Literary devices used in Animal Farm Timothy Quong
What is the definition of a good novel? Opinions on this question may differ, but there are many things that good novels have in common. Most importantly, the reader must enjoy the novel. When I use the word enjoy, I don’t necessarily mean that it should make the reader ‘happy’ or ‘joyful’. The novel should give the reader a valuable or worthwhile experience. Many good novels often address topics that relate to our own reality. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, one of the main focuses is on power and corruption.
Although consisting of only 95 pages, Animal Farm is effective in delivering its message. Orwell uses a variety of literary devices in Animal Farm that make it a deceptively
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Since by that that time, the pigs had already become humans. Beasts of England was abolished by Napoleon after the first executions and replaced by songs about his own greatness. The gun was also fired on his birthday. In the last chapter, military-style parades were held.
Punishments-
Initially, if any animal didn’t work hard enough, the leadership would overlook it. Debates and criticism were welcome and meetings were held every Sunday. Once Napoleon came to power, Sunday meetings were abolished and anyone who voiced any opposition was threatened. Anyone who rebelled didn’t receive any rations. Later in the story, the animals that complained or rebelled were executed.
Battles-
The rebellion didn’t have any bloodshed and no one was seriously injured. The battle of Cowshed was the first battle where animals died, a sheep and a stable – lad were killed. A few other animals were also wounded, “bloody streaks across Snowball’s back.” The next battle was even more violent, three sheep, a cow, and two geese were killed. Almost everyone else was wounded.
Social classes-
In the original ideology, all animals were equal. The ideology sought to eliminate injustice towards all animals. As time passed, the pigs became the rulers. At first, the pigs became the leaders because they were the most intelligent animals on the farm. Napoleon and some of the other pigs later used
A quote from the book states “...and in August Napoleon announced that there would be work on Sunday afternoons as well. This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half.”(Ch. 6, Animal Farm). Which basically makes the animals force to volunteer so they can eat. The pigs manipulated them to get what they want. The pigs also made the hens give up their eggs to make money for meals to keep the farm running. The Hens protested which lead to death threats to the hens if they did not give up their eggs. In the book it says “Led by three young Black Minorca pullets, the hens made a determined effort to thwart Napoleon's wishes. Their method was to fly up to the rafters and there lay their eggs, which smashed to pieces on the floor. Napoleon acted swiftly and ruthlessly. He ordered the hens' rations to be stopped, and decreed that any animal giving so much as a grain of corn to a hen should be punished by death.” (Ch. 7 Animal Farm). This shows that the pigs would kill just to get their way. They didn’t care about the life just the
Meet Napoleon, a pig that tries to act as a human in order to pursue his lifelong dream as a farm’s dictator (not really). Welcome to Animal Farm. Napoleon is a pig in a farm called Animal Farm, after the animals decide to rebel against their farm owner Jones, they change the farm’s name from Manor Farm to Animal Farm. This story goes on to Napoleon deciding to use his intelligence as an advantage to lead the other animals. He writes 7 commandments that the animals need to followed. Napoleon’s power could have been checked after he broke these commandments, by deciding to give the pigs all of the milk and apples, by beginning to sleep in the beds of the farmhouse, and by killing two sheep.
This all went very well for a while, but the revolution then took a drastic downfall. The animal’s freedom and individuality was slowly taken away. Napoleon took the dogs freedom away by “making them bow, “ and obey him only. The animals also began to have no freedom of speech, “ raised their voices timidly but they were promptly silent by a tremendous growling,” which shows us that the farm was no longer run by all the animals but rather by the pigs, anything they say is right and you may not argue. The animals no all had to be the same, which can be taken as equality, but it was taken to the extreme. The animals had to call each other, “comrade,” and they weren’t even allowed to stick out in the smallest ways, ” Molly’s ribbons were taken,” which was fine at first but then slowly the animals started forgetting who they were.
Through having Napoleon declare that “there would be no more debates,”Orwell is able to portray that the pigs are silencing their subjects in order to maintain power for themselves. Napoleon’s education makes it possible for him to assume all power through manipulation. Napoleon’s complete control and silencing of the animals foreshadows that he may resort to more oppression and take
At the start Napoleon and the other pigs strongly believed that all animals were equal and had the right
George Orwell's novel, Animal Farm, was his very first piece of political writing. On the surface, this novel is about a group of miserable and mistreated farm animals that overthrow their neglectful owner; they take control of the farm. However, it too is a political allegory mainly focusing on the Russian Revolution. Orwell wrote Animal Farm in response to what had occurred in the Russian Revolution. Seeing how the people were being manipulated over for their freedom, he decided to write about these events through farm animals. The author's purpose for writing this novel is to warn his audience that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutly. Orwell's intent in fusing political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole, was truly
In George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, a major turning point in the novel was when Napoleon used his secret police force, his dogs, to exile Snowball. Snowball had previously been trying to improve the animal’s lives for the future by building a windmill. After Snowball was exiled, Napoleon became leader and everything immediately went amiss. Orwell stated that: "Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer- except, of course, for the pigs and the dogs" (p.86). In other words, no one was benefiting from the animal’s labours apart from the pigs and the dogs because the amount of authority the dogs and the pigs, especially Napoleon had, was corrupt. Frighteningly, if Snowball had been
After the revolution, Manor Farm was renamed to Animal Farm and the Seven Commandments of animalism were established to ensure equality. The pigs became the supervisors of the farm. However, the rivalry between two pigs Snowball and Napoleon made Napoleon use force. Napoleon ordered his dogs to chase out Snowball from the farm in order to become the only leader. Napoleon’s selfishness and corrupt power made him commit different atrocities against his own comrades. As a result, the lives of the animals except for the pigs and dogs were of tyranny and inequality. Napoleon became worse than their former human master. The animals spent the rest of his life almost starving and working in the construction of the windmill that was destroyed several times. The abolishment of Sunday morning meetings, the public execution of animals, and the drinking of alcohol were the most important changes that facilitated the transformation of animal farm, and Napoleon as the most responsible for the downfall of the utopian vision of Animal Farm.
Orwell and Bradbury both did a tremendous job in developing the characters and the overall setting to help the reader understand the important message of the story. In Animal Farm, the animals may be animals, but in another reality of the story, they represent humans and ideas in a society. The animals can lie, manipulate, and train other animals to their own advantage as humans do. The consequences of lying, manipulating, and taking advantage of others, are destructive.
Napoleon and his gang of hogs did not earn the right to live in the farmhouse because of their selfish, prideful hearts. They placed their snouts before the wants and needs of the other animals, discriminating against the loyal creatures. For instance, desiring more leisure, the pigs, taking advantage of the abandoned house, “took their meals in the kitchen and used the drawing room as a recreation room.” Also, they “slept in beds,” an act formerly prohibited by every farm creature (24, 66). These swine called themselves comrades, and later leaders, but their actions did not live up to that name because leaders should care for their followers, giving the best to them. Instead of that, the pigs took the best positions for themselves, leaving
In the beginning, everyone was treated as an equal, but slowly you see the Napoleon's ego grow and the work load of the other animals increases. The fairness that was provided in the start of the book begins to be taken away, but the animals remain loyal to the pigs and believe that its the best for the farm The quote on page 77 illustrates this perfectly, "Meanwhile life was hard. The winter was as cold as the last one had been, and food was even shorter. Once again 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. In any case he had no difficulty in proving to the other animals that they were not in reality short of food, whatever the appearances might be. For the time being, certainly, it had been found necessary to make a readjustment of rations (Squealer always spoke of it as a "readjustment," never as a "reduction"), but in comparison with the days of Jones, the improvement was enormous." This shows the kind of leader that Napoleon is for the farm. He constantly puts his own needs before the needs of the animals that work so hard for the farm to survive. Napoleon and the pigs used there larger intellect to trick the animals into thinking that getting less food and more work was a good thing and that it was still better than working for the
George Orwell includes a strong message in his novel Animal Farm that is easily recognizable. Orwell’s Animal Farm focuses on two primary problems that were not only prominent in his WWII society, but also posed as reoccurring issues in all societies past and present. Orwell’s novel delivers a strong political message about class structure and oppression from the patriarchal society through an allegory of a farm that closely resembles the Soviet Union.
Animal Farm is a novel by George Orwell. It is an allegory in which animals play the roles of Russian revolutionists, and overthrow the human owners of the farm. Once the farm has been taken over by the animals, they are all equal at first, but class and status soon separates the different animal species. This story describes how a society’s ideologies can be manipulated by those in political power, to cause corruption by those in leadership.
Writers often use social commentary to inform the general population about a pressing issue while at the same time appealing to people’s sense of justice. One way of accomplishing this is through a fable which is simply a short story in which animals are used to convey a moral lesson. George Orwell is a prime example of an author who can use a fable as a social commentary. Orwell makes a parody of Russian communism as demonstrated in the pigs attempt at totalitarian rule, there manipulation of the working class and the pigs evolution into the capitalists they initially opposed.
Orwell did not write Animal Farm simply as a bed time story for children, or for a work to be studied by students in their classes. As