Merryn Coumou Animal Farm Essay 8a Although the pigs in this novel are terrible creatures who do terrible things, they are unfortunately very, very smart. These pigs are power hungry, and they will do anything that it takes to maintain their power. But, to maintain power, the pigs must first gain power. The pigs use education as a way to gain power. After the rebellion in the beginning of the novel, the pigs find books that teach them to read in the farm house. The pigs, being the power hungry animals that they are, teach themselves how to read and write. They know that they are much smarter than all of the other animals on the farm. Since the other animals could not learn how to read or write, the pigs used this as leverage to get power. Because they are the only animals that could read or write, they were quickly thought of as leaders and much …show more content…
They make their own rules without the help of the other animals, which instantly make them have more power over the others. The rules that the pigs make are written on the wall of a barn. Using the knowledge that the other animals can’t read, the pigs know that they can discreetly edit the rules in their favor in the future. When another animal questions the different look of the rules, the pigs can just say that it was there before and the idiotic animals will believe them. From the beginning of the novel when the pigs gain power, the reader already notices the darkness of their hearts, and that they have wicked intentions for the future. Also, the way the pigs can control the rules represents government control. The pigs used education and the lack of education the other animals have to
First, the inability to read or write automatically let the pig take advantage of the other animals. The animals were attempting to learn the alphabet however, most couldn't get passed the first letter. "Muriel, the goat, could read [better than] the dogs. . . Benjamin could read as well as any pig, but never exercised his faculty. . . Mollie refused to learn any bu the six letters [which] spelt her own name. . .None of he other animals [could get] further than A." (Orwell, 28) The few animals that did understand how to read and write was inferior to the pig's level of literacy and/or did not use what they knew to their own
The first clue towards the development of the pigs’ character was the example with the apples and milk. The pigs had taken the apples and milk, claiming that “it is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples,” and that “(this has been proved by Science, comrades) these contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig.” However, they had deceived the animals, fooling them with the illusion that they were doing this for them, whereas, they were just consuming
“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 35). The main leader of the pigs is Napoleon due to his controlling and merciless personality. Since the pigs were not doing any work on the farm, they encouraged all of the other animals to contribute in the work. As you see here, these are the beginnings of an overbearing government starting to form. The animals do not have a say in who does what or who gets what on the farm. Two items that really created a fuss on the farm were the disappearance of cows’ milk and the apples. “"Comrades!" he cried. "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. I dislike them myself. Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health. Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are brainworkers. 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 42). In this quote the pigs are trying to justify their superiority to the animals and give logical reasons as to why they deserve the milk and apples over the other characters. This is similar to the people of Russia when they began to be oppressed all over again by Stalin. Both groups of people and animals do not want to repeat the same past that they just escaped, however they are not sure how to break free from the
Orwell shows the difference in those with absolute control and those without the ability to express themselves by describing how “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”(35). By including this quote within the making of the new farm, Orwell expresses how the pigs took advantage of their authorial positions so they could force the others to work, while they dominated Animal Farm with their own rules. The pigs’ power allowed them to have freedom to do anything they wanted, but caused the other animals to be restricted further in their lives, work, and individual rights. This resulted in the exploitation of the other animals, forcing them to have lose any hopes of having an equal society. Still, the other animals did not protest, and instead believed the pigs should be in power because of their intelligence. Their actions lead to the oppressive, dictatorial society shown as Animal Farm progresses. Soon, the inequity between the pigs and other animals develops to a point where “all rations were reduced, except those of the pigs and the dogs. A too rigid equality in rations, Squealer explained, would have been contrary to the principles of Animalism”
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
Have you ever been curious about how animals feel inside living in farms and who are the big bosses that run everything within the farm? And who has the power? In, Animal Farm, size did not matter in this case! The animals were convinced to do what the pigs tell them to. The power holders in the book are the pigs ! Puny, chubby, and persuading pigs! Ruling a whole farm of animals. They were smooth with their words and careful and manipulative. Then, soon enough the pigs took matters into their hands causing surprises to most of the farm animals. In the book Animal Farm as well as in our society, the leader that rise to power are usually the cleverest or most intelligent and most able to manipulate.
From the very beginning, Napoleon and the pigs take charge and make the other animals do the work for them, while the pigs just supervise. In chapter three, when they begin working on plowing the fields, the pigs do not do anything other than tell the others what to do, “The pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the other” (20). The pigs, from the very start of animal farm, took charge and only directed and told others what to do. They solidified their positions as leader’s right at the beginning of the farm. Also, at the end of the book, the pigs, to show their leadership, carry whips around to make sure the work gets done, “After that it did not seem strange when next day the pigs who were supervising the work of the farm all carried whips in their trotters” (92). Since the creation of the farm the pigs started to slowly present the fact that they would take charge, and in the beginning when they were nice about it no one argued with them. By the end though, the animals finally realized what had happened, but by then it was too late for them to do anything about it. Admittedly, Napoleon and the rest of the pigs are greedy because they take all the extra food and make the others work like slaves, but that does not make them ineffective in the ways they make the animals work. Napoleon showed his effectiveness as a
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
In a society where an elite class has access to tools that the masses do not, this elite group of people often use these tools to dominate and oppress society. In George Orwell’s story, Animal Farm, Orwell demonstrates that education is a powerful weapon and is a tool that can be used to one’s advantage. Living in a world where power is easy to gain, the pigs quickly use education (or lack thereof) to manipulate the rest of the animals on the farm to serve themselves. This story ultimately reveals the underlying message that first, education is important to all levels of society, next, for when it is not, society is stratified, resulting in the masses suffering.
It is immediately decided that the pigs will be the leader of the farm, as they are the most intelligent animals there. This gives them the power over the other animals, even though they claim they are all equal. Since they are in charge, it is easier for them to weave ideas in to the susceptible minds of the others. Once they are proven to be
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
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.
How do the animals get what they want? First I will start with the pigs, the pigs get what they want towards the beginning of the book when they first drive off Jones. After they drove him away they almost immediately take command of the situation by telling the other animals what to do. It gets worse when Napoleon takes over because he has more of a temper and always gets his way. On the bright side the normal animals eventually get their freedom at the start of the rebellion when they first chase out Jones, but this freedom is later abolished when there start to be executions and when the pigs start to act more like humans.
One of the main reasons why the pigs were able to stay in control is because the animals were easily brainwashed into supporting and believing that whatever the pigs say is right. The pigs were able to control the animals like this through the use of propaganda, they used many forms of propaganda and controlled the animals very strategically. When the other animals notice that the pigs took all the milk and apples Squealer said, “ Comrades!" he cried. "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 … It is for YOUR sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples ” ( Orwell-14). It is seen how squealer bends the truth in this excerpt to make it seem like the pigs are doing this for the good of the animals, but they are actually doing this out of greed for more food and power. The pigs often use different propaganda techniques to encourage the animals to keep working and supporting the pigs. Squealer once stated that “ production of every class of foodstuff had increased by two hundred per cent, three hundred per cent, or five hundred per cent, as the case might