preview

Manipulation In Animal Farm

Decent Essays

George Orwell’s Animal Farm reflects the events of the Russian Revolution and the Stalin era in the Soviet Union through the story of a seemingly simplistic farm controlled by animals. One night, Old Major, a prize-winning boar, gives a speech on the idea that all of humanity is evil and rebellion is necessary to achieve freedom. After Old Major dies shortly after his speech, three pigs, Squealer, Snowball, and Napoleon, decide to take control and form the ideas of Old Major into a philosophy—Animalism—with seven principles inscribed in a barn to help maintain harmony amongst the animals. After driving out the human workers, the animals celebrate and begin their own farm. However, problems arise as Napoleon drives Snowball out and begins controlling …show more content…

Napoleon and Squealer use lies manipulate the other naive animals, leading to unjust treatment of the workers. when the windmill is knocked over by a heavy storm, Napoleon takes advantage of the situation and blames Snowball. “ ‘Do you know the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown the windmill? SNOWBALL!’ he suddenly roared in a voice of thunder. ‘Snowball has done this thing!’”(70). As shown, Napoleon is blaming Snowball for the farm’s failures, instead of taking the blame for mediocre planning of the windmill. Orwell uses auditory imagery combined with a metaphor to convey how manipulative Napoleon is, reacting emotionally when telling a lie. Here, Napoleon is using his eloquence to give a convincing argument and wrongly persuade the simple-minded animals into believing that Snowball was at fault. These actions demonstrate the dangers of an uneducated and gullible working class, ready to believe anything, making them believe that the leaders could not be at fault. In addition, after many years, …show more content…

Control of a working class leads to a loss of empathy from the leaders, as Squealer and Napoleon become harsh and selfish leaders. For example, the ruthless murder and slaughter of multiple animals for working with Snowball. “The three hens who had been….They, too, were slaughtered...They were all slain on the spot. And so the tale of confession and executions went on, until there were a pile of corpses lying before Napoleon’s feet and the air was heavy with the smell of blood.”(84). During this, Napoleon instills fear in the rest of the animals to bring his own dominance among the other animals. Orwell uses imagery to vividly describe Napoleon’s cruel retribution against these other animals. The retribution represents Napoleon’s dictatorial rule over the animals. The loss of compassion is also expressed through the cruel slaughter of so many animals to manipulate them through fear, as the sixth Commandment of Animalism was to not hurt any animals(25). Napoleon’s tyrannical personality further develops as he ruthlessly sells Boxer, his most loyal and hardest working animal, for profit. “ ‘Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughter and Glue Boiler’...and the word went around that from somewhere or other the pigs had acquired the money to buy themselves another case of whiskey.”(122-126). In order to buy a case of whiskey, Napoleon sends Boxer to his death, and has

Get Access