Politics and The English Language in George Orwell´s Animal Farm

In "Politics and the English Language", Orwell illustrates the misuse of the English language in society. Orwell believes that language can be used to both actively and passively oppress a society. Orwell has five rules that connect to Animal Farm and Anthem. His rules are the following; never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print, Never use a long word where a short one will do, if it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out, never use the passive where you can use the active, never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

In "Animal Farm,” the pigs make up the 7 commandments that all of the animals in the barn must follow. Such as "Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy,"(Orwell 43) and " Four legs good, two legs bad."(Orwell 43) The commandments that the pigs created connect to George Orwell's article, because in the first quote there are words you cut a few words out and it will still make sense. Instead of saying "Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy," the author can say two legs is the enemy. In the other quote, "Four legs good, two legs bad,” this commandment is in simple terms that you use every day. Instead of saying that, the author can use four legs are superior to two legs.

Another commandment that can be changed into simpler terms is “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."(Orwell 133) This commandment sounds too repetitive and can be changed into something simpler like all animals are equal but others are better than other animals.

Squealer gave a speech about the pigs should eat what they are given. "Comrades! He cried...Many of us actually dislike m...

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...ilities,” is irrelevant to the first sentence. She is saying how she loves people who go after what they want, but she loathes humanity. It seems like she is just writing to get to a certain word count. Furthermore, when Rand said “The secrets of this earth are not for all men to see, but only for those who will seek them,” she said it so complicated, and it could be said in simpler terms.

In conclusion, George Orwell explains how there is confusion in the English language and he believes that that language can be used to both actively and passively oppress a society. He also has confidence that you should never use a simile or metaphor that you have seen in print, never use a long proper word when a short one is better, cut out words if it is possible, never use the passive where you can use the active, and never use a phrase that is the same as an English term.