Chapter 5 Discussion Qns

Remember: provide evidence from the text to justify your answers to these questions.

1. Why does Mollie leave? How has Orwell prepared us for this development? You will need to remind yourself of what she does in previous chapters.

Ans: She would rather work for humans as long as she gets her ribbons and lumps of sugar. The "little pile of lump sugar and several bunches of ribbons of different colours" (pg 49) which Clover finds in her stall are presumaby given to Mollie by one of Pilkington's men, who Clover saw talking to Mollie. Mollie cannot adapt to live in Animal Farm which involves hard work, because she is not used to work. Orwell prepares us for this by highlighting Mollie's behaviour and attitude to us, especially after the 1st rebellion of the animals. Mollie is always late for work and exuses herself by complaining of "mysterious pains". She is very lazy and is only interested in admiring herself. She only appears at mealtimes. Durign the Battle of the Cowshed, she is unable to fight alongside the other animals and runs to hide in a cowardly fashion. This shows that she is not committed to the rebellion, unlike the other animals.

2. Orwell says "It had come to be accepted that the pigs...should decide all questions" (pg 50). How did this happen?

Ans: It was because the pigs were accepted by all the animals as being "manifestly cleverer than the other animals". After Old Major's death, the pigs assumed the leadership position by vitue of their intelligence. However, they managed to control all the animals through their mouth piece Squealer, who would always brianwash and convince the animals of the necessity of having the pigs around, and in the leadership position - he always claims that since the pigs are "brain workers", the whole management and organisation of the farm depends on them, and if they were to fail, Jones would return. Due to this, the animals started to let the pigs always decide.

3. In what way do you think the sheep's 'Four legs good, two legs bad' slogan is important?

Ans: Orwell mentions on page 50 that "It was noticed that they were especially liable to break into 'Four legs good, two legs bad' at the crucial moments in Snowball's speeches". This implies that Napoleon probably had a hand in this, and the unintelligent sheep, without realising it, are working in favour of Napoleon. They serve to break the flow of Snowball's speeches and distract the animals from his speeches.

4. Orwell says that Squealer's argument was 'unanswerable'. Do you think it was?

Ans: No, it could be countered. Squealer says that "Loyalty and obedience are more important" than bravery" (pg 56) when one of the animals said that Snowball fought bravely in the Battle of the Cowshed. However, this is ironic because the pigs were earlier trying to convince the animals not to have loyalty and obedience to Jones, but to rebel. They are now encouraging it when it suits their purpose, because they want all the animals to be obedient to Napoleon. Therefore, their argument is not convincing and can be countered but the animals are too unintelligent ad naive to realise that. Also, he says that if the animals make one false step, Jones will return. There is no connection between the debates on Sunday mornings and Jones' return but once again, the animals fail to realise this.

CA1 format

Hi girls,

This is your exam format, as has already been mentioned in class

1 passage-based question
40 mins, 25 marks
chapters 1-3
closed book - pls do not being any material into the exam room, except writing paper

Gd luck and study hard!

Discussion Questions for Chapter 4

1. How does Orwell show us that Frederick and Pilkington are "thoroughly frightened" by the events on Animal Farm?

They were both anxious to prevent their own animals from learning too much about the Rebellion in case they would be motivated to do the same. At first the 2 farmers pretended to laugh at the idea of animals managing their own farm. They spread rumours that the animals at Animal Farm were fighting against each other and were starving to death, so that their own farm animals would not believe in rebellion. However, when time passed and they realised that the animals were coping fine, they "changed their tune" and began to talk about the wickedness on Animal Farm - e.g. that they were cannibalistic and they tortured one another. They warned that "this was what came of rebelling against the laws of nature" (meaning the laws of nature are that humans are superior to animals and should hence, rule over them). The 2 farmers did all this because they were frightened that their farm animals would rebel against them and they wanted to rpevent such a thing from happening.


2. What do you think Napoleon was doing during the Battle of the Cowshed?

Napoleon was noticeable only by his absence. There is no mention of Napoleon during this Battle and we can assume that he was hiding.


3. What do you think Orwell was satirising (making fun of) when he described how the animals celebrated their victory?

He was making fun of the way in which Russians (and also other countries) excessively glorify them and present their war heroes with medals.


4. Describe the different reactions of Boxer and Snowball to the 'death' of the stable boy. What does it tell readers about their characters?

Boxer feels very remorseful and sad because even though he is supportive about the Rebellion, he does not want to take any human life in the process. This shows that Boxer is emotional and soft-hearted and cares about other living tings. Snowball, on the other hand, tells Boxer not to be emotional - "No sentimentality, comrade!" (pg 45). This shows that Snowball is very task-oriented (meaning he is very focused on the task at hand, rather than on other issues), cold-hearted and not-sentimental. As long as his task is achieved, he does not bother about who or what has to be sacrificed.


5. Explain how Snowball's plan of campaign led to the invader's defeat. List out exactly the steps Snowball takes.

Snowball was in charge of "defensive operations". He gave orders to the various animals and they carried them out quickly because they were all prepared for the rebellion this time around.Snowball's first line of attack was the pigeons who would shit on the men, and the geese who would peck at the men's legs.His second line of attack consisted of Muriel, Benjamin, all the sheep, and himself, who would prod and butt the men from all directions.He then got the animals to retreat as a trap for the men - he wanted the men to follow the animals into the yard, which they did.His third line of attack was in the yard, in which the three horses, the three cows, and the rest of the pigs who were in ambush (hiding) all would dash towards the men and attack them.Snowball himself dashes straight for Jones and gets wounded.This defence of the animals proves too strong for the men to penetrate, so they all run away.