Tuesday, September 10, 2013

In the book, Animal Farm, I'm having trouble finding out why Clover hasn't retired in chapter ten. Is it because she feels the farm is in...

This is a good question, and it is related to the main theme of the book. By the time of chapter ten, the animals are older or passed way.  Muriel, Jessie, and Bluebell were dead - as was Jones.  In short, time has passed.


No one has retired, even though in the beginning of the book there was a promise of retirement.  The reason why there was no retirement was not rooted in Clover or anyone else's desire to work more. The reason why there was no retirement was because Napoleon and the pigs ran the farm in a totalitarian way. The animals were simply exploited to their death. 


Within this context, retirement does not exist. Orwell make this point when he says:



Clover was an old stout mare now, stiff in the joints and with a tendency to rheumy eyes. She was two years past the retiring age, but in fact no animal had ever actually retired.



In conclusion, the pigs ran a farm for their own benefit, and retirement did not factor in. 

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