Examples Of Satire In Animal Farm

Orwell’s Criticism of Animal Farm

In the satire Animal Farm, the author, George Orwell, used many examples of satires and irony to target and criticize the working class animals because Orwell wanted to expose and clearly show the ignorance and stupidity of the working class and their failure to act against their own oppression when given the chance to do so.

One example that clearly shows Orwell’s satire is found in chapter six, where the animals were said to have worked like slaves all year long. Laboring endlessly is usually an undesirable job. This is related to African American slavery, when unwanted work was given to African American slaves. This irony to this is that the animals felt happy for slaving away for a year, overexerting

themselves because they were “well aware that everything that they did was for the benefit of themselves.” Orwell is clearly criticizing that animals’ ignorance to their own manipulation by the pigs. They are working to only bring more power and control to the pigs and unfortunately, they do not realize this.
An example of irony can be found in chapter nine when Boxer was sent to the horse slaughterer in exchange for money in order to buy drinks. This is highly ironic because he was the strongest animal who helped the most during many of Napoleon’s construction projects. He was also a huge contributor to Napoleon’s dictatorship because of his two maxims that he repeated throughout the story: “I will work harder” and “Napoleon is always right.” With these maxims, all the other animals wanted to emulate Boxer, eliminating any thoughts of a revolution.
Boxer was very useful to Napoleon, and yet he was thrown to the side without a second thought. Orwell is criticizing Boxer’s failure to see that his efforts are being put to a bad cause. Boxer kept blaming himself for everything that was wrong. Another point of criticism is the animals’ failure in questioning Boxer’s death. They clearly see Boxer being driven away in a van belonging to the horse slaughterer, and yet they chose to do nothing.
From the beginning to the end of the story, the Seven Commandments were slowly altered to fit the pigs’ wants. In chapters six and eight, Clover was faced with the altered Fourth and Sixth Commandment, specifying that beds without sheets are usable and murder is allowed with cause, and she decided to blame her memory and not question the change. Even when Squealer was found at the end wall of the barn holding a paintbrush and paint, clearly proving that Squealer was the one who was and has been changing the Seven Commandments, none of the animals wanted to point it out. Orwell gives another example of satire here, criticizing that the animals had a great opportunity to speak up about the changes, but their ignorance and stupidity led them to stay quiet and continue contributing to their own oppression. This led to the ultimate change in the commandments, leaving only one commandment on the wall: “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.” The animals completely accept this, without even understanding what the commandment actually means. At this point, there is no way for the animals to climb out of the hole that they have dug for themselves. Their choices ultimately led to their own demise.