Eco-Interdisciplinarians

Right. So. Ecocritics consider the many relations between literature and the natural world. And in seeking to expand our understanding of the environment, they crank that music and let literary studies party with the hard sciences. Rock.

Now let's put our ecocritic hats on and return to Animal Farm for a moment. Orwell used pigs to symbolize fascist tyrants, yes. But if you look for clues as to the science of pig behavior inside the text, you'll find ways to enrich your understanding of this symbol. Did you know that pigs are really smart animals—kind of like dolphins, and, well, humans?

And, did you know that their physiologies are really similar to the human body as well? That's why radical doctor-types can transplant genetically modified pig hearts into monkeys… and maybe, someday, into humans. So, let's check in on our Metaphoric Depth-o- Meter; now, why do you think Orwell chose to put pigs on his animal farm?

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