One
of the most interesting speeches in Animal
Farm is the one made by Old Major shortly before his death. It is a speech
that seeks to ensure that the animals on the farm come to realize their rights
and to spur them towards rebelling against their human masters. A consequence
of this speech is that it has considerable ramifications, since it ends up
leading to the revolution against Jones, the owner of the farm and makes the
animals take control over the entire farm. Old Major’s speech is an important
aspect of the story because it is what sets up its plotline while at the same
time ensuring that there is the advancement of the recognition of the rights of
the animals and the need for them to exercise these rights against tyrannical
administrators.
Old
Major’s speech helps the animals on the farm to ensure that they recognize
their rights. The speech is reminiscent of Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto
because it allows for an analysis of the lives that the animals are undergoing
and creates proposals concerning the best way through which to improve their
lives for the better. One of the most significant statements that Old Major
makes is that the life of the animals is “miserable, laborious, and short” (Orwell
and Batchelor 27). This is an important statement that shows the lives of
animals essentially being in the service of their master rather than for
themselves. A consequence is that Old Major seeks to show that the animals, as
intelligent beings themselves, have a right to have happy lives, and that the
circumstances within which they live is not fulfilling. The statement mentioned
above is full of socialist ideas because it seeks to encourage its audience to
consider the miserable conditions of their life and ensure that there is the
advancement of their own interests first over that of their master. Old Major,
like Karl Marx, is of the belief that those that control the means of
production are the cause of all the problems that the animals are undergoing.
Therefore it is essential to make sure that the animals take action to “Remove
Man from the scene and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished
forever” (Orwell and Batchelor 28). This statement is reminiscent of Marx’s
belief that all social problems, especially the class divisions, could only be
brought about through the overthrow of the bourgeoisie.
Through
his speech, Old Major proposes that the animals work towards the overthrow of
Man from administering the farm. He states that “Man is the only creature that
consumes without producing”, a statement that seems aimed at ensuring that that
the animals’ ire is raised against their master (Orwell and Batchelor 28). This
is especially considering that Old Major is seeking to bring about a revolution
on the farm where the rule of Jones is brought to an end and the animals govern
themselves. However, despite his noble perspective concerning the need to
ensure that the rights of animals are respected, Old Major is shown to be an
individual that has only a one-sided point of view. He does not consider that
even without the presence of Man on the farm, it is possible that an animal
might end up replacing him as a tyrant. He justifies his position by asking “Is
it not crystal clear….that all the evil of this life of ours spring from the
tyranny of human beings?” (Orwell and Batchelor 29-30). This is an extremely
pertinent question because it shows Old Major’s way of thinking and enforces
his belief that Farmer Jones is responsible for the miserable life that animals
have to endure every day of their lives. Therefore, he proposes that the only
way through which to promote animal interests is to bring an end to the
authority of man since it will allow the animals to create a society that is
just. Old Major seems to be an individual that believes in the essential
goodness of animals and fails to consider that animals might eventually seek to
have an advantage over one another, as seen later through Napoleon’s actions.
In conclusion, Old Major’s speech is essential in bringing about a situation where the course of the story is set. This is especially considering that the speech encourages the animals to overthrow their tyrannical master and establish a society that, in the beginning, is based solely on equality. However, what the speech fails to consider is that without the presence of Man on the farm, a power vacuum will occur and that it will end up being filled by animals that are essentially more tyrannical than Jones himself.