Animal Farm - Chapter XI

The next day, the lower animals of what was now called Manor Farm again, were speechless. Everyone went back to their regular duties except now it was different. Everyone seemed lifeless: they got their work done, ate the small rations of food they were handed, and quietly went to sleep without saying a word to each other. It was a similar scenario to the time before the rebellion where what they did make up their lives and no one complained of anything being wrong or unacceptable. They just went along with their lives, accepting the new order that was now in place by their own “comrades”, the pigs. The lower animals were lost in thought, confused in so many ways. The pigs were once one of them, an equal animal, who once rejected the idea of being like human beings. But now, it was hard telling them apart.

A few more days passed by and the animals were now restlessly eating their small rations of food. The enormous dog that was keeping a look out of the animals was at the moment distracted by a small rubber ball handed to him by Squealer. Squealer, given his enormous size, could no longer follow through with the simple action of watching over the lower animals. His daily messages from the pigs and Napoleon were no longer given, for they felt there was no need for so. Instead, he spent his time sleeping in the human’s bed along with the rest of the pigs.

Finally, clover managed to do something many of the animals weren’t able to do for a while: she spoke. “So this is life…” she began. “This is what our lives have come to? What ever happened to our younger days?” Then, she let out a burst of anger, “This has become beyond anything any one of us imagined would happen! Where is our justice! You call this life? When was the last time I went to sleep on a full stomach? Why I would rather go back to our old days of Mr. Jones being our superior than some traitor we once believed in!” She began to gain the attention of the four-legged companion of Napoleon keeping watch. He jawed off the rubber ball full of saliva and slowly approached with a cautious growl towards the animals. It left Clover quiet but her temper was not yet done with. She chomped heavily on her portion of hay, keeping calm as the dog went back to his rubber fall. Once distracted by his ball once again, she began again with the attention of the others. “Meet an hour after sundown. There we will discuss what goes on from here.” And with that Benjamin, Moses, and Clover went along with their forced duties with no passion at all, while cautious to prevent the new animals of Manor Farm of their secret plan. It was too late to convince them and the sheep to become trustworthy with them so they kept their word to each other not to share a single detail. Throughout their meals, something about the dog keeping watch of them and his ball caught Clover’s attention. She kept glaring at the once vicious dog that was in a playful state, now that a rubber ball was given to him.

           

Later on that day, while the pigs were in their beds and the rest of the animals on Manor Farm were fast asleep, Benjamin, Moses the raven, and Clover all met up in front of the barn yard. There, the plans were to be discussed. They spent all through the night, making sure there was no margin for error in their plan. And right before sun rise, the animals hid back to their places and were able to get an hour’s sleep before getting up again to work.

Then, the time came. Moses scarcely did any work on the farm, given his old age and his ability of flight. So once all the animals were awakened, he flew off to the distance. Time passed by and it was no feeding time. Clover and Benjamin ate their food and off to the distance, they see Moses come flying back in with what they had hoped he would bring. In his beak, he held the handles of a bag that carried an enormous weight of rubber balls. He dropped off the balls in front of Clover and Benjamin, who were approached by a running dog. Clover, acting as planned, held up the rubber ball in mouth and moved it in a swaying motion, back and forth. The dog, to their surprise and amusement, stopped right in front of them with his mouth wide open, following the motion of the ball in her mouth the whole time. Then, she dropped it right steadily in front of her so that the dog can gain distance towards her. It was an extremely risky thing to do but it paid off. The dog, which was earlier ready to viciously tear their necks apart, was now biting playfully in front of the three animals. Moses gave the dog a slight rub on the hand and the dog gave a joyful wagging of his tail.