Animal Farm Padlet by Hudson Morrison

Companion Text

hm1202379 — 2025-10-16 14:21:18 UTC

Summary- Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel in a society where books aren't allowed, and people instead engage in watching shallow entertainment. This novel follows the journey of Guy Montag, who burns books for a living. However, his beliefs against books are questioned when meeting a girl named Clarisse, who engages in deep conversations about ideas. Montag begins to read books after questioning societal conformity, but is opposed by his coworkers. So, Montag kills his boss. After this event, Montag is chased by a robot sent by the government to kill him. However, Montag manages to escape and meets a group of people who read books and are against society. Montag believes in working with this group, but before they can do anything, the place that Montag used to live gets nuked. Fahrenheit 451 ends abruptly without a resolution. Animal Farm also lacks a resolution. However, while both books are similar and have an experimental society as their setting, they both have different messages. Animal Farm shows that a society cannot be perfect, due to corruption. On the other hand, Fahrenheit 451 portrays the similarities between the society today and a controlled society, where everyone is the same, so they don't think for themselves and lack independence. At one point in the book, Captain Beatty, Guy Montag's boss, says, "free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal. Each man the image of every other; then all are happy..." (Bradbury, 58). This quote shows how similarity in the minds of people is equality in the eyes of a government. This shows that an idea of a perfect society perceived by many can be flawed. The society we create will never be perfect, which is also conveyed in Animal Farm, but for a different reason. The pigs in Animal Farm show how greed can corrupt a society, keeping it from perfection. However, a flawed vision of equality is what keeps a society from perfection in Fahrenheit 451.

Thematic Topic and Analysis

hm1202379 — 2025-10-16 14:21:43 UTC

A major theme of Animal Farm is societal corruption. The animals in Animal Farm overthrow Mr. Jones in order to get rid of tyranny for a better society. At this point, the animals believed that corruption is removed from society; However, the pigs slightly begin to take total control of society, like a totalitarian government. The pigs use their intelligence and fear tactics to subdue the other animals, making the pigs in a higher standing than the other animals. There will always be corruption in a position of power that greedily divides itself from the rest of society, placing itself in a higher standing than other people in society. The greed of the pigs keeps society from perfection, as all governments have. The flame of greed is never extinguished, allowing corruption to pollute society. This novella is a direct reflection of the Russian Revolution, which is a real life example of how corruption keeps society from perfection.

Focal Text

hm1202379 — 2025-10-16 14:21:48 UTC

Summary-Animal Farm is an allegorical novella about a group of animals on a farm that dislike their tyrannical owner, Mr. Jones. The animals are compelled to rebel against Mr. Jones after a speech made by Old Major, a well-respected pig, tells them that he has a dream for a new society, in which man is not in charge of animals and the animals have nothing to do with man. The animals succeed in overthrowing Mr. Jones and establish a new society in which the farm is led by two pigs named Snowball and Napoleon, who know how to read and write. The animals have a smooth-running farm until Napoleon uses the dogs that he kidnapped to chase Snowball out of the farm. Napoleon becomes an authoritarian dictator who exercises heavy dominion over the other animals by using the dogs to intimidate them. A pig named Squealer convinces all of the other animals that Napoleon is a good leader and that they are prospering. However, the animals are starving and have little say in their society, except for the pigs. Napoleon consistently uses Snowball as a scapegoat for all bad things that happen on the farm. As the book progresses, the pigs become more and more like humans (through speech, alcohol consumption, reading, writing, etc.) and interact with them more to the point where pigs become so much like people that the other animals on the farm can't tell the difference between the pigs and humans. In this story, the pigs state a commandment near the end of the story that all animals must live by: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others" (Orwell, 134). I believe that this quote portrays that the greed of man stands in the way of a perfectly equal society. I believe that this belief is true and interesting. I had thought about societal conformity before, which is why Fahrenheit 451 did not interest me very much. However, the investigation of what keeps a society from perfection, like greed, is something I don't think about much, which is why Animal Farm interests me.

Song: Runaway by Linkin Park

hm1202379 — 2025-10-16 14:22:05 UTC

Some lyrics of the song are:

"A constant wave of tension

On top of broken trust

The lessons that you taught me

I learned were never true".

I imagine that this could portray how the animals feel about Snowball in Animal Farm after being convinced by Napoleon that Snowball was bad. They could be feeling a great feeling of resent, like shown in these lyrics and in the emotion of the song.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig-fyQqf510

Video Clips-Animal 2025: Napoleon talking to Lucky

hm1202379 — 2025-10-16 14:22:19 UTC

In this scene, Napoleon is talking to a pig named Lucky about being his mentor or a father figure for him by helping him decide what is right and wrong, and by telling him that all animals are equal, but should stick with other animals of their kind. This scene is not in the book, but shows how Napoleon helps control the opinion of the other animals, like in the book, and like how he is talking to Lucky.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyfj97mSRX0

Extra Media-Be Angry at the Sun by Robinson Jeffers

hm1202379 — 2025-10-16 14:43:39 UTC

"That public men publish falsehoods
Is nothing new. That America must accept
Like the historical republics corruption and empire
Has been known for years.

Be angry at the sun for setting
If these things anger you. Watch the wheel slope and turn,
They are all bound on the wheel, these people, those warriors.
This republic, Europe, Asia" (Robinson, 1-9).

This poem shows how we can have a brand new society of our own, but we cannot do that, because all societies are caught on a wheel of corruption, no matter which way we turn. This is exactly what happens in Animal Farm. The author intended to use this poem to call out America for its unnoticed corruption. In a way, the societies in Animal Farm and America are the same, having some level of corruption. This shows that Americans should pay attention to society to make sure it does not turn out like Animal Farm, because no society is perfect.

Connection Analysis

hm1202379 — 2025-10-16 15:01:10 UTC

While both Fahrenheit 451 and Animal Farm contain theoretical societies, they both have different messages about society. Fahrenheit 451 shows the lack of independence in a controlled society and compares it to today. On the other hand, Animal Farm shows that corruption is what keeps a society from perfection. These both show the impossibility of a perfect society made by man. "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6). This verse in the Bible shows us that our understanding is wrong. We may have all these ideas of how to form a perfect society, but we will fail to have the correct one, because we are human. Only God can form a perfect society.

Movie-1999 Animal Farm

hm1202379 — 2025-10-16 15:16:21 UTC

In this film, the events are similar to those of the book. The movie heavily portrays the blind conformity of the animals and their thoughtless agreement. The movie shows the animals constantly agreeing with the speaker in the movie in the argument between Snowball and Napoleon, which shows the lack of independence of the animals and how they are heavily influenced in their opinions by those in authority. This idea is somewhat portrayed in the book, but is firmly built upon in the movie.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iowWKU9YFo