So Many Human Weaknesses.

Isn't this such a neat picture? Haha. I have a very different cover, but I think this one accurately portrays the novel. Well, sorry I haven't posted anything in a while. All of my teachers decided to give a ton of homework a week before AP tests. So, I had to delay my AP studying just to get normal schoolwork completed. Well, at least in about 10 days my 3 AP tests will be finished and maybe then I can concentrate on school. Or actually SATs. Always too much to do.
ANYWAY, back to Animal Farm. At first, I read the novel because my dad really enjoys it (my 8th grade brother hates it) , and I figure it's just a good book to know. Plus, it's on the 1001 books to read before you die list, and i still have about 968 to go. Well, I loved the beginning of the novel. Animals unite, rebel against evil dictator humans and start their own government. And I thought things were going pretty well in their lives and such (all working together, sharing ideas, very democracy like) until Napoleon kicked Snowball out! I assumed the animals would be a little more intelligent than that and protest, but they just go along with Napoleon and call Snowball a "traitor." It appears all these animals have short-term memory loss, or maybe they just can't think for themselves. Probably the latter. Plus, it was very undemocratic to label pigs as the only intelligent creatures. If only the other animals learned to read and write as well, then things would have been different. Of course, this novel to packed full of allusions to actual society and there's a lot of Stalin-Hitler comparisons. The last line of the novel was really cool for me. I always like the last line of books though. I won't give it away because I really enjoyed the book and don't want to ruin it for others etc.
Animal Farm really implies a lot of things about human beings in general. Firstly, there is this element of greed that is rooted deep in human nature. In AP US History last year, we learned that's why Communism doesn't really work out; Someone will always want to be ruler and well, be greedy. Another point Animal Farm makes is that knowledge is power. Basically, the pigs became the predominant species in society because they learned to read and write English, and eventually communicate with humans. It would unbelievably frustrate me when the animals would just go along with whatever the pigs said and practically worship Napoleon. It was a great novel, just a little annoying i guess to see all of the human frailties and weaknesses put out there. Overall, great book. 2 thumbs up. Oh and it's pretty short, so read it!