Two of the many themes of Animal Farm, by George Orwell, include that people’s ignorance contributes to their being oppressed by others and that in society, individuals are not treated equally.
The first two posters show that people’s ignorance contributes to their being oppressed by others. The “Napoleon is Always Right” poster comes from Boxer’s motto and I chose to use this because Boxer was a very important, influential, and respected animal on the farm. He worked hard and had a good attitude which gained him respect and trust from the animals, meaning that whatever he said, they believed. Boxer was not the brightest animal and he was also one of the ignorant ones being oppressed. He did not understand Napoleon’s true intentions and just assumed that everything he did was for the good of the farm, which helped Napoleon use him for his own selfish needs. The second poster shows the sheep’s favorite saying, “Four legs good, two legs bad.” This is a shortened version of one of their commandments and the sheep loved to chant it all the time. Because of this, the animals were basically brainwashed into thinking that they shouldn’t trust any human at all. This also confused them a lot when Napoleon started doing business with the humans, but were easily convinced that the trade was good when the pigs “explained” everything and Boxer recited, “Napoleon is always right.”
The next three posters (with 4, 5, and 6 written on them) also show the same theme. Those three posters show three of the commandments that were conveniently changed when the pigs did something against them. You can see that the original commandments were written normally and then the alterations were added to the end in drippy, messy paint. These posters show the theme because during the book, when the pigs did something wrong and the animals had their doubts, they would always turn to the commandments which the pigs had changed and the animals were too dumb to realize.
The last poster shows the theme that in society, individuals are not treated equally. It shows the single commandment at the end of the book, “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.” This shows the theme because in Animal Farm, the animals had the idea of complete equality and they thought that they had it for a while, but it was not able to last. Eventually, the pigs rose to the top and treated themselves as kings while the other animals suffered. They said that they had an equal society, but they never did.
Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York: New American Library, 1946. Print.
Dust City, by Robert Paul Weston, is set in a fantasy world filled with foxes, ravens, wolves, goblins, and homonids who live and interact with each other. The main character, Henry, is a wolf who lives at the St. Remus Home for Wayward Youth. His father is a murderer who was sentenced to life in prison and his mother was killed by a truck carrying fairy dust. Unlike the other wolves there, especially their leader, Roy, Henry doesn’t like to hang out with the pack and race and act mean. Instead, he likes to hang out with his roommate, Jack, who is a homonid. On the outside, Henry looks like a teenager who, besides being outcast from his pack, is normal. In the text conversations above, you can see that he seems like a normal kid. He has a text conversations with Jack, his best friend, Roy, his “enemy,” and Fiona, who he likes.
On the inside, though, Henry has all sorts of things going on. In his text conversation with his shrink, Doc, he talks about having nightmares. He is haunted by the terrible story of his father’s murder every night and dreads that some part of him might become like his father.
“The dream is the same every time. The details shift from night to night – the depth of the darkness, the distance from the road to the cottage, the way the wind blows – but everything that matters is the same. I’m always some amalgam of my father and me.” (Weston, p.91)
His dream is always about his father’s murder, when he killed a grandmother and her young granddaughter. The only difference is that in his dream, he is the one killing them and in the end, he ends up being hurt and tortured himself. His dream is his worst fear – that he will turn into his father. You can also tell from his texts with his dad that he doesn’t think very highly of him and that he really doesn’t know what to say to him.
Also, in his conversation with the Doc, they also talk about his fear of fairy dust. His mother was killed by a truck that was carrying fairy dust and ever since then, he had been scared to come near it.
At first glance, Henry may seem like a normal, well-adjusted teen, but he is far from that.
Weston, Robert Paul. Dust City. New York: Penguin Group, 2010. Print.
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia is a historical fictions book set Oakland, California, 1968. It is about three African American sisters – Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern – and The Black Panthers Party.
Bibliography
“Free Huey! “You Can Jail a Revolutionary, But You Can’t Jail the Revolution”” Free Huey! Xroads, n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2015.
Garrow, David J. “Newton, Huey P..” World Book Student. World Book, 2015. Web. 8 Oct. 2015.
Hamilton, Charles V. “Black Panther Party.” World Book Student. World Book, 2015. Web. 8 Oct. 2015.
“Huey P. Newton.” Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2015. Web. 8 Oct. 2015.
Schladweiler, Kief. “Eldridge Cleaver and the Black Panthers – The Black Panthers.” Eldridge Cleaver and the Black Panthers – The Black Panthers. AAVW, n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2015.
The themes of Hunger by Michael Grant are overcoming obstacles, regretting tough decisions, and the weight of responsibility and leadership.
“Titanium” by David Guetta ft Sia
This song is about not letting others push you around or get you down and staying strong. It is about always getting back up after you fall down. “Titanium” fits the theme of overcoming obstacles. This relates to the book because the main character, Sam Temple, keeps on facing problems and has to solve them. Sometimes he is hit hard to, either physically or emotionally, but he has to keep going and get back up.
“You shoot me down, but I won’t fall
I am titanium”
“Survivor” by Destiny’s Child
“Survivor” is also about staying strong and not letting others push you down. It is about working hard and not giving up. This song also fits under the theme of overcoming obstacles. This song fits the book because the situation is very dire and there is death in the air, they all have to learn to be strong and survive, especially Sam, who is put in danger day after day.
“I’m a survivor
I’m not gon give up
I’m not gon stop
I’m a survivor
I’m gon make it
I will survive
Keep on surviving”
“Stronger” by Kelly Clarkson
“Stronger is, again, about not letting others hurt you. It is about falling down and then coming back stronger and better than before and never backing down. This is the theme of overcoming obstacles. This song fits the book because Sam has to learn that every time he falls, he has to get up stronger to be able to accomplish his goals and save his friends.
“You didn’t think that I’d come back
I’d come swinging
You try to break me, but you see
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”
Keep Holding On by Avril Lavigne
“Keep Holding On” is about always staying hopeful, no matter how hard times are, and, again, never giving up. This is also overcoming obstacles. This applies to the book because Same ends up very stressed out from his leadership role that as forced upon him and (spoiler alert) eventually he hits a point where his breaks down. But he needs to “keep holding on” and stay hopeful that there is still light.
“Keep holding on
‘Cause you know we’ll make it through, we’ll make it through.
Just stay strong
‘Cause you know I’m here for you, I’m here for you”
“Lie” by David Cook
“Lie” is about getting through tough times and always staying positive and hopeful. It fits under the overcoming obstacles theme. This relates to the book because a lot of the time, it seemed that there was no hope but they had to keep reminding each other and possibly lying to each other, saying that it was going to be alright.
“So lie to me and tell me that it’s gonna be alright”
“You’re hiding regret in your smile”
“What I’ve Done” by LINKIN PARK
“What I’ve Done” is about regretting the things that you have done and the decisions you have made and trying to forget all of that and forgive yourself for it. This fits the theme of regretting tough decisions. This fits the book because Sam was the leader and he had to make dozens of very important decisions, some that could result in life or death and it stressed him out and put a lot of pressure on him. Sometimes he would make a wrong decision and it would end up with something bad happening, like a death, which would really weigh him down.
“So let mercy come
And wash away
What I’ve done
I’ll face myself
To cross out what I’ve become
Erase myself
And let go of what I’ve done
Put to rest
What you thought of me
While I clean this slate
With the hands of uncertainty”
“Breathe Me” by Sia
“Breathe Me” is about making mistakes again and again and regretting all the things you have done. It is also about losing yourself to stress and pressure and blaming yourself. This song represents the theme of the book well because Sam made many mistakes again and again and was always blaming himself to the point that he had lost himself and broke.
“Help, I have done it again
I have been here many times before”
“And the worst part is there’s no one else to blame”
“Lost myself and I am nowhere to be found,
Yeah, I think that I might break”
“Numb” by LINKIN PARK
“Numb” is about stress and pressure and about having to live up to someone else’s expectations. It fits the theme of the weight of responsibility of a leader. The role of major was forced upon Sam, and eventually, the stress was too much and he was tired of being leader and being responsible for everything. He was tired of being who everyone wanted him to be.
“I’m tired of being what you want me to be”
“Don’t know what you’re expecting of me”
“Become so tired, so much more aware
I’m becoming this, all I want to do
is be more like me, and less like you”
“Sick Cycle Carousel” by Lifehouse
This song is also about living up to someone else’s standards and having to be somebody who you don’t want to be or who you thought you would never be. It is also about doing something, expecting one things, and getting something else and wanting to step down, wondering when it will end. This fits the theme of the weight of responsibility and leadership. This relates to Hunger because in this book, Sam is kind of forced into being the leader but it has taken a lot from him and he learns that that isn’t what he wants. All he wants is to step down and be who he was before.
“I tried to climb you steps”
“So when will this end it goes on and on
over and over and over again
keep spinning around I know that it won’t stop
Till I step down from this for good
I never thought I’d end up here
Never thought I’d be standing where I am
I guess I kinda thought it would be easier than this
