Animal Farm Rhetorical Analysis

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1. George Orwell's "Animal Farm" is considered a rhetorical allegory. Allegory refers to a story that can contain a hidden political or moral meaning. In "Animal Farm", there are allegories that portray real people, places, and occurrences. The story is originally set on Animal Farm which becomes a metaphor for the Soviet Union, Russia. Napoleon, who takes charge of the farm is analogous to Joseph Stalin. When he drives out Snowball he exclaims to the rest of the animals, "In future, all questions relating to the working of the farm would be settled by a committee of pigs, presided over by myself. These would meet in private and afterward communicate their decision to the others" (Chapter 5). This shows his direct connection to Joseph Stalin because he behaves as a dictator, taking all the power into his own …show more content…

Rhetoric is the ability to persuade or motivate someone in a certain situation. Orwell uses rhetoric through the character of Squealer who truly reflects how language and propaganda can influence and manipulate the public. Squealer once said "I trust that every animal here appreciates the sacrifices that Comrade Napoleon has made in taking this extra labor upon himself. Do not imagine, comrades, that leadership is a pleasure!" (Chapter 5). Squealer uses language in order to persuade the other animals of Napoleon's almost divine nature in order to justify all the terrible things he is doing and to keep him in power. He uses language to confuse the animals into believing that they are remembering things that they have witnessed themselves to be false and proceeds to literally alter the commandments themselves. All this, in favor of keeping the pigs' tyranny in place. The story itself can also be viewed as an example of rhetoric because throughout the book Orwell convinces his readers that dictatorship is to be avoided at all cost because it can lead to a world of oppression and

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