Lack Of Education In Animal Farm

Mitthra Senthil
Mrs. Silva
English 9A
21 March 2018

The Weapon of Education The book Animal Farm, written by George Orwell, was written to criticize Stalin’s form of government by showing the different features of communism and totalitarianism. The characters in Animal Farm are meant to represent different aspects of society and how they are manipulated by the dictatorship. For example, the pigs in the novel were the corrupt dictators that held excessive power due to their education. The other animals on the farm represented those who blindly followed and could not speak up because of their lack of education, the educated but ignorant ones, or clueless ones that had no opinion about who held the power. The pigs use education as a tool

It was mentioned multiple times that the pigs were born leaders and most knowledgeable on the farm. Orwell writes, “The pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others. With their superior knowledge it was natural that they should assume the leadership”(Orwell 45). The pigs’ leadership began after old Major pushed the animals to rebel against Mr. Jones after he died. The quote states that the pigs landed in the superior position and their knowledge and intelligence made them exempt from any labor needed to be done on the farm. Being the most knowledgeable animals on the farm, the pigs were handed their power and without any manipulation were able to control the other animals on the farm. The superior animals claimed their brain power was too valuable for them to waste time actually doing work and not using their knowledge for more useful things. Soon enough, the pigs were able to control what the animals learned, said, and

This happened to the loyal, hardworking cart horse, Boxer. He was growing old and he could not do much work. Boxer’s lung had collapsed and it was said that a van would be arranged to take him to Willingdon where they would treat him. The animals soon learn that this was not the case. The animals crowded round the van. “Good-bye, Boxer!” they chorused, “good-bye!” “Fools!” shouted Benjamin… “Do you not see what is written on the side of the van?”... “ ‘Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughter and Glue Boiler, Willingdon. Dealer in Hides and Bone-Meal. Kennels Supplied.’ Do you not understand what that means? They are taking Boxer to the knacker’s!”(Orwell 123). In this scene, the animals on the farm come to say good-bye to boxer as he is being taken away in the van when Benjamin tries to make them realize where Boxer is actually going. After hearing what is written on the side of the van, the animals figure out that boxer is being sent to the knacker’s where he will die and turned into glue. They try to yell at him to tell him to get out but the van was too far gone. This quote is a perfect example of exploitation of loyalty because Boxer was the most loyal and hardworking animal on the farm and the windmill would not have been completed without him. Despite his best efforts on the farm, Napoleon still decided to send him to get killed because