Roy: Hey, do you know who is responsible for managing the farm?
Ying: Of course, it’s the farmer.
Roy: No, there is a kind of animal who can also manage the farm…
Ying: Oh really? What is it?
Roy: It’s the pig, the main character in the book, which I want to recommend to other students
Ying: Can you tell me which book that is?
Roy: Certainly, the book is Animal Farm, by George Orwell. I’ve designed some pictures for the book.
Do you know why this pig can stand with its two legs?
Ying: Oh well…. I don’t know.
Roy: Let me tell you the reason. In this book, there is a farm managed by a lazy man. One day the
animals wanted to have a revolution to force the man out of the farm because they were badly
treated by him. The leaders of the revolution were two pigs called Snowball and Napoleon. They
persuaded other animals to help them. Surprisingly, they could force the man out and manage
the farm themselves.
Ying: And then?
Roy: After that, the pigs took over the farm, and they had set seven commandments to make sure that
there is equality for all animals. All the commandments were very fair at the beginning. But after
several days, someone broke the rules.
Ying: Who?
Roy: Napoleon, the one who set them.
Ying: How unfair it is to the other animals!
Roy: He collected the milk from the cow and then had it himself. Later, the animals realized that the
milk had disappeared.
Ying: Oh I see, so that’s why the eyes of the cow are red in this picture. Is it because he is angry?
Roy: Yes, you are right
Ying: What did Napoleon do then?
Roy: He changed the rules. Before, the fourth commandment was”No animal shall sleep in a bed”.
Now, it’s “No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets”. Besides, he changed the fifth
commandment from “No animal shall drink alcohol” to “No animal shall drink alcohol in excess”.
All the changed commandments showed us that he was becoming selfish.
Ying: How come he could do that?
Roy: There is punishment in this world. At last, Napoleon and Squealer rose to power. They learnt
how to walk upright. Squealer also taught the sheep to say "Four legs good, two legs better"
rather than “whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.” The pigs invited the neighboring farmer
to dinner to inspect the efficiency of Animal Farm. As the animals watched the dinner
proceedings through the window, they realized with horror that they could no longer tell the pigs'
faces from the human ones.
Ying: What a good story…. What is the message of the story?
Roy: It’s Power corrupts; Absolute power corrupt absolutely.
this book…. aren’t you?
Ying: Yes, I’m really interested in this book.
Roy: That’s good. It’s really a good book.
It seems that you are very interested in
I will go to the library and borrow it.