Mollie in George Orwell's Animal Farm
English 10 Honors Period 3
April 13, 2011
Animal Farm Essay “The unrestricted competition so commonly advocated does not leave us the survival of the fittest. The unscrupulous succeed best in accumulating wealth” (Rutherford B. Hayes). This statement asserts the fact that when people compete for survival the best individuals more often do not survive and in fact the more conceited and moral deprived individuals do survive. This shows they are best at getting what they need to survive and nothing for the benefit of others. The novel Animal Farm, by George Orwell, is an allegory that explores the end of the Czarist power in Russia. The term ‘survival of the fittest’ applies to the character Mollie in this novel who symbolically represents the Bourgeoisie of Russia. In George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, Mollie represents the laziness of the bourgeoisie, the social climbing middle class. From the very beginning when Mollie appears she arrives late to Old Major’s speech, and she “took a place near the front and began flirting her white mane, hoping to draw attention to the red ribbons it was plaited with” (Orwell 27) which shows her lazy to arrive when all the other animals do, she instead thinks she can show up whenever she wants and still have all the attention focused on her. Similarly, the upper class of Russia and the bourgeoisie never had to do much work as they were given luxuries by Czar Nicholas II and didn’t have to contribute as much as the lower classes. Then, when the animals begin to have a hard time getting all of the necessary work and labor done in the winter Orwell emphasized “Mollie became more and more troublesome. She was late for work every morning and excused herself by saying that she had overslept, and she complained of mysterious pains, though her appetite was excellent” (61). This clearly emphasizes Mollie’s lack of care and lazy attitude towards helping anyone other than herself, as she gives excuses to not work but still gets to
April 13, 2011
Animal Farm Essay “The unrestricted competition so commonly advocated does not leave us the survival of the fittest. The unscrupulous succeed best in accumulating wealth” (Rutherford B. Hayes). This statement asserts the fact that when people compete for survival the best individuals more often do not survive and in fact the more conceited and moral deprived individuals do survive. This shows they are best at getting what they need to survive and nothing for the benefit of others. The novel Animal Farm, by George Orwell, is an allegory that explores the end of the Czarist power in Russia. The term ‘survival of the fittest’ applies to the character Mollie in this novel who symbolically represents the Bourgeoisie of Russia. In George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, Mollie represents the laziness of the bourgeoisie, the social climbing middle class. From the very beginning when Mollie appears she arrives late to Old Major’s speech, and she “took a place near the front and began flirting her white mane, hoping to draw attention to the red ribbons it was plaited with” (Orwell 27) which shows her lazy to arrive when all the other animals do, she instead thinks she can show up whenever she wants and still have all the attention focused on her. Similarly, the upper class of Russia and the bourgeoisie never had to do much work as they were given luxuries by Czar Nicholas II and didn’t have to contribute as much as the lower classes. Then, when the animals begin to have a hard time getting all of the necessary work and labor done in the winter Orwell emphasized “Mollie became more and more troublesome. She was late for work every morning and excused herself by saying that she had overslept, and she complained of mysterious pains, though her appetite was excellent” (61). This clearly emphasizes Mollie’s lack of care and lazy attitude towards helping anyone other than herself, as she gives excuses to not work but still gets to
Cited: Morton, Graeme. "Middle class." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2011. Web. 8 Apr. 2011. "Communist Manifesto (1848)." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 4 Apr. 2011. McCloskey, Deirdre