Animal Farm Rhetorical Analysis

The cyclic nature of political revolutions and the uneven distribution of power creates a problematic and dystopic society. This is depicted in George Orwell’s dystopian, allegorical novella “Animal Farm”. This provides a warning against revolutions as he suggests that revolutions are detrimental to a society and its working class citizens. His novel depicts the unfavourable aspects of the human condition, and the terrible effects they can have on society if political leaders are not regulated. Orwell argues that a political revolution leads to an uneven division of power between citizens and their leaders, and this creates problems within politics such as corruption and propaganda. By portraying the negative characters of greed and ambition,

In the rhetorical question “Surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?” the pigs justify their actions of stealing by threatening the other animals about the return of Jones. The act of stealing the resources on the farm depict greed and ambition of the pigs and the rhetorical question illustrates the use of propaganda and the abuse of power. This illustrates that political leaders that are not regulated will ultimately abuse their power and position to fulfil their ambition. Squealer reveals through the dialogue that “organization of this farm depend on us”, which he uses to manifest that the pigs are more superior to others. This further illustrates the development of an uneven distribution of power in society, as the more educated and ambitious characters are assuming control over other individuals. Through the use of the descriptive language “nine enormous dogs wearing brass-studded collars” Napoleon’s greed and ambition drive him to assume complete control on the farm, and in doing so he uses force to drive out Snowball. Orwell illustrates the abuse of power through Napoleon as he results to force in order to subdue the other animals and become more powerful. This is symbolic of the Stalin and Trotsky disagreement, and Stalin’s ambition which eventually led to him to forcefully remove Trotsky to gain

A powerful, corrupt, ambitious government will use propaganda to strip citizens of their fundamental rights and freedom to sustain the government’s power and standing in society. Through the simile “all that year the animals worked like slaves” the author makes the audience sympathize with the animals as they are being manipulated and used by the pigs. This creates tension in the novella and allows Orwell to criticise political leaders for their selfishness and greed. The use of propaganda is further manifested through the use of contrast in “he could turn black into white.” The use of contrast depicts the extensive use of propaganda used in Russia to suppress and silence them. Through the conduplicatio of “Jones” Squealer manipulates the animals by threatening them of the possible risks. This is ironic in a sense as towards the end of the novella, the animals are living in a worse state than when they lived under Jones, therefore, highlighting the cyclical nature of political revolutions. The double entendre of “equal” in “ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS” illustrates the extensive propaganda used in a corrupt society. The double entendre highlights that some animals are more superior and powerful than others which is ironic as it means the opposite of equality. The symbolism in “a ladder broken in two pieces… beside it and near at hand there lay a