George Orwell's Use Of Education In Animal Farm

“Surely, comrades,” cried Squealer almost pleadingly, skipping from side to side and whisking his tail, ‘surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?” (Orwell 15) This quote indicates the first signs of manipulation that became evident since the revolution. The pigs, Snowball and Napoleon to be specific, had begun to develop human characteristics as the story went on, which could be considered ironic, considering the fact that they had just overthrown the humans, for they were abusive towards them. As the novel went on, it is stated at the end that the animals had “looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” (Orwell 54)

As squealer persuades the animals, why they should preserve the milks and animals to the pigs, he uses several techniques of propaganda, for instance appeals to fear. in the story, squealer asks them a question, "Surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones back?.” this means that if the pigs die, mr. Jones will soon return. This makes the animals freighted because the animals don´t want him back and they want to live in a horrible life.

When the pigs gain power they start to organize committees throughout the farm. They also position the animals for labor work and basically act as a congress. This allows them to be passive making others do all of the work. They have a wide variety of knowledge to brainwash the animals into thinking the

To fully take control over Animal Farm, the government spread the message that the farm could not prosper or function without the pigs. This message allowed the pigs to gain many privileges in the farm without question. From the very beginning of the story, the other animals regarded the pigs as the smartest of all the animals in the farm. Because of this, it was naturally assumed that the pigs should lead the farm into rebellion against the humans and guide the animals into a better life. However, the pigs gained more control than the other animals thought they would. The pigs, especially Squealer, convinced the other animals that they should be allowed special privileges because they were shouldering the most “burdens” of all the

None of the animals seemed to quite understand what the two pigs seemed to talk about they weren't informed properly. If the animals couldn't make informed choices, then they couldn't make good choices. Some animals had the proper education and learned to read and write. These same animals had such a lack of intelligence that they couldn't figure out what the pigs were talking about.

Countless times, the book shows that the pigs lied and manipulated the others. They were able do this simply because the rest of the animals turned a blind eye towards the things they saw and were told. In the beginning, all the animals were so happy that they had won the rebellion and gotten rid of Mr. Jones, they did not realize that the newly communist society was slowly changing and not for the better. On page 32, it states “The reading and writing classes, however, were a great success. By the autumn almost every animal on the farm was literate in some degree. As for the pigs, they could already read and write perfectly.” As you can see, all the animals were educated – at least to some extent – but the pigs were by far the smartest. This shows that the other animals were able to at least recognize letters and words. While the animals were somewhat literate, they did not take the time to better educate themselves. This caused them to remain blind to the fact that Napoleon was slowly creating a group of sentinels and surreptitiously planning to get rid of Snowball. Napoleon took advantage of the fact that it had been decided that the pigs knew better when it came to certain things. For example, he took puppies away from their mother. He promised to educate them well. Napoleon seemed to be acting benevolent but

Orwell is able to show how when education is not given to all, it is very easy for those with it to abuse it for more power. Now that the pigs have the initial advantage over the other animals, the future holds plans of using it as a personal tool to oppression.

Throughout the story, you see the way that the pig, Squealer, gives information to the “lowly” animals. He tells them what the leading pig, Napoleon, wants them to know, but he tells it in a way that it seems they are benefitting. Squealer had a way of persuading the other animals to listen to him, through his actions and manipulation. “The best known among them was a small, fat pig named Squealer, with very round cheeks, twinkling eyes, nimble movements and a shrill voice. He was a brilliant talker, and when he was arguing some difficult point he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail, which was somehow very persuasive. The others said of Squealer that he could turn black to white.”

The pigs as we know by now, were the best educated but they gradually demoralise through the novel. ‘All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others’. This quote for me

Everywhere in the world and in almost every aspect of life, people strive for power. The desire of power is a natural thought to humans. In Animal Farm, a group of animals win their power from humans and create their own community, which they said would have no leaders. Naturally, though, leaders arise due to certain things, one of which, is knowledge. In Animal Farm, the animals on the farm gain power over the humans and start their own society, which leads to the pigs rising as natural leaders primarily because of their knowledge.

George Orwell’s Animal Farm is a perfect example of how ignorance and lack of education can be used for control. Control which can lead to political and social oppression. The experiences of the various characters present how the pigs use this idea to oppress the animals of Animal Farm.

In today’s society, influences from the western world depict education as a prerequisite for adulthood, required to be undertaken as a child. We as students in a western world must learn the ways of the western world and how we can alter and instil it into the societies of the honourable eastern world. In ‘Animal Farm’, the pigs first tried to teach the other animals to read; some animals learnt the alphabet, but most did not. Seeing this, the pigs realized that they could tell the animals anything and they would have to be believed. Gradually, the pigs began to control education and began to indoctrinate the animals. For example, the sheep were taught to say ‘Four legs good, two legs bad’ at certain times so that the animals had to listen to the pigs’ propaganda, which was accepted and remained unquestioned.

The use of language in the story is important as it represents propaganda. Squealer is a public speaker, using his words to persuade the animals into believing that their actions are good. Also that they are always telling the truth and that Napoleon was a good pig. Extract from Animal Farm Chpt 7. "And he very nearly succeeded-i will even say he would have succeeded if it had not been for our heroic leader, Comrade Napoleon...when panic was spreading and all seemed lost, that comrade Napoleon sprang forward with a cry of 'death to humanity!'

For we know now- it is all written down in the secret documents we found” (Orwell 80). It is this instance between Boxer and Squealer that begins the downward spiral of believing in every word that the pigs say, and eventually forgetting what the truth is. The full affect of this is stated at the beginning of chapter ten, stating “a time came when there was no one who remembered the old days before the Rebellion, except Clover, Benjamin, Moses the raven, and a number of pigs” (Orwell 127). This is the ultimate end for the animals at the

Animal Farm begins with Old Major telling his fellow animals about his dream in which he envisions a farm with no humans. The speech instills a drive within the animal community to rise and overthrow Mr. Jones, the farm owner. After the farmer is successfully removed and Old Major dies, the animals find themselves in a leaderless state. Three pigs, Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer, take it upon