How does Orwell tell the story in Chapter 10 of Animal Farm?

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James Clyburn

How does Orwell tell the story in Chapter 10 of ‘Animal Farm’?

In the final chapter of Orwell’s satirical novel of indirect political attack, the story is drawn to the inevitable conclusion. Throughout the novel Orwell has hinted that the equality promised in the beginning of the story will not be delivered. We see the pigs finally commanding absolute power and dictatorship over the farm and becoming ever similar to their human ‘colleagues’. It is the fact that the humans have become their colleagues instead of their superiors (as is the case on every other farm in England), which is the pivotal moment of the novel.

This acquisition of power over the rest of the animals is shown by the fact that six of the animals’ principle Seven Commandments have been erased, in favour of just one – “All animals are equal”. However, the addition of “but some animals are more equal than others” as discovered by Benjamin, makes all the difference. This is the first outright claim that Orwell makes which directly shows the pigs seizing superiority.

Throughout the novel, the reader sees the proceedings from the animal’s point of view. Chapter 10 of Animal Farm really shows us the power of this narrative technique. Although it seems to the animals that “their life, so far as they knew, was as it always had been” - they remain naïvely hopeful to the very end that things will, one day, get better. Even after realising that Old Major’s dream of equality should be upon them by now, they all insist “still it was coming”. By doing this, Orwell creates a sense of irony for the readers as they have seen the foreshadowing that the naïve animals have not. The reader has become suspicious of the pigs and does not believe Squealer’s propaganda like the animals do. Even after they have been stripped of their equality, the animals still succumb to Squealer’s lies. This faith in the pigs is shown when Orwell describes Squealer’s “lists of figures” as “invariably demonstrating that everything was getting better”. The reader knows that of course things weren’t getting better and the lists and figures and ‘important paperwork’ were all false but we see the events from the animals point of view which creates tension through the ironic continuation of faith which the animals have.

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If Orwell had used an independent or third person narrative, it would have ‘separated’ the audience from the animals. However this strategy lets us empathise with them on a personal level, as we feel involved yet helpless seeing their continued naïve belief in the pigs and knowing of the oppression that they will soon face. This narrative strategy used by Orwell not only gives a feeling of involvement in the action, but also creates a sense of dramatic contrast between the naivety of the animals and the sinister foreshadowing of the pigs’ rise to power and control.

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