Paper Moon and Animal Farm

In “Paper Moon”, Long Boy and Addie go on the road and do business, which is cheating people for money. At one point, Long Boy makes a horrific mistake and the two must rapidly escape. “Animal Farm” is about a farm where the animals take over in a large and ever growing rebellion. In each book, the main characters cause the losses for other people for a cause they believe to be right.

Addie and Long Boy believe that they are doing what is right for them. They make a fortune using people to get money. They are not doing what is fair to most people, because they are not treating those people fairly. However, it is fair to them because they are the ones making the profit. The people that Long Boy and Addie cheat lose much money and/or goods such as cotton because of them. Sometimes they sell them faulty items or items that they have unknowingly already bought. Most people in the story, as well as those who read it, do not think that what they are doing is right, that they are stealing. However, they make a large profit out of this business, as it is their full-time job. They would surely have doubts about what they were doing if they believed it to be wrong.

Similarly, the animals in “Animal Farm” also hurt others for a cause they think is right. Most people believe and are taught that war is wrong. However, the animals believed it right enough to feel the need to fight in order to take over the farm. The humans obviously did not think that the rebellion was the correct thing to do, but those animals did. They caused the loss of land, and a job loss for many farm staff to help a rebellion that they thought would improve the world. In my opinion, I think they are correct. Those people who lost their farm may not see the long term consequences. With animals taking over, people would die out. In the story, the animals seem to know how to do everything that the humans did to take over the farm, but realistically, the humans would no longer create such an impact, and therefore the earth would be used less harshly. Would a tiger use fossil fuels? Would insects destroy entire forests within minutes? I thought not.

The main idea of “Paper Moon” and “Animal Farm” is that the main characters or group of characters use other people for a cause they think is right. But does this make it right? I think that this makes it right to those people. Right and wrong cannot be proven, so something can only be right or wrong when people (or animals) believe it is. These books use their plots to explain why a few criminals wreak havoc: to pursue what they think is right.