There is a wall in every life. There is always that break that separates hero from villain, friend from foe, and the victorious from the defeated. There is a wall in every life, as there is a life in every wall.
This theory is portrayed in the book, Animal Farm, and its connection to the construction of the Berlin Wall, 1961. The Berlin Wall’s first intent was to show that the government had power to do what they wanted (The Construction of The Berlin Wall). We are taught from the past and from Animal Farm that communist societies end up separated as two different sides: the equals and the more equals (133). In short, they simply do not work.
If I were to mention “The Berlin Wall,” to you, what would you imagine? A stone wall, rising above the mountains, reaching the sky? A brick masterpiece, enclosing around you, stretching as long as the Wall of China? Barbed wire elongated no more than five miles? Because, that is exactly how the Berlin Wall started. Just a few miles of barbed wire was how communism started in Germany (Berlin Wall Online). The barbed wire in Animal Farm is when the animals isolated themselves from the Humans. The idea of the Berlin Wall upgrading to concrete blocks and the government separating themselves from the rest of the country, only to become dictators, is seen in Animal Farm, when the pigs, little by little, end up “more equal” than the other animals. The intent though, of these two situations is entirely different from what the ending result was. The intent of the construction of the wall was communism, equality, and fairness, while it ended up in the end as dictatorship, discrimination, and unfairness.
Before this closed wall was put to place, there was a wall that divided East Germany and West Germany (The Berlin Wall Online). The only difference between the two was that you were able to pass through the first wall with permission. In Animal Farm, there had always been a separation between the Animals and the Humans; there was just a little opening that allowed the Animals to interact with the Humans. Once East Germany had a lot more economical hardships than West Germany, things went downhill. Over 2.6 million people from East Germany had escaped to West Germany because West Germany was getting economical help from the United States. This relates to Animal Farm, because Mollie had been “traveling through the wall,” as she was getting sugar and ribbons from the Humans after the Animals had rebelled. Also, since West Berlin (representing the Humans in Animal Farm,) had more money and food than East Germany (representing the Animals,) the pigs had also moved to West Germany. When the wall closed though, which side were these animals stuck on? Mollie and the pigs were some of the—figurative– 2.6 million that escaped to West Germany, and escaped the life of an Animal.
A communism society was put into place after the government and the pigs had rebelled. This means that there are rules put into place so that everyone is equal; everyone gets the same rations, everyone is given the same amount of living space, and everyone is treated the same. But, if you really think about it, are societies such as these really possible to achieve? If everyone is getting the same amount of rations, who is handing them out? Who is deciding the amount given? If everyone is given the same amount of living space, who is regulating that? If everyone is treated the same, who is monitoring the equality? Who is making sure that these rules are actually happening? The answer to all of these questions: dictators. Communist societies almost never, in the end, are true communist societies, because there is always someone or a group of people that are found to be organizing these rules. This is reflected on in Animal Farm, because once the Animals force the Humans out, the pigs, bit by bit, end up dictating Animal Farm. Rules, bit by bit, are changed to fit the personal needs of the pigs and the pigs alone. No animal shall sleep in a bed is changed to No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets. No animal shall drink is quickly corrected, by the pigs; No animal shall drink to excess (113). This is the major issue with having a communist society; rules are changed the slightest bit to fit the needs of the dictator, not the entire community.
After the government had found out that people from East Germany were escaping to West Berlin and from there traveling to West Germany, the government had enforced officers to watch the wall and make sure no one was escaping illegally (The Construction of The Berlin Wall). These men officials were trained around the age of 25, very young just to be shooting those who disobeyed the government. Over 600 people of the 2.6 million that had escaped died being shot by guards or in other ways attempting escape (The Berlin Wall Online). This relates to Animal Farm, as the dogs born early on were taken by Napoleon, the pig, in order to train them to follow Napoleon’s commands (68). Also, lots of animals died literally or died figuratively because of Napoleon’s dictatorship, similar to the deaths of the Berlin Wall. One example is Mollie; once she had made her decision to live with humans, the pigs had just used her as an excuse as to why they weren’t as far in work. Snowball was chased off of Animal Farm, only giving the pigs someone to blame for their doings. This was the end for all people and animals aside from the dictators; the government and the pigs.
With some people on the West, some people on the East, some Animals on the West, and others on the East, it is difficult to tell who is who anymore. Many escape from one side of their wall and crawl to the other, though many are left in the hands of dictators. As quoted on page 139 of Animal Farm, “The faces outside looked from pig to man and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”
So, which side of the wall are you on; West or East? Or, more for the matter; are you a Human or an Animal?
Are you victorious, or left defeated?
Bibliography
Berlin Wall Online. 19 March 2012 <http://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/history/index.htm>.
Orwell, George. Animal Farm. n.d.
The Construction of The Berlin Wall. 19 March 2012 <http://www.berlin.de/mauer/geschichte/index.en.html>.
That was great; Your idea development was superb.
ReplyDeleteThis was an amazing piece :) I thought it was interesting you found "a non-book" thing to Animal Farm to. And you're right it wasn't boring. I also like the conclusion(s), asking the reader who they are in terms of victorious and defeated. Nice job!
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