Jan 28, 2022
I finished reading Animal Farm by George Orwell last night. It was the first book I’d read by the author. I was given 1984 to read in English class in high school, but for some reason I was never able to read when I was TOLD to read. There’s a lot of those required reading classics that I never read. I often had to write essays on these books, of which I knew nothing about, aside from some vague synopsis online. It was only after those classes that I was able to go to the library, or my bedroom and read something that I had chosen myself.
Anyways, recently I’ve been enjoying reading a lot of these types of books. I recently went to my local used book store to see if they had a copy of 1984, which I’d never read. They didn’t but they had one copy of Animal Farm, which I had first heard about through Pink Floyd, who’d apparently based their album ‘Animals’ on. The album was a concept album, which featured 3 long, sprawling songs titled Pigs, Dogs, and Sheep. So I happily brought the book home and read it quite quickly since not only is it short, but also very exciting and engaging.
I was so interested in what would happen next to the animals on their farm. I couldn't’ put the book down. It was such an interesting combination of fantasy and reality. The way the animals all spoke with one another reminded me of stories like Charlotte’s Web and Babe, while the story itself, which revolved around the pigs slowly but surely taking more and more power for themselves, made me feel as though I was reading a nonfiction book on the history and dynamics of Dictatorships.I know very little about such forms of governments, and while reading Animal Farm, I couldn't think of a better introduction to the topic than this short book. I find the way in which Orwell presented the topic to be so clever. All he really did was take a simple concept and substitute humans for animals, a country for a farm. For some reason which I don’t quite understand, that substitution is so powerful at letting the reader see the bigger picture from a nearly neutral point of view. When similar stories are recounted in books or in the news, I as the observer can’t help but feel the tug of different people who want to shape my perspective or my view- it’s harder to get a clearer picture of what’s really going on.
However, when the exact same concept is substituted with animals, it somehow removes that urge in myself to pick sides. It allowed me to observe almost as if from above, without any personal stake in the situation. I found it to be a powerful way of explaining a complicated situation.
Writing Class
I feel that this prompt is very fitting for me at the moment. My dad is currently In Costa Rica. He’s been there for about a month and is planning on staying until sometime in April. He recently left the first town he’d been in, which was outside a small and famous surfing community, and relocated to an even smaller fishing village. He’s been posting photos on Facebook of the crystal blue water, the busy markets, and the countless lizards that share his home with him and who keep pesky bugs at bay. When we talk on the phone, he’s often sure to share with me just how warm the weather is, and how he doesn't know if he can take it much longer. In fact, early on in his trip he shared with me the fact that his clothes, folded in their cupboard, were rapidly growing mold from the intense humidity. I suggest storing them in the fridge or freezer, a suggestion he happily took me up on.
During all of this time, my dad has been suggesting that I come down and stay with him for 10 or so days. I initially jumped at the offer and bought myself a plane ticket for January 6. I was excited and ready to enjoy a break from Toronto’s cruel winter. There was only one problem- my passport had recently expired and needed to be renewed. Thus followed a seemingly endless process of completing this mythic task. Long story short, I still do not have my passport. This was due to a number of issues, some of which were mistakes I made when filling out documents, and some of which were mistakes made my Service Canada employees, mistakes which they called me up to apologize profusely for and instruct me how to go about remedying their errors. On top of all this, there was this seemingly back and forth debate going on about vacationing in the time of Covid- many were saying it was wrong and unsafe, while others said that if I chose to go, I needed to buy travel insurance, quarantine, and be prepared to not be allowed back into Canada when my trip was over.
Regardless of all of this, the lack of a new passport meant I had to cancel my plane ticket which was quite easy due to new rules during the time of Covid. I plan on using the money still in their system towards a new ticket at some point. At this point, however, i find it unlikely that I’ll have the passport in time to visit my dad. A new problem has cropped up in that I’ve been instructed to mail in a birth certificate and health card. In the tradition of the last few weeks, my health card has also expired, and to receive my renewed one will take 4-6 weeks.
In the meantime I can continue to enjoy my dad’s photos on facebook from the comfort of my house as the wind and snow continues to pelt the world outside my window.
The camino del santiago