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Critical Analysis of Animal Farm
Power of words in animal farm
Use and abuse of language on animal farms
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Recommended: Critical Analysis of Animal Farm
In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, words – particularly names – are the most important tools for gaining and keeping power. The pigs are able to convince the other animals of anything they wish, if they put their mind to it. Any of the animals could do whatever bad action they want – and it’s not difficult, to steal some extra grain – but what is incredibly difficult is convincing those around you that the bad action they just committed is good. It’s not difficult to kill, but it is very difficult to justify your unjustifiable acts to everyone around you. Actions have more limitations as weapons than words, and consequently language is a more important tool for acquiring power than actions.
It seems as though actions have more power than words in Animal Farm. The animals take over the farm from Mr. Jones not with words, but with deeds. They revolt, and later fight the Battle of the Cowshed and the Battle of the Windmill to gain full control. On multiple occasions, the animals “accepted [Squealer’s] explanation without further explanation” (42) despite not agreeing with it because “the three dogs… growled so threateningly” (42). The underlying
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Benjamin is just as clever as the pigs, if not cleverer. However, he holds little to no power in Animal Farm. The donkey has the possibility of power, though, lurking under his skin – he could use it if he wants to. In fact, when Boxer is taken away, Benjamin is the one who spurs the other animals into action with his words: “Do you not understand what that means? They are taking Boxer to the knacker’s!” (84). Squealer had to do damage control over the situation, and he was concerned that the animals wouldn’t believe his explanation – “his little eyes darted suspicious glances from side to side” (85). However, his use of language beat Benjamin’s because he was willing to exploit the power; while Benjamin was only concerned about saving his friend in the heat of the
Animal Farm is made up of different animals that are lead by Mr. Jones, who ends up being drunk all the time when going to bed and forgets to close up some of the cages. While Mr. Jones was going to sleep in the bed, the animals on the farm was having their own meeting led by, Major, the pig. In the meeting, they talked about who are their enemies and who are their friends, and who are the comrades. While having all ears on Major, he started to say how “Man” was the cause of their problem because with Man, all animals would be free without having to be slaves for anyone. With this being said, Major and all the other animals were singing a song with excitement when it quickly ended by Mr. Jones, who proceeded to
Language is a tool used by all of humanity, with the ability to express the emotions and thoughts of people worldwide. “Animal Farm” by George Orwell focuses on three pigs that go by the names of; Napoleon, Squealer and Snowball. These three take command of the farm they reside on after overthrowing their human master freeing them and the other animals on the farm. After the expulsion of Snowball later on in the story, Napoleon declares himself leader of the farm. In order to secure a life of luxury for Napoleon and his fellow pigs, Napoleon (with Squealer as his spokesman) uses language that distorts the truth, language that intimidates, and language that appeals to the emotions of others to manipulate the gullible animals of Animal Farm.
“The pen is mightier than the sword”, a popular saying, and one that is unequivocally true. Although physical force and power can manipulate someone into acting a certain way, it is not as effective as intelligence. Intelligent people can use the force of their words to extents that physical strength does not extend. Furthermore, intelligent people can use things like propaganda, lies, and deceit to get whatever they want. This is clearly proven by the actions of the pigs in the Animal Farm. Because of their high levels of intelligence compared to the other animals of the farm, the pigs are able to manipulate everyone else to achieve their own personal means through the use of propaganda, lies, and deceit. Propaganda can be seen clearly in the role of the pig Squealer, although it is prevalent throughout the story. In this case, propaganda is used by the pigs to tell the other animals exactly what they want to hear, and to cover up any sort of mistakes on the parts of the pigs. Lies are used to further the personal agendas of the pigs, as well as damage the name of Snowball in the eyes of the animals. Propaganda is used as a defensive measure on the part of the pigs, whereas lies are used as an offensive maneuver by the pigs to strengthen their positions. Deceit is used by the pigs to placate the animals, a maneuver that can be seen as neither offensive nor defensive. Deceit is most prevalent in the maxim of “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”
When people see any injustices being done, most people would not speak up. In the novel Animal Farm, by George Orwell, this theory is proven on many different occasions. Even when it is obvious that Napoleon (the leader) is wrong, the animals do not speak up. Some possible reasons for the animals not speaking up could be that the animals were never educated to be critical thinkers and to notice anything. Another reason could be that the animals were scared and intimidated by their leader. Lastly, the animals could not have seen anything wrong since all their life’s they always had one leader that controlled them. The animals in the end of the novel never spoke up due to their fears
The first rhetorical device that Squealer uses to persuade the other animals is ethos. In the beginning of the novel, Squealer explains why the milk was not being distributed evenly, and why most of it was going to the pigs. Squealer supports this idea by emphasizing the leadership that the pigs play on Animal Farm. Squealer conveys the authority of the pigs by saying “The whole management and organization of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples” (Orwell 31). This quote is an example of ethos, because it shows that the pigs are looking out for the other animals. This shows that the pigs have credible reason to have the milk and apples. It is not really true that the pigs need all of the milk to themselves, so Squealer is using his speaking skills to his advantage, so that he and all of the other pigs are able to enjoy all of the milk. This is not fair to the rest of the animals, but the animals trust the pigs to know how to run things on the farm, so they accept this as a viable reason for their greediness.
...animals had the ability and many even had the knowledge and awareness of the truth behind the pig’s plan with the farm, but they chose to do nothing because of the constant fear they were living in. Jessie knew what the puppies could turn out to be if Napoleon took them away, and she had the power to stop it, but she chose not to. Muriel knew about the plans the pigs had, and she had the mental ability to stop them, but she chose not to. Boxer knew he was being overworked and that he could not live like that much longer, but his naivete did not allow him to stop them. Because of this, evil was able to succeed and fully capture the farm for itself, and there was nothing anybody could do after that. But what if the animals had done something? What if the pigs were exposed? Seems only logical to assume that things would have turned out a whole lot different.
Squealer, using excellent scare tactics and under Napoleon’s control, acquires the pigs the power to control the decisions made on the farm by giving the animals daunting thoughts of a farm gone array due to their flawed decision-making. He dispels the idea of Snowball’s loyalty to animalism by saying that if the animals would have followed Snowball, Jones would have returned and if the animals do not choose wisely whom to trust, the humans and Snowball will return. By cleverly inducing fear into the animals, the pigs are able to convince them to agree with and support anything they suggest. The pigs in George Orwell’s Animal Farm use specific laws, use unknown vocabulary and excruciating detail, implement scare tactics, and create and manipulate laws to successfully attain the other animal’s trust, acquire certain luxuries unavailable to most animals, and establish themselves as the dictators of a totalitarian-like society. Through using detailed, unknown vocabulary, specific laws, and scare tactics, the pigs acquire the ability to drink alcohol, sleep on beds, eat and drink the milk and apples, destroy Snowball’s credibility, and establish a trust between themselves and the other animals.
“The pen is mightier than the sword.” This is a popular saying that explains that, sometimes, in order to persuade or convince people, one should not use force but words. In Animal Farm, by George Orwell, animals overthrow the human leader and start a new life, but some animals want to become the new leaders. To make the other animals obey the pigs, they first have to persuade the farm’s population. Squealer is the best pig for this job because he effectively convinces the animals to follow Napoleon by using different rhetorical devices and methods of persuasion.
Language can be used as a weapon to control others. In the story, after old Major died, the pigs distorted the meaning of his words and twisted the idea of socialism and gradually turned it into totalitarianism. Those pigs knew that other animals were not able to oppose Old Major’s idea, so they used that as an excuse for disobeying the ‘Seven Commandments’ and did whatever they want for their own benefits. They used outrageous terror and abuse of language to keep other animals in dark and finally, they became even greedier and totally destroyed the farm. This symbolizes the society in 1945 and it is the reason why George Orwell wrote this book — to wake up the people at that time.
The novel, Animal Farm, is a well-known allegory written by George Orwell. As a satire of the Russian Revolution, Orwell portrays the rise of a cruel dictatorship and the mistreatment of the general population under it. Like the Communist government in Russia, the government in Animal Farm employs the use of many manipulative tools, especially propaganda. Propaganda was used by the pigs throughout the book, deceiving many of the animals. As this story shows, propaganda can enable governments to bend people to any purpose. By spreading positive messages about Napoleon, persuading the animals that Snowball is an enemy, and convincing the animals that they can’t survive without the pigs, propaganda helped give rise to a vindictive and selfish totalitarian government.
Also, basically all the animals on Animal Farm were pretty dumb, they could not read or write. After Old Major’s death, just three days after presenting his vision to the animals, Snowball and Napoleon quickly become the leaders in planning for the Rebellion because they were the only animals that were smart enough. Besides from Napoleon and Snowball all the animals did many stupid things on the farm. The characters in Animal Farm said a lot of stupid things throughout the whole story, “ ‘He is dead, said Boxer sorrowfully. ‘I had no intention of doing that. I forgot that I was wearing iron shoes’ ” (822).
Through use of language, the pigs appeal to the animals basic hopes and desires of a better life and a better future. They make others work extremely hard, while they themselves rest and unfairly reap most of the benefits of the work. For example, “Now comrades,... to the hayfield! Let us make it a point of honor get in the harvest more quickly than Jones and his men do.” Later in chapter three, Squealer is sent to justify the pigs selfishness and to convince the animals that the pigs are working in their favor. He said, “You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples...Milk and apples contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig...the whole management and organization of this farm depend on us.” This how the animals are persuaded to believe almost anything without question.
The Use of Language in Animal Farm Animal Farm by George Orwell is an allegory in which animals are personified to represent the struggles and conflicts of the Russian Revolution. The main point emphasizes in the novel is that language is a powerful tool, which can be used to manipulate and control people in order to bring about change, whether big or small. In the story the pigs govern everything that happens, whether it is something as miner as eating a meal, or something as major and important as fighting a strategic battle. Napoleon, the foreman, or leader of the pigs is the most powerful of them all. Napoleon and his “side kick”, Squealer, abused the powers of language to manipulate the animals of the farm into thinking that the farm was a beautiful society flourishing with life and freedom, when in fact, it was quite the opposite.
In Animal Farm, there is an old mule known as Old Benjamin who is wise and intelligent and also represents a person in Soviet Russia. A good example of this is seen when Squealer was adding to the Fifth Commandments and Benjamin knew what was changed. Instead of saying, “No animal shall drink alcohol,” it was then written, “No animal shall drink alcohol to excess.” Even though Benjamin knows that it was altered and the animals did not he did not speak up publicly or privately. His comments generally remain to himself. However, that changes when in chapter nine, Boxer went down from illness doing to much hard labor and was then sent to the “hospital”. But then, Benjamin shouted, “Fools! Fools!...do you not understand what that means?” (123;ch.9).
In this novel, an intellectual increase in the exploitation of the animals started with little things such as the eating of the apples for the pigs' health. Then the animals couldn't make an informed decision, which led to their bad decision making. Next, Squealer would constantly tell the animals of the great things that they accomplished now that the pigs had gotten rid of Jones. After that, the pigs used the animals' lack of memory to their advantage by changing laws and telling the animals that the rules that were on the wall, had been there forever.