"Do you not understand? They are taking Boxer to the knacker's!" (122). This excerpt from George Orwell's, Animal Farm, gives an example of the radicalism that was occurring in Russia during it's 1917 revolution. In Animal Farm, the abuses of power during and after the Russian Revolution are shown through a simple allegory using animals on a farm in England. Reading Animal Farm related to my overarching research question in that it taught me how understanding how I act in certain situations helps me realize who I am, knowing the stories of others helps me understand my self by comparison, and that understanding new concepts better helps me understand myself. Firstly, Animal Farm relates to my overarching research question in that knowing how I act in different environments helps me …show more content…
[who] were unmistakably Orwell's feuding pigs, Napoleon and Snowball" (ix). As a result of this, I often found myself wondering how I would act in these certain situations. Doing so, in a strange way, developed my understanding of my self-identity. When wondering how I would react, I established what I stood for and sustained how I desired to act if any of the radical events did occur that occurred during the Russian Revolution. Secondly, Animal Farm helped me understand that the experiences of others help me to know who I am. While the experiences of others have nothing to do with my own, they help me better know for myself who I am. When I hear the hardships or rites of passage of others, I often times find a parallel between my own experiences. In this way, I'm able to make personal relations that further develop my self identity. While reading Animal Farm, I made a connection with Snowball when he was "chased beyond farm grounds" (53). This reminded me of an event that happened on the playground when I was in Elementary School. The dogs in the novel have a parallel to the playground bully's that didn't allow me to play with