Back from the Start

        Hello everyone! It's been a week, can you believe I'm back so soon? :) mhm neither can I! In my last post, I mentioned how I have been reading Animal Farm and how I was half way...well I literally just finished and it was fantastic! To be honest, my copy of the novel is about 141 pages, so I definitely recommend reading it and finding time to enjoy it. Personally I found it humorous, of course, but sad as well. In that work of satire, the animals underwent a series of mistreatments such as lowering themselves towards the pigs, Napoleon (their “righteous” leader) and the fearful dogs. They worked persistently and often lacked the nutrition needed with the belief that they were tolerating all the suffering because they had to, to be free and so they would not have the lifestyles they had before their rebellion.

        However, one topic I would like to focus on through this post is simple as names given to either people or things we own. We are all given different names at our birth, these names given by our parents or guardians are either because they simply love the names or because they hold some kind of significance. An example would be a girl with the same name as her great grandmother (or just anyone admired by the ones naming her). By doing so, the parents hope their child would inherit some characteristics of that great grandmother or just a way to honor her. Before being named Animal Farm, the farm was called “Manor Farm”, it was governed by Mr Jones and his wife until the rebellion. During Jones's occupation the animals' lives were miserable, they were often abused, lacked the amount of food necessary and killed to be sold. By burning all reminders of their former owner, the animals got rid of any sort of existing liaison. The farm then obtained a new name “Animal Farm”, therefore presenting a new setting. During that period of time (well at first), the animals lived a pleasant life and were proud of their success against the humans, the seven commandments were presented and they were to get an education to become successful. 

Then as the novel is coming to an end, the farm's name changes to “Republic of the Animals” in which Napoleon is elected president as if he hasn't been controlling everyone since he chased Snowball away. As the farm again gets a new name, the environment changes; some of the animals start complaining about the demonstrations ordered by Napoleon and some completely forgot the way things were so they were unable to compare the conditions in which they were living in “freedom” to the ones when Mr Jones was in charge. At the end of the novel, Napoleon gives the farm back its original name “Manor Farm”. At that time, Napoleon and the pigs behaved like humans themselves and broke all the commandments made. 

Right now, I'm reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen and I'm hoping it'll be as amazing as Animal Farm! Until next time! :) 

For a Pleasant Life

    A society is composed of people who agree to live in the same environment and to respect the laws made by its government. The people may share different beliefs but all agree that respecting the laws would only lead them to live a pleasant and safe life; it will protect them from creating disorder or hatred among each other. Nevertheless, not everyone follow these rule, they try to bend it a little or "interpret"them differently so they can do whatever they please. In Animal Farm, a book of satire written by George Orwell, a group of animals rebel against their master and together decide to make up laws meant to bring them the happiness their master failed to grant them.
    After their rebellion, they agree to create seven commandments, the two most important commandments were to make an enemy whatever goes on two legs (humans) and to befriend every other animal. Everything at first was going well “...the harvest was an even bigger success than they had hoped.”(27) They were allowed to reach their full potential and were rewarded. Each had some sort of talent or a way to help and together they worked to create a life better than the one offered by their master Mr Jones. However not long after their rebellion, issues started coming their way. The pigs were to surpervise  and direct others while they worked, the pigs however did not work “with their superior knowledge it was natural that they should assume the leadership.”(27) Their lack of manual labor violated one of the seven commandments about the equality of all the animals. The pigs were allowed to come up with plans and make decisions concerning the animals' lifestyles whiles the others “understood how to vote, but could never think of any resolutions on their own.”(31) The pigs would then consume more than the other animals by making them believe that they HAD To for they were the smartest and needed more nourishment to preserve their help which could only be beneficial for all because it would prevent Mr Jones's return. Another commandment broken was the first “whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.” This commandment was broken when Mollie left the farm to live with a man whom was “stroking her nose and feeding her with sugar”(46) Since the pigeons revealed her whereabouts, Mollie was never mentioned, she was considered a traitor for she had broken the most important law, which was to stay away from the enemy.
    Although I find the book intriguing, I have only read half it and apart from the first and seventh commandments being broken, the fourth was as well “no animal shall sleep in a bed.”(24) Not only did the pigs violate that law, they as well fooled the ones who were puzzled by their new behavior into believing that the commandment did not address beds but sheets.
    In Animal Farm, Orwell describes the animals' behaviors and characteristics such as their weakness and vulnerability as the ones who were wrongly mistreated and blinded during the age of Stalin, with the idea that they had to undergo a certain situations to live a satisfying life with no fear.

Let Us Blame Ourselves for the Actions We Take

   Lies no matter the size, whether made innocently or to reach a certain objective can be hurtful to the one being lied to. They arise a feeling that only the victim seems to be aware of, or at least at first. Other times, the deceiver so fine in his work, becomes aware of what he is creating within the victim; he insists on unceasing the lie, to bring the one fooled to a point where he wil not be able to control the power of his emotions, and most importantly control himself. But the feeling does not stop from there, it keeps growing uncomfortably, increasing until the one deceived takes the decision to get rid of that sentiment. The actions taken due to those lies are different for everyone, for we all have dissimilar ways to cope with different situations. However knowing such does not always stop us from being mindful of others, their feelings and what those lies we have so profoundly made up can provoke.

    One of William Shakespeare's famous play Othello, is a great work that reveals the characteristics of a determined deceiver, and his resoluteness to get to his objectif, and stop at nothing until such mission is accomplished. Shakespeare 's work also exposes the effects of the antagonist's lies causing the death of many including the passing of the protagonist. In the play, Iago (the antagonist) planned to have his revenge on Othello for not giving him the title he believed he deserved and handing it to Cassio instead, one Iago described as an  underserving man. He also heard rumors that his wife Emilia had an affair with Othello. The antagonist easily got rid of Cassio, by making sure he gets drunk and into a fight with Roderigo (Iago's accomplice) and lose his rank. Iago believed he could easily influence Othello by behaving as his closest and honest friend; he used that "friendship" to lie about Desdemona (Othello's wife) having an affair with Cassio and the proofs he presented to Othello about his claim. At the end of the play, Iago fails to kill Cassio but kills his wife and Roderigo, Othello kills his wife then shortly later himself. 

    Then comes the question "who should be blamed for all those murders? The deceiver or the fooled?) To be honest, I wish I could blame the dead ones, for not being clever enough, for allowing themselves to be manipulated by Iago and not being intelligent enough to at least wonder what was beyond the things they could see. Too bad I cannot, right? So I  choose Othello, he should be blamed alright, I stand by that and refuse to change my mind! But I will explain myself, of course :) I have lived long enough (well...not really) but I am old enough to understand that often life throws us some kind of present, (good or bad, it depends on the way we feel about whatever given) let's saya bouquet of roses, and that bouquet somehow lead us to reminisce about the past or have great hopes for the future and it brings different emotions. Those emotions should not stop us from remembering the thorns of the roses. Then let's say we hurt ourselves for we forgot about the thorns, should we blame life? "I mean seriously, who gives out roses with thorns?" Or should we blame ourselves for not being careful enough, for trusting too much, being naive or negligent? (Well, that is something to think about right?) If Othello did not lack self control and was reasonable regardless of Iago's manipulation, the play would have definitely had a different ending! 

   So here are some tips :) watch out for the thorns!! They are everywhere we go, let's be careful with the things we do and say, let's be mindful of the ones around us and their feelings and lastly let us assume the consequences of the actions and mistakes we make.