RagnaToad
Shake it like a polaroid picture

Just focusing on the pigs, then it is a clear parody of the Soviet regime. Napoleon is clearly Stalin; when animals begin confessing to ludicrous crimes against his rule, they are killed by the dogs. This cannot be anything but the Stalinist purges. Squealer, the pig who can "turn black into white" is a metaphor for Pravda and Soviet propaganda in general.

But yeah, I never really thought about it too much, but the two neighbouring farmers, Mr. Pilkington (America/Britain) and Mr. Frederick (Hitler), are quite clear. Mr. Jones is clearly a symbol of capitalism and Tsar Nicholas. The agreement Mr. Frederick makes to buy the windmill, only to pay for it with fake money, is akin to the Nazi-Soviet Pact (1939), which Hitler promptly broke during the war.

Orwell's socialism doesn't seem to correlate to what appears to be "blind criticism" of the Soviet Union; I would've thought he would've made it clearer that he supports revolution. Well, that's how I see it anyway.

Maybe we should just start a thread about this.

Let me know when you're done with 1984, that is one great book.

Sorry about the long message haha.

Marx has heaps to do with it! Old Major sat the animals down in the barnyard and said he had a dream that the animals would overturn the leadership of Mr Jones. Isn't this the same as Marx's writings on the inevitable uprising of the proletariat?

Orwell's ideology is important in reading Animal Farm. I see it as maintaining a positive attitude toward the revolution, but critiscising the Stalinist (Napoleon) Era. Orwell is said to have come up wih the idea for Animal Farm when he saw two large horses pulling a small boy along a road. He thought; 'If only those horses knew the power they had.'

Yes, I see how it can be read as critical to all political leaders, but even this is a purely socialist ideal. If the pigs had remained 'animals' (instead of learning to walk upright, sleeping in beds, and producing alcohol), then there would have been leadership purely BY and FOR the proletariat.

No further comment on 1984 then haha sorry!

Well if he's a socialist of his generation, then he would have expected further uprisings of the proletariat, so thus he would've applauded the original Revolution. But if Animal Farm is a 100% critiscism of the USSR, then he would be critiscising the Revoultion. That's what my brother says. But I think he's not trying to critiscise the original uprising, only the Stalinist era.

Oh, and is 'Old Major' Marx or Lenin? If it's Marx (as one would expect), then where the Hell is Lenin?

Ahh awesome! I've read that... hmm 10 times? I love it! It's got a shocking ending, but it was always gonna be that way. You'll see what I mean when you get there.

Have you read Animal Farm? My bother claims it's Orwell criticising the USSR of his time, as well as the Russian Revolution, but Orwell is clearly a Socialist, so it can only be a criticsim of what happened after, right?

No it happened recently.

I watched A Clockwork Orange today; made me think of your avatar for obvious reasons...

Rags, how on Earth do oyu play that goldminer arcade game? The car won't move.

Well you should.

I'll ask the questions around here.

I don't like you

I like a lot of stuff. I'm not really sure how to narrow it down too much. Obviously I love the ska (as evidenced by my signature) and I like punk, electronica, industrial, alternative in general, psychadellic, New Wave, indie, emo, some rap, some metal, classical/movie soundtracks, etc... My favorite bands are They Might Be Giants, Brave Saint Saturn, Less Than Jake, The Beatles, Smashing Pumpkins, The Descendents/All, Reggie and the Full Effect... essentially, I like fast, energetic music. Although it doesn't have to be fast always; it can also be slow melodic. I like strange stuff, and I like catchy stuff. Just not something that's overly bland or overly arrogant.

What do you like? Anything specific you'd wanna talk about? Anyhoo...

Great. Heh.

I think you're lying. I think that you are, in fact, an "a-hole."

...just kidding.

Wuv, Yer Mom

Man I love how Plant sings "WOOoMahnn!"