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Silence Kills, Animal Farm Essay

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Haley Zrnchik Mrs. Hawkins Honors English 1, Red 1 13 December 2012 Silence Kills In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Benjamin, a soft-spoken donkey, finds his once peaceful home transformed into a tyrannical dictatorship led by a power-hungry pig named Napoleon. Because of Benjamin’s reserved nature, he ultimately was able to lead Animal Farm into its oppression. Benjamin’s silence, his ability to follow without question, and his inability to share his wisdom with the other animals turned him into one of the main contributors to the tyrannical behavior that occurred and the loss of freedom and equality on Animal Farm. When someone keeps their thoughts silent, it usually allows wrong to happen; in this case, Benjamin and his reserved …show more content…

. . except . . . since Boxer’s death, more morose and taciturn than ever” (128) Benjamin’s growing silence caused him to become a bigger contributor to the loss of freedom and equality on Animal Farm. At this point, he wouldn’t speak up; Benjamin confirmed his spot as a follower and never as anything more. Sometimes silence is the deadliest weapon. Benjamin proved that by remaining quiet through a time of oppression, one would only be helping to promote a leader’s totalitarianism. His stubborn silence, his adamancy towards following his orders, and his taciturn attitude after the death of Boxer only stood to show that a follower sometimes can be the strongest contribution to a tyranny. Napoleon’s dictatorship, while strong, would not have been as successful had it not been for his followers. Benjamin and the others, while they may not have realized it, were key attributes needed to lead to the ultimate removal of freedom and equality on Animal Farm. Works Cited Orwell, George. Animal Farm: With Connections. Austin, TX: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1999.

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