POINTS TO DISCUSS
Discuss the way ‘insecurity’ has been painted before us in the story.

Ponder upon the ‘fears’ we face in our day-to-day life.

What role does the ‘law’ play in providing ‘security’ and ‘safety’ to human
beings?

Do we live in a ‘medically benefitted’ society?

“Unemployed…drank liquor and fouled the street with discarded bottles…some

begged…”

“…reports of intrusion: in broad day-light…”

https://allpoetry.com/a-world-of-dew

https://poets.org/poem/ongoing

https://allpoetry.com/poem/8516459-Prisoner-by-
Rabindranath-Tagore

https://www.firstpost.com/long-reads/a-dalit-woman-in-the-
land-of-goddesses-3919861.html

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46446/still-i-rise
 ANIMAL FARM
Mr and Mrs Jones (Manor Farm)

Old Major (white boar)

Snowball, Napoleon, Squealer (pigs)
Bluebell, Jessie, and Pincher (dogs)
Boxer, Clover, Mollie (cart-horses)
Muriel (white goat)
Benjamin (donkey) oldest animal on the farm
Moses- raven
Cat, pigeons, ducklings, sheep, cows, hens, rats
 CHAPTER 1: BEASTS OF ENGLAND
“Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove Man from the
scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished
for ever. Man is the only creature that consumes without
producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is
too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to
catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals. He sets them to
work, he gives back to them the bare minimum that will
prevent them from starving, and the rest he keeps for himself.
Our labour tills the soil, our dung fertilises it, and yet there is
not one of us that owns more than his bare skin”

SOURCE: George Orwell. Animal Farm and 1984 (p. 8).

Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd.. Kindle Edition.
 IN CONTINUATION…
“remember always your duty of enmity towards Man and
all his ways. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
And remember also that in fighting against Man, we must
not come to resemble him. Even when you have conquered
him, do not adopt his vices. No animal must ever live in a
house, or sleep in a bed, or wear clothes, or drink alcohol,
or smoke tobacco, or touch money, or engage in trade. All
the habits of Man are evil. And, above all, no animal must
ever tyrannise over his own kind. Weak or strong, clever or
simple, we are all brothers. No animal must ever kill any
other animal. All animals are equal.”

George Orwell. Animal Farm and 1984 (p. 10). Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd..
Kindle Edition.
CHAPTER 2 THE REBILLION
“The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white”

“those ribbons that you are so devoted to are the badge of slavery. Can you not
understand that liberty is worth more than ribbons?”

“He claimed to know of the existence of a mysterious country called Sugarcandy

Mountain, to which all animals went when they died. It was situated somewhere
up in the sky, a little distance beyond the clouds, Moses said. In Sugarcandy
Mountain it was Sunday seven days a week, clover was in season all the year
round, and lump sugar and linseed cake grew on the hedges. The animals hated
Moses because he told tales and did no work, but some of them believed in
Sugarcandy Mountain”

“Mrs Jones looked out of the bedroom window, saw what was happening,
hurriedly flung a few possessions into a carpet bag, and slipped out of the farm
by another way.”

- Where did the milk go?

 CHAPTER-3 TOWARDS “CIVILIZATION”
“The pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others. With their superior knowledge it
was natural that they should assume the leadership”

“Every mouthful of food was an acute positive pleasure, now that it was truly their own food, produced by
themselves and for themselves, not doled out to them by a grudging master. With the worthless parasitical
human beings gone, there was more for everyone to eat”

“First came the hoisting of the flag. Snowball had found in the harness-room an old green tablecloth of Mrs
Jones’s and had painted on it a hoof and a horn”

“Snowball and Napoleon were by far the most active in the debates. But it was noticed that these two
were never in agreement: whatever suggestion either of them made, the other could be counted on to
oppose it”

“The pigs had set aside the harness-room as a headquarters for themselves” WHY?

“The attempt to tame the wild creatures, for instance, broke down almost immediately. They continued to
behave very much as before, and when treated with generosity, simply took advantage of it”
 IN CONTINUATION…
“Snowball declared that the Seven Commandments could in effect be reduced to a single maxim, namely: ‘Four
legs good, two legs bad’. This, he said, contained the essential principle of Animalism”
WHY?

“The birds did not understand Snowball’s long words, but they accepted his explanation, and all the humbler
animals set to work to learn the new maxim by heart. FOUR LEGS GOOD, TWO LEGS BAD, was inscribed on the end
wall of the barn, above the Seven Commandments and in bigger letters. When they had got it by heart, the sheep
developed a great liking for this maxim, and often, as they lay in the field, they would all start bleating Four legs
good, two legs bad! Four legs good, two legs bad!’ and keep it up for hours on end, never growing tired of it”

“Napoleon took them away from their mothers, saying that he would make himself responsible for their education.
He took them up into a loft which could only be reached by a ladder from the harness-room, and there kept them
in such seclusion that the rest of the farm soon forgot their existence”

“At this some of the other animals murmured, but it was no use. All the pigs were in full agreement on this point,
even Snowball and Napoleon”
 CHAPTER-4 BATTLE OF THE COWSHED
“At heart, each of them was secretly wondering whether he could not somehow turn Jones’s misfortune to his
own advantage. It was lucky that the owners of the two farms which adjoined Animal Farm were on
permanently bad terms”
“Snowball, who had studied an old book of Julius Caesar’s campaigns, which he had found in the farmhouse,
was in charge of the defensive operations. He gave his orders quickly, and in a couple of minutes every animal
was at his post”
Discuss these symbols:

“No sentimentality, comrade!” cried Snowball from whose wounds the blood was still dripping. “War is war.
The only good human being is a dead one.”
“I have no wish to take life, not even human life,” repeated Boxer, and his eyes were full of tears”

“At the graveside Snowball made a little speech, emphasizing the need for all animals to be ready to die for
Animal Farm if need be”
- Which COMMANDMENT is MANIPULATED here and why?
 CHAPTER-5 EMPIRE OF FEAR
“Many meetings were held in the big barn, and the pigs occupied themselves with planning out the work of the
coming season. It had come to be accepted that the pigs, who were manifestly cleverer than the other animals,
should decide all questions of farm policy, though their decisions had to be ratified by a majority vote” WHO IS
DECIDING FOR WHOM and WHY?
“Snowball often won over the majority by his brilliant speeches, but Napoleon was better at canvassing support for
himself in between times”
‘Vote for Snowball
‘Vote for and the three-day life would go on as it
Napoleon and the week’ had always gone on—
full manger’
that is, badly.
 IN CONTINUATION…
“According to Napoleon, what the animals must do was to procure firearms and
train themselves in the use of them”

“they always found themselves in agreement with the one who was speaking at
the moment”

“Too amazed and frightened to speak, all the animals crowded through the
door to watch the chase” “Silent and terrified, the animals crept back into the
barn”
“It was noticed that they wagged their tails to him in the same way as the
other dogs had been used to do to Mr Jones”

“In future all questions relating to the working of the farm would be settled by
a special committee of pigs, presided over by himself. These would meet in
private and afterwards communicate their decisions to the others. The
animals would still assemble on Sunday mornings to salute the flag, sing Beasts
of England, and receive their orders for the week; but there would be no more
debates”
 CHAPTER-6 TRAITORS
“This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would
have his rations reduced by half”
“under the superintendence of the pigs”
Discuss the key COMPONENTS that helped the pigs to gain the POSITION of
AUTHORITY; also, to MAINTAIN that position.
Can you think of a similar example (a social one).
“The four young pigs who had protested when Napoleon abolished the Meetings raised
their voices timidly, but they were promptly silenced by a tremendous growling from
the dogs”
“Are you certain that this is not something that you have dreamed, comrades? Have
you any record of such a resolution? Is it written down anywhere?” And since it was
certainly true that nothing of the kind existed in writing, the animals were satisfied
that they had been mistaken.
Discuss the manipulation of Commandment no. 4

Activity: Create a Hypothetical Situation: You are Snowballs’ lawyer and giving
arguments in support of proving him INNOCENT
 CHAPTER-7 THE CONFESSION
- What is your interpretation of the building of the Windmill ?
- Replace the “sheep” with ………….
- “It was vitally necessary to conceal this fact from the outside world”; “to report
to the outside world that there was no food shortage on Animal Farm”
Can you think of similar situations/events/anecdotes

“If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right”

“They were the same four pigs as had protested when Napoleon abolished the Sunday
Meetings”; “The three hens who had been the ringleaders in the attempted rebellion
over the eggs now came forward and stated that Snowball had appeared to them in a
dream and incited them to disobey Napoleon’s orders”
“In Beasts of England we expressed our longing for a better society in days to come.
But that society has now been established”
 CHAPTER-8 BATTLE OF THE WINDMILL
“three hens had come forward and confessed that, inspired by Snowball, they had
entered into a plot to murder Napoleon. They were executed immediately, and fresh
precautions for Napoleon’s safety were taken”; “A gander who had been privy to the
plot had confessed his guilt to Squealer and immediately committed suicide by
swallowing deadly nightshade berries”
“Snowball had never—as many of them had believed hitherto—received the order of
‘Animal Hero, First Class’. This was merely a legend which had been spread some
time after the Battle of the Cowshed by Snowball himself”
“Friend of fatherless!”... “Comrade Napoleon!”
“Napoleon himself, attended by his dogs and his cockerel, came down to inspect the
completed work; he personally congratulated the animals on their achievement, and
announced that the mill would be named Napoleon Mill”
“thanks to the leadership of Comrade Napoleon”

“No animal shall drink alcohol to excess”

CHAPTER-9 BOXER’S “RETIREMENT”
“Boxer refused to take even a day off work, and made it a point of honour not to let
it be seen that he was in pain” WHY?

“A too rigid equality in rations, Squealer explained, would have been contrary to the
principles of Animalism”
“Reading out the figures in a shrill, rapid voice, he proved to them in detail that they
had more oats, more hay, more turnips than they had had in Jones’s day”
“when a pig and any other animal met on the path, the other animal must stand
aside: and also that all pigs, of whatever degree, were to have the privilege of
wearing green ribbons on their tails on Sundays”

“Here Squealer’s demeanour suddenly changed. He fell silent for a moment, and his
little eyes darted suspicious glances from side to side before he proceeded” WHY?
 CHAPTER-10 AND THE TALE CONTINUES…
What is your understanding about the ‘characters’ after reading their description in this
chapter?
“The farm possessed three horses now besides Clover. They were fine upstanding
beasts, willing workers and good comrades, but very stupid. None of them proved able
to learn the alphabet beyond the letter B. They accepted everything that they were
told about the Rebellion and the principles of Animalism, especially from Clover, for
whom they had an almost filial respect; but it was doubtful whether they understood
very much of it”- What does these lines communicate to you?

COMPARE THESE TWO SITUATIONS AND DISCUSS:

“There were many more creatures on the farm now, though the increase was not so
great as had been expected in earlier years” & “The farm was more prosperous now,
and better organized”
“The windmill, however, had not after all been used for generating electrical power. It
was used for milling corn” & “The truest happiness, he said, lay in working hard and
living frugally”
 IN CONTINUATION…
There was, as Squealer was never tired of They were generally hungry, they slept on
explaining, endless work in the supervision straw, they drank from the pool, they
and organisation of the farm. Much of this laboured in the fields; in winter they were
work was of a kind that the other animals troubled by the cold, and in summer by the
were too ignorant to understand. For flies. Sometimes the older ones among them
example, Squealer told them that the pigs racked their dim memories and tried to
had to expend enormous labours every day determine whether in the early days of the
upon mysterious things called ‘files’, Rebellion, when Jones’s expulsion was still
‘reports’, ‘minutes’, and ‘memoranda’. recent, things had been better or worse than
These were large sheets of paper which had now. They could not remember. There was
to be closely covered with writing, and as nothing with which they could compare their
soon as they were so covered, they were present lives: they had nothing to go upon
burnt in the furnace. This was of the highest except Squealer’s lists of figures, which
importance for the welfare of the farm, invariably demonstrated that everything was
Squealer said getting better and better. The animals found
the problem insoluble; in any case, they had
little time for speculating on such things now.
 IN CONTINUATION… Things never had been,
nor ever could be much
“
Every animal on the farm knew it, though no one would have dared to sing it better or much worse—
aloud. WHY? hunger, hardship, and
disappointment being,
“warm weather, told the sheep to stay where they were” & “returned, on a so he said, the
pleasant evening” unalterable law of life.

in spite of everything-in spite of their terror of the dogs, and of the habit,
developed through long years, of never complaining, never criticising, no
matter what happened—they might have uttered some word of protest. But
just at that moment, as though at a signal, all the sheep burst out into a
tremendous bleating of— “Four legs good, two legs better! Four legs good,
two legs better! Four legs good, two legs better!” It went on for five
minutes without stopping. And by the time the sheep had quieted down, the
chance to utter any protest had passed, for the pigs had marched back into
the farmhouse.

DISCUSS THE ‘BOILING FROG SYNDROME’

What is the author’s argument in “they might have uttered some word of
protest…”, do you agree with the author?
IN CONTINUATION…
“At the gate they paused, half frightened to go on but Clover led the way in”- discuss the
transformation of the character of Clover from ‘self-doubting’ character to a ‘leading’
character.

Discuss and make associations:

“meeting on terms of EQUALITY”, “the low rations, the long working hours, and the general
absence of pampering … on Animal Farm”, “lower animals on Animal Farm did more work
and received less food than any animals in the county”, “If you have your lower animals to
contend with,” he said, “we have our lower classes!”
Discuss the key-highlights from Napolean’s speech.
Discuss the metaphor/symbolism of the line “continued the game that had been
interrupted”.

Discuss the lessons learnt from ‘Animal Farm’.

REFERENCES

George Orwell. Animal Farm and 1984. Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd. Kindle
Edition.

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