Snowballs attempts to educate the animals are laudable but to some extent are doomed. Mollie uses her knowledge of the alphabet to pursue her own vanity, Benjamin simply refuses to read, and the more intelligent animals (such as the dogs) will not extend their knowledge. This is possibly summed up the fact that Muriel reads from a rubbish tip, giving some idea of what Orwell thinks about the uses to which the animals put their reading. Few of them are willing to broaden their horizons and this makes them vulnerable.
How would the course of the revolution would alter if the animals were keen to, or indeed able to, learn? What do you think Orwell is saying about the role of education in society?
Boxer and Clover are willing to read but lack the indolence to do so. However well-meaning or kid they are, their lack of appreciation of what is actually going around them means that they do not see the way in which they are being used by the pigs. Both a lack of intelligence and literacy are seen as leaving the animals in a venerable position later. In addition, Snowballs aims are in some ways ridiculous, his list detains their reading fails to address the complacency of some of the animals and their differing levels of ability. It serves little purpose.
The pigs are able to exploit the other animals, as they are intelligent enough to manipulate the truth in such a way that their evil actions seem perfectly acceptable. This is achieved through a skilful use of language.
Language and Power
Orwell was concerned about the relationship between language and power. In his essay literature and totalitarianism, Orwell stated that ‘totalitarianism has abolished freedom of thought to an extent unheard of in any previous age’. He believed that this was achieved not only by preventing or forbidding certain thoughts or ideas but also by telling people exactly what to think. In this way, the totalitarian state does not just control one’s actions and movements but one’s thoughts as well. This idea was developed by Orwell in his novel 1984. This is achieved through propaganda.
We see this from the beginning of the novel when Snowball simplifies Majors ideas into slogans, in an effort to make the less intelligent animals understand the principles of Animalism. For example, Majors statement that ‘whatever goes upon four legs is a friend, whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy; is reduced to the slogan ‘Four legs good. Two legs bad’, this simplification can lead to a loss of meaning and become dangerous as we see when the sheep use the chant to drown any opposition to Napoleon in the meetings.
Propaganda (the deliberate and organised spread of information to make sure that people unquestionably believe) It is also used to refer to the information itself. Propaganda is not in itself good or bad. It depends on the purposes to which it is put and on who the audience are and what the y believes) is a method of convincing others of the truth of your arguments. The propagandist is clearly presented in this book by the figure of Squealer. We can agree with Orwell that he turns black into white – we see him do it. He invents questionable scientific evidence to convince the animals that the pigs should have the apples, reads out lists of statistics that have been forged and tells them of written evidence, which he never produces, to prove that Snowball is in league with Jones, knowing very well that the animals cannot read.
The propagandist uses several weapons. A selective use of the truth is apparent when Squealer tells the other animals that milk is good for the pigs in Chapter 3. Therefore, it is, but it is also good for other animals on the farm such as the hens. He also uses rhetorical questions which do not require an answer from the audience – so the speaker does the thinking for them, ’surely, comrades, you do not want Jones back?’ (p. 35). This quote also demonstrates a further technique: that of pinpointing the enemy. In doing this, the audience will forget their problems and concentrate on the enemy outside their society. The pigs constantly remind the animals that without their protection, the unthinkable would happen: Jones would come back. This in itself is often enough to silence the creatures.
The use of language was important to Orwell as he felt that sloppy language made it easier to have ‘foolish thoughts’. This was worrying, as in this way, outrageous ideas could be presented in such a way that they seemed acceptable. The way in which we use language as it can change the way we think. Language is used to disguise the real meaning of a word. In Animal Farm, we see several examples of this, from Squealers use of the word ‘readjustment’ to tell the animals that their rations are being reduced, to the final perversion of the word ‘equality’. The slogan ‘all animals are equal but some are more equal than others’ (p. 83) is nonsense but disguises the lack of equality on the farm.
Some people argue that this is not just a feature of totalitarian governments. One British government spokesperson denied an accusation that he had lied, saying that he had only been ‘economical with the truth’. Orwell’s warnings about the ways in which words and their meanings can be twisted are still relevant today.
Structure
Animal Farm allows a conventional narrative structure. Its events are told in chronological order by the narrator. The story itself contains a believable mixture of human and anima characters – even when the human characters seen to clearly understand what the animals are saying – for example, when Pilkington makes his speech to Napoleon at the end of the novel, the reader believes that the two understand each other.
The story is divided into ten chapters, which trace the decline of the high ideals of the Animalist revolution. The book is also structured in amore subtle ay. Once the revolution has happened, several chapters open by referring to the suffering of the animals or the harsh winters (Chapters 5, 6 and 7 all open in this way) and end with the gradual perversion of one of the commandments. These remind the readers of the gradual destruction of Majors ideals. Once Boxer has been taken to his death at the close of Chapter 9, the pace of the story rapidly increases. In Chapter 10, the pigs are seen walking and the barn wall are repainted and the remainder of the Commandments are broken within two pages. It is as though the murder of Napoleons most loyal worker speeds the pigs’ descent into evil.
The repetition of various ideas and images forms a pattern in the text and links events together. In particular, Majors speech at the start of the novel is echoed and referred to throughout the novel, to provide a standard by which the pig’s actions are judged. The placing of the speech at the start of novel, means that the reader shares the animals enthusiasm for the vision of the future and becomes progressively more disappointed as the novel continues and we see those ideals destroyed: we are told several times that the animals work like ‘slaves’. The repetition of ‘Beasts of England’ at the end of Chapter 7 shows its decline from a strong with a hopeful vision of the future to a subversive and illegal anthem. The recurrent appearance of the menacing dogs also ensures that the reader never forgets the terror and violence that underpins Napoleons rule: the sheep’s mindless and repetitive bleating is used in a similar way. Each time one of these elements is reintroduced into the novel a further pint about the destruction of the revolution is made.
In a similar way, the repeated breaking of the Commandment and the animals continual checking of the wall makes clear to the reader, the gradual distortion of Majors ideals until we reach the shocking climax, in which all pretence of following the Commandments is abandoned by the pigs, in favour of open terror and oppression, signified by the whips.
The structure of Animal Farm helps to clarify the theme of the betrayed revolution by showing the reader in several stages, through the repetition of certain key images and phrases, how the pigs pervert Majors rules.
