Examining Watership Down and Animal Farm as Fables
... what he sees and what is in store for them. Fiver has always been right about the things that have been happening and so the other rabbits start to really believe in his powers and so they always can trust and look for guidance from Fiver. Therefore, the character of Fiver illustrates the time-honored story of the underdog aiding others. Also Adam Richards effectively incorporates legend into his fable Through Fiver’s character. In every fable there is a certain lesson to be learned and in Watership Down there is a moral that is evident. The animals have left their home on a whim, in hopes that they will find new happiness because of the visions that Fiver has. They keep running into problems that are holding them back, like rabbits getting hurt or tired, and by other enemies who are after them. But based on the lesson “Never give up” the rabbits keep going. They do not stop for trivial matters because they know they have to persevere. The rabbits also have their own dreams about what will happen in a newfound life. They have the motivation to follow their dreams. Hazel is the leader of the rabbits and he has to reinforce lessons into the rabbit’s heads so they will succeed and have the chance to live this hypothetical life. The reader understands the lesson because of Hazel’s reinforcing it into the others. While Watership Down has a moral lesson for readers to grasp that enables it a fable Animal Farm uses characters legend and lesson in a very similar way. Animal Farm is a straightforward novel that cuts right to the point about the moral and themes it is trying to put forth. It is very short yet still gets the strongest points across using the animals and Mother Nature. These animals are on a farm and are having a bad go at life. They hardly get fed and do not b have the best living qualities. Their master is a drunken fool who forgets about them and really does not care about the animals. They are plotting to rebel against the farmer and then to rule the Earth and totally rebel against humans because they have had such a bad life they can’t trust any human right now. To do this animals create their own little democracy and give everyone their own part. Major Pig is a perfect example because he shows the conflict against humans. Early, Early in the book he says, "All men are enemies. All animals are comrades." (AF, 9) which proves that no human can be trusted. He symbolizes all of the grief and hatred against humans. By making a democracy and making all of these rules to follow the animals are exactly like humans and they know how a typical government works. The democracy itself is a symbol of the book and it shows the determination they have. Orwell uses animals to represent human qualities by creating an animal democracy and bringing out point and qualities of the animals for the benefit of the fluency of the novel. Again, certain fables can be based on certain images and certain legends. A legend is defined as a certain story that is known to be historical or has very great meaning behind it. Most fables written follow this guideline and Animal Farm again has the oppression and post war feeling as a definite mood setter throughout the novel. This novel follows the guidelines of Human vs. Animal and Animal vs. Animal. The ...