Question

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow : 

One Sunday morning Squealer announced that the hens, who just come in to lay again, must surrender their eggs. 

(i) Why were the hens required to surrender their eggs? 

(ii) How did the hens react to receiving this information? 

(iii) The three young black Minorca pullets led the other hens in 'something resembling a rebellion'. How exactly did they do this? 

(iv) What steps did Napoleon take to put down this 'rebellion'? 

(v) How long did the rebellion last? Describe the consequences of the rebellion. What do you learn of Napoleon's character from the way in which he dealt with the rebellion? 

Answer 1

(i) Napolean had entered into a contract with humans to trade four hundred eggs in return for essential things to the farm. They had to surrender the eggs as Whymper was negotiating with human traders to buy the eggs so that animals can buy food and essential things for the windmill. 

(ii) The hens refused to surrender eggs for commercial purposes, as it was against the tenets of the Animal Farm. Jn fact, trading was totally against Animalism. They flew on to the rafts and dropped the eggs to the ground as they preferred to destroy them rather than surrendering them for trade. 

(iii) The three black Minorca pullets led the rebellion because they had planned to raise a new brood of chicks. They instigated the other hens to protest by climbing up to the raft and dropping their eggs down to the ground. This was their way of showing protest against the authority of Napoleon, who took the autocratic decision to trade with humans. 

(iv) Napoleon was ruthless in his approach and ordered that the hens should be starved until they agreed to the proposal of surrendering their eggs. He also announced that any other animal who gave even a grain of com to the hens would be killed. Thus, he put an end to the rebellion. 

(v) The rebellion lasted for five days. The hens could not hold on for more than five days without food and agreed to trade their eggs. So, they went back to their hatching boxes. Napoleon's ruthless side is highlighted in the way he put down the rebellion. He used power to dominate the other animals and was totally merciless till the hens withdrew their protest In spite of a few hens dying, he did not take back his orders. His behavior also evidences his selfishness as well as a lack of conscience by going against the tenets of Animal Farm. A total disregard of all the p Princip Jes for which the animals stood for, and making new decisions for the favor of the pigs is a sign that he as the leader of the pigs would takeover absolute power.