Animal Farm Persuasive Speech

The sun dried grass crunched under David’s feet as he reached the mailbox, sweat plastering his golden hair to his forehead. The rural landscape of Shark Bay is bone dry; the lingering heat wave serving as a slap in the face with the wind blowing what is left of his fields into whirlwinds of dirt. His was once a land of luscious green landscape, the soft air turned branches into wind chimes as the trees swayed. These same trees have been bleached by the heat ridden gusts carving tortured sculpture in their trunks. Some might now see this world as one of desolate wasteland but David grew up with the land, this land was a living, growing friend that he knew, loved, and cared for as much as he did his wife and children. A place of beauty only

It read “Australian Government: Department of Agriculture and Water Resources”. Anticipation fills him as he anxiously hurries up the deck, his heavy RM Williams boots dragging behind. He reads:

Dear Mr. Smith,

I have written to inform you that the Australian government is no longer able to fund your farming practices due to new legislation you no longer qualify for The Farm Household Allowance (FHA). We wish you all the best and suggest you look into alternative subsidy programs that are available on our website.

A sudden dark cloud crashes over him rendering him motionless, lost and destitute. The black dog that haunted him for so long was now not running but flying at him, suddenly engulfed completely by despair. Thinking of his wife and children, tears come to his eyes. Wiping the dusty sleeve across his face, cursing himself for crumpling under the darkness. Failure was never supposed to be a part of him and his future. He recalled the very day this farm became his responsibility, standing in the very spot he stands

David staggers into the kitchen of the old wooden home where his wife is washing the dishes. As she scrubs a pot he can see that she is raw with exhaustion and jittery with coffee. David holds the letter out to his wife, not wanting to meet her eyes. He stammers that it’s time to move and sell the farm, ashamed that there is no other option. When his wife lifts her head from the notice, the turmoil he was feeling was not reflected in her face. Her eyes are narrowed, her lips a hard line. David drew in a deep breath, the burning hard stare would last only as long as it took her to think of the most brutally cutting thing she could tear him down with. She had never been one to back down, fold in an argument. Breaking the silence, she viciously berates him listing the reason they must stay. The children. His father. Their home. With pleading eyes David points to the letter in her hand, his face reddened, clenched fist at his side not wanting to lose