Lesson video

Hello and welcome to our next lesson on Animal Farm.

In today's lesson, we are going to be looking at the character of Boxer.

And so far all we know about Boxer is that he works the hardest of all of the animals on the farm.

And his maxim, so the short phrase that he repeats is, I will work harder.

He also adds a another maxim to his repertoire, which is Napoleon is always right.

And those two maxims, those two repeated phrases give us an excellent insight into the type of character Boxer is.

He's extremely hard working.

And he's also extremely loyal to Animal Farm, and to Napoleon.

So let's see what happens when Boxer gets injured when he's working on farm.

When you're ready to take part in the lesson, please make sure you have somewhere quiet and somewhere you can concentrate, as well as something to write with, and something to write on.

And then we'll get started.

Excellent, so you should now be ready to learn all about Boxer.

If you're not quite ready and you need time to get settled, this is your opportunity to pause the video, get yourself settled down and ready to learn.

And then when you're ready, press play.

If you're already ready, then we can get started.

We'll begin with a recap of our previous learning before exploring an extract from the story together.

And then moving on to reflect on the allegory of how Animal Farm is an allegory of the Russian Revolution before handing it over to your wonderful selves to write me a paragraph.

And then as always, we'll finish with your exit quiz.

So to recap for today's lesson, the question is how did Napoleon betray the animals on the farm? So we have option one, Napoleon told another farm secrets.

Option two, Napoleon started trading with humans after saying he wouldn't.

Option three, Napoleon executed animals on the farm, or option four, Napoleon made them work even harder on the windmill.

How did Napoleon betray the animals? Just a quick reminder that betray or betrayal is breaking trust or breaking a previous agreement? Pause the video here, select the correct answer, and then press play when you're ready.

And the correct answer was option two, Napoleon started trading with humans after saying he wouldn't.

So if you remember, originally old major told all of the animals at the very beginning of Animal Farm that they should never adopt the vices of humans, they should never start trading with humans.

And so Napoleon and Snowball promised the animals they would never do that.

But Napoleon did start trading with humans and so he betrayed the animals.

So let's have a look at what is happening currently on the farm.

After Napoleon has discovered the bank notes are forgeries Frederick attacks the farm.

Frederick and his men blow the windmill up.

The animals are furious and attack the men.

Several animals are killed and Boxer is injured.

From this point, the animal start working extremely hard to rebuild.

But there's very little food.

Boxer is working harder than ever and he's getting very close to his retirement age.

So the situation on the farm at the moment we're at in the story is that the windmill has been blown up by humans and the animals are having to start from the very beginning.

When Frederick and the other humans came to blow the windmill up, Boxer was injured in the fight.

So when the animals start working really hard to rebuild everything, we're faced with an injured Boxer with little food, who is getting very, very old, and he is months away from retiring.

So let's read an extract of Animal Farm.

Late one evening in the summer, a sudden rumour ran around the farm that something had happened to Boxer.

And sure enough, the rumour was true.

A few minutes later two pigeons came racing in with the news.

"Boxer has fallen! He's lying on his side and can't get up!" About half the animals on the farm rushed out to the knoll where the windmill stood.

There lay Boxer, between the shaft of the cart, his neck stretched out, unable even to raise his head.

His eyes were glazed, his sides matted with sweat, a thin stream of blood had trickled out of his mouth.

And so, we see Boxer, very badly hurt whilst he is working on the windmill, and half of the animals rush out to go and find him.

So what has happened to Boxer? I would like you to answer this question using the quotation that I've provided on the screen.

So the quotation reads, 'His eyes were glazed, his sides matted with sweat, a thin stream of blood had trickled out of his mouth.

' Tell me what has happened to Boxer using the quotation as evidence for the point you're going to make.

Pause the video and then press play when you're ready for some feedback on your answer.

And this one was a really quick short sentence.

So I've said Boxer has been badly hurt.

You may have elaborated that means you may have added even more on and you may have said something about Boxer has been badly hurt whilst he was working.

You might have said that he has a thin stream of blood in his mouth.

So if you've added extra to this, that's brilliant.

But the basic of what you must have is that Boxer has been badly hurt.

So the pigs find medicine for Boxer and they tell the animals he'll be taken to the vets.

Boxer is taken back to his stall and the pigs find him medicine.

And they say to the other animals.

Okay, don't worry, we will look after Boxer.

We'll take him to the vets.

For the next two days Boxer remained in his stall.

The pigs had sent out a large bottle of pink medicine, which they had found in the medicine chest in the bathroom, and Clover administered it to Boxer twice a day after meals.

In the evenings, she lay in his stall and talked to him while Benjamin kept the flies off him.

However, Benjamin and Clover could only be with Boxer after working hours.

And it was in the middle of the day when the van came to take him away.

The animals were all at work weeding turnips under the supervision of a pig, when they were astonished to see Benjamin come galloping from the direction of the farm buildings, braying at the top of his voice.

In this extract then, we're told that Boxer is being taken care of.

It's important for us to note who is taking care of him.

Even though the pigs have given him some medicine.

It's just some medicine they found in the bathroom.

And it's actually Clover and Benjamin, two more horses from the farm who are looking after Boxer.

They're giving him the medicine they're talking to him.

They're staying with him in the evenings.

And then we move on to be told that a van comes to take Boxer away.

But the van comes in the middle of the day.

The animals are all working.

Benjamin and Clover, who are looking after Boxer, are only allowed to be with him in the evenings.

Because during the daytime they're working.

So it's very interesting that a van has come to take Boxer away in the middle of the day.

Why do you think the pigs arranged for Boxer to be collected in the middle of the day? Spend some time before you write an answer thinking about this.

I've given you a quotation to help you.

Benjamin and Clover could only be with Boxer after working hours.

And it was in the middle of the day when the van came to take him away.

I want you to think very carefully what possible reason would the pigs have for having Boxer taken away in the middle of the day.

You might think it's completely innocent and maybe that's the only time the van could come and collect him.

That might be true, we don't know.

But I have a feeling that's not the case.

So pause the video.

Think really carefully.

Take your time, discuss it with the people around you if you have people around you who are also reading Animal Farm, and then once you've decided on an idea, use the sentence started on the screen to help you and write an answer to the question.

Press pause, have a think, write down your answer, and then press play when you're ready.

And here is the answer that I've come up with.

The pigs arranged for Boxer to be collected in the middle of the day because Benjamin and Clover could only be with Boxer after working hours, and the pigs were hoping no one would notice Boxer being taken.

That's my opinion.

I believe that the pigs were really hoping Boxer would be taken away while all of the pigs were working.

While all of the animals were working, sorry.

I think Boxer was trying to be taken away in secret.

So have a look at the answer you've got.

If you've got something different.

I recommend that you add on my answer to your own and you'll find out why next.

"Quick, quick!", he shouted.

"Come at once! They're taking Boxer away!".

Sure enough, there in the yard was a large closed van drawn by two horses with lettering on its side and the sly-looking the man in a low-crowned bowler hat sitting on the driver's seat and Boxer's stall was empty.

The animals crowded around the van.

"Goodbye Boxer!" they chorused, "good-bye".

"Fools! Fools!" shouted Benjamin, prancing around them and stamping the earth with his small hooves.

"Fools! Do you not see what is written on the side of that van?" That gave the animals pause, and there was a hush.

Muriel began to spell out the words.

But Benjamin pushed her aside.

And in the midst of a deadly silence he read "Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughterer and Glue Boiler, Willingdon.

Dealer in Hides and Bone-Meal.

Kennels Supplied." This extract is so sad.

And when you've read the entire story, and you've been with the animals for the whole time, it's a really emotional extract.

It's a very powerful part of the story.

Boxer's stall is empty.

He's in the van and the animals are all shouting "Bye! Bye!" excited that he's going to go and be fixed by the vet.

But then Benjamin, the old donkey on the farm, calls them all fools and he says "Do you not see what's written on the side of the van?" And he has to read it out for them.

And that's when they find out that Boxer is being taken to be slaughtered.

He's not going to the vets.

He's going to a horse slaughterer.

And now it all kind of becomes clear as to why the pigs would want Boxer to have disappeared without the animals knowing.

They wanted Boxer to be collected without anyone realising.

Where is Boxer actually being taken? I've given you the quotation that will help you answer the question and I've given you a sentence starter.

Although the animals have been told Boxer is going to the vets.

and then you can finish that sentence off.

So press pause, have a go completing the sentence and answering the question and then press play when you're ready.

And here is a possible answer.

Although the animals have been told Boxer is going to the vets, when the van arrives, Benjamin reads the side of the van and tells the animals that Boxer is actually being taken to a horse slaughterer.

As long as your answer includes something about the fact that Boxer is definitely not going to the vets and that he's going to be murdered instead.

That's what you need to have in your answer.

This is the animals reaction.

A cry of horror burst from all the animals.

At this moment the man on the box whipped up his horses and the van moves out of the yard at a smart trot.

All the animals followed crying out at the tops of their voices.

Clover forced her way to the front, the van began to gather speed.

Clover tried to stir her stout limbs to a gallop, and achieved a canter.

"Boxer!" she cried.

"Boxer! Boxer! Boxer!." Too late, someone thought of racing ahead and shutting the five-barred gate.

But in another moment, the van was through it and rapidly disappearing down the road.

Boxer was never seen again.

So we know at this point that a Boxer has gone for good, they couldn't get him back, even though they tried.

I would like you to complete the following sentence.

When the animals realise what is happening.

And then I want you to complete that sentence, please.

There is a quotation on the screen to help you.

But you can make your sentence into a short paragraph if you prefer.

Or you can just keep it at one sentence.

So pause the video here and then press play when you're ready for some feedback.

My answer is that when the animals realise what is happening, they try to let Boxer know and close the gate to stop the van from leaving but they are too late.

In your answer, as long as you've included something about the fact that the animals try to stop it, the animals try to get Boxer back, but they can't.

So they don't see the fact that he's going to a slaughterer and just ignore it and say, Oh, well, I'll see you later Boxer.

They really care about him.

Okay, they want to get him back, but they can't and it's too late.

So as long as you have that feeling in your answer, that will be brilliant.

Let's move on to the allegory then.

We know that Animal Farm is an allegory of the Russian Revolution.

So it's a story with a hidden meaning that as readers we have to discover.

And we've spoken about how Napoleon on the farm, and the pigs that do what they're told, are like Stalin and the leaders.

So in the Russian Revolution, we have Stalin and all of the other leaders that follow Stalin.

And on Animal Farm, we have the equivalent in Napoleon and the pigs.

In the Russian Revolution, we have the workers, they're all of the people that were really keen at the beginning for the revolution for the rebellion, they thought it was a great idea.

But then once Stalin was in charge, they actually get treated really, really badly.

And that's what happens in Animal Farm with the animals, the animals are the workers.

And then finally, the extracts that we've just read together.

The treatment of Boxer and the lack of compassion or respect that Napoleon and the pigs have for Boxer is representing the treatment of the working class in the Russian Revolution.

In the Russian Revolution, all of those people who worked were not treated well by the leaders.

They were simply seen as people who could work hard.

They didn't see them as real people, they didn't care about them.

All they cared about was how hard they could work.

So Orwell in Animal Farm shows us this through Boxer.

Boxer is the hardest working animal on the farm.

But he's getting very close to retirement age, and he's injured.

So for Napoleon and the pigs, he's useless now, they're quite happy to get rid of him.

They don't need him anymore.

It's one less mouth to feed.

That's how Napoleon and the pig see Boxer because it's representing how Stalin and the other leaders saw the working class during the Russian Revolution.

Now, I'd like you to have a go at filling in these gaps.

If you have a printed resource, you will have this table and you can just fill in the gaps.

If you don't have a printed resource, you have two options.

You can either copy out the entire table and then write them down or you can simply match them up.

So for example, you might put number one in the margin, and then animals and then an arrow, and fill in the gap under the Russian Revolution heading completely up to you.

Take your time with this, think carefully.

If you're really stuck, you can rewind it, but I recommend taking your time to think about it, because I'm pretty confident you'll be able to do it by yourself.

So pause the video, have a go, and then press play when you're ready.

And here are the answers.

So for Animal Farm, Napoleon and the pigs are representing Stalin and the leaders.

The animals in Animal Farm represent the workers in the Russian Revolution, either the workers or the working class.

And on Animal Farm, it is the treatment of Boxer which represents the treatment of the working class by the leaders in the Russian Revolution.

If you managed to get all of those correct, big thumbs up, big smile, big pat on the back, that's really impressive.

Well done.

If you didn't quite get them all, you can now pause the video and fill in the gaps where you need to.

Final activity for this lesson is for you to answer the following question.

What message do you think Orwell was trying to give to readers with this part of Animal Farm? Your table that you've just completed will help you with this.

What was Orwell trying to say to readers with this part of Animal Farm.

Boxer, even though he worked really hard on the farm, Napoleon and the pigs still betrayed him.

And they treated him badly.

They lied to him about him going to the vets.

So they broke an agreement, and they deceived him.

So I would like you now to think about the message that Orwell was trying to give to readers.

Pause the video, try your best to answer the question using those words in the green box.

And then press play, when you're ready to find out your feedback.

Good luck.

So here is an example of what you may have written.

If you have not written the exact same thing.

Do not worry, as long as the ideas in your answer are the same as the ideas in my answer.

That's great.

If you manage to include all five words as well, that is incredible.

I would recommend going through and highlighting or underlining them where you've used them.

If there's a couple of words that you've left out, you could always borrow some sentences from my paragraph and add them to your own to improve it.

So my answer is as follows.

Orwell uses this part of the story to highlight the inequality in the world and particularly in the Russian Revolution.

The leaders on the farm betray Boxer by allowing something bad to happen to him after pretending to look after him.

They also deceive the animals by lying to them about what happens to Boxer.

This reflects the poor treatment of workers by leaders in the Russian Revolution.

You'll notice that in this answer, we've addressed Orwell's message.

And we know that Orwell's main message was to show readers how unequal the world was and how unfair it was.

We've spoken about how Boxer is betrayed by the leaders.

And we've also spoken about how Napoleon and the other pigs deceive the animals because they tell the animals boxes going to the vets.

Please pause the video and add in any bits that you have missed into your paragraph.

If you've already got all of this stuff, that's incredible, amazing work.

And even if you've only got some of this stuff, that's still really impressive work so you should be very proud of yourselves.

That's our lesson completed.

So you now know what happened to Boxer.

It's a very, very sad part of the story.

He's my favourite character I think in Animal Farm so for me, I hate this part but we've got through it, we've managed it.

And I didn't cry once, at least not that you've seen.

So next lesson, we're getting very close to the end.

We've only got two more lessons to go.

Please join me for the last two lessons to find out what happens to all of the characters on Animal Farm.

Well done today.