Q: Are Mollie's actions during the Battle of Cowshed justifiable?
Mollie is a vain, flighty mare who pulls Mr. Jones’s carriage. Mollie craves the attention of human beings and loves being groomed and pampered. She has a difficult time with her new life on Animal Farm, as she misses wearing ribbons in her mane and eating sugar cubes. She represents the Petit bourgeoisie that fled from Russia a few years after the Russian Revolution.
During the Battle of Cowshed, the humans under Mr. Jones try to take back the farm from the animals. As led by Snowball, the various animals launch their defenses using their individual strengths. Although the animals do finally repel the invaders, the men shoot and injure some animals.
Mollie, a horse, had pulled Mr. Jones' cart when he still ran the farm. He spoiled her with sugar cubes, and she wore ribbons braided into her mane.
Mollie does not handle the post-rebellion situation well. Missing her old, easier life, she shirks her new work, breaks the rules, and spaces out gazing at her own reflection.
During the battle, as the fighting intensifies, Mollie does not participate but instead, she hides in her stall. She is the only animal that did not fight. Although she is female on the farm, but there are more females on the farm like sheep, geese, etc. They participated in the battle and proved to be the good competitor. The sheep gave her life for the sake of other animals in the farm.
Whether her actions are justified depends on the reader's sympathy towards animals as a group and with each specific animal individually. Orwell presents Mollie in a very negative light, as selfish, shallow, and vain. She had been coddled and largely spared from animal-life's hardships. In her cowardice and weakness, Mollie is contrasted to another horse, Boxer, who is brave and strong.
While Mollie's actions could easily be condemned, it seems unlikely she would have contributed much to the battle. Certainly, nothing in her previous life prepared her to be a fighter. Rather, her whole upbringing encouraged her to want to be pampered once more, and that is the path she chooses: to return to the humans. survival to her did not involve solidarity with the other animals, and by the time the battle even started, she had long ago became detached from the concept of self-respect.
M. SHAYAN SHAIKH
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| Sketch of Mollie. Source: /animalfarmbymajorwhitestevens.weebly.com |
During the Battle of Cowshed, the humans under Mr. Jones try to take back the farm from the animals. As led by Snowball, the various animals launch their defenses using their individual strengths. Although the animals do finally repel the invaders, the men shoot and injure some animals.
Mollie, a horse, had pulled Mr. Jones' cart when he still ran the farm. He spoiled her with sugar cubes, and she wore ribbons braided into her mane.
Mollie does not handle the post-rebellion situation well. Missing her old, easier life, she shirks her new work, breaks the rules, and spaces out gazing at her own reflection.
During the battle, as the fighting intensifies, Mollie does not participate but instead, she hides in her stall. She is the only animal that did not fight. Although she is female on the farm, but there are more females on the farm like sheep, geese, etc. They participated in the battle and proved to be the good competitor. The sheep gave her life for the sake of other animals in the farm.
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| Battle of the Cowshed. Invaders are running out of the farm. Credits: www.yorknotes.com |
While Mollie's actions could easily be condemned, it seems unlikely she would have contributed much to the battle. Certainly, nothing in her previous life prepared her to be a fighter. Rather, her whole upbringing encouraged her to want to be pampered once more, and that is the path she chooses: to return to the humans. survival to her did not involve solidarity with the other animals, and by the time the battle even started, she had long ago became detached from the concept of self-respect.
M. SHAYAN SHAIKH
Nice work. This helped me a lot.
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