There was some hope when Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Stalin signed a peace treaty uniting them against the Germans. Stalin was always renowned for his executions of fellow citizens and his murderous character. He was one of the most powerful and brutal dictators in human history.
Stalin is Napoleon and Trotsky is Snowball. Snowball is a pig that tried to gain the position of leader within the farm.
Animal Farm is actually a ‘Fairy Story’. This is due to the traits of the book. The story is written simplistically to emphasise the reader’s shock and repulsion at some of the events that occur in the novel.
Orwell also used sophisticated and political points in the novel. This prevents the novel from becoming a dry political pamphlet - this helps Orwell to get the message of the book to a wider audience.
The book can also be considered as a satire since Orwell ridicules the political points and power by linking it to Russian history and the revolution.
Strategies
In order for the pigs to maintain control of the farm, they had to develop various strategies. The pigs were manipulative and threatening used methods that were very harsh and brutal but worked significantly well.
Manipulation of the language was an excellent way to suppress the animals due to their lack of knowledge. This strategy is shown in the book when Squealer changes the commandments and manipulates their meanings. For example, he does this to the commandment, ’Four Legs Good, Two Legs Better’, which was originally, ‘Four Legs, Two Legs Bad.’ This change confused the animals and changed their opinions. Squealer did this because the pigs began to walk upright; this is ironic because they began to emulate the one creature the animals rebelled against - humans. This suppresses the animals because they know the proper commandment and they are unable to argue back due to their lack of knowledge. However, they still followed the commandments.
Propaganda was another strategy that considerably suppressed the animals. This act occurred when Squealer tells the animals half-truths. He tells them about the deaths of animals when one of the commandments read, ‘No animal shall kill another animal, without cause.’ The animals thought that an animal could not kill another one. This suppressed the animals, because they would get confused with what to do and their only leader was Napoleon whom they would follow.
Taking advantage of the good characteristics of the animals was another way of suppressing them. Boxer was an important character that was admired by the other animals. His obedience and loyalty was taken advantage of by Napoleon and Squealer who used him to convey their decisions to the other animals.
Another strategy is terror. This is a very brutal yet effective way to suppress the animals. This action is carried out when Napoleon is training Jessie’s pups and turning them into vicious dogs that can kill anyone who argues with Napoleon’s decisions. Another form of terror is the threat of execution and starvation, which was very cruel. This suppresses the animals because the animals obviously want live and do not want to be executed. Also they need food to live and to stay healthy. This sets them back because if they disobey Napoleon they get punished severely.
An additional form of suppression is shown in the strategy of the control of information. This happens when Napoleon has secret meetings with fellow pigs and he stops meetings with all the animals, so that he can easily make decisions. This suppresses the animals because they do not know what is happening in the meetings. Therefore, they cannot argue with the decisions that occur and they have to sit back and watch as everything unfolds.
An alternative strategy was education. This was a vital necessity to any animal or a mother’s pup, etc. This act took place when Jessie wanted to see her pups but Napoleon was breeding them into vicious creatures and educating them as a cover. So Squealer interrupted and said that Jessie would deprive her pups of a good education. Jessie then saw Napoleon and Squealer’s point of view and she did not argue anymore. This suppressed the animals because if Napoleon stops educating the animals, there would not be any smart animals to take over the farm. The animals could not argue with that because they want the farm to live on and make history as the world’s greatest farm.
The removal of democracy was an extra strategy used to suppress the animals. This act was committed when Napoleon makes the decision to build the windmill and nobody else had a say on the decision. This suppressed the animals because Napoleon has now turned into a dictator and with Napoleon’s fellow pigs and his guard dogs no animal would dare go and argue with him.
Language Used By Orwell
Orwell mirrors the language used in a fairy tale, making us lulled into a false sense of security. Also having a narrator telling us the story helps bring that effect because as he unfolds the story we are shocked because we are at the same pace as the narrator so we are just as shocked and surprised as the narrator is.
The form of language used by Orwell really took effect because as you read the story you were shocked or surprised with the events as they were simplistically written and well emphasised.
Repetition is another form of language that Orwell used. The repetition occurred during Old Major’s speech of the time when the animals will live in prosperity and with hope and success. Old Major used the word ‘comrade’ a lot to emphasise the fact that all animals were equal and they all would be treated fairly and respectably. This heightens the suppression of the animals as it emphasises how badly they were being treated and makes you feel bad because of their poor treatment.
Detachment is a different form of language that Orwell used. It is used well and it takes place throughout most of the book when the narrator is describing the pigs. The narrator is speaking from a neutral prospective and the narrator does not show their emotions. This suppresses the animals because you can decide how bad the animals feel.
Trust is used so that the reader believes everything that the narrator says due to the narrator’s neutral side and his non-emotional descriptions. This makes us see a different side to the story and see what is really happening. This suppresses the animals because you can see the animals’ depression and their terrible feelings.
Satire is also used so that Orwell can ridicule the political prospective and the power of the animals. He ridicules the aspects of power to make it look unpleasant and foolish. The main animals represent historical figures that have many negative characteristics and the story highlights the problems of political tyranny and its effects upon individuals.
Irony is also used when the pigs walk upright; this is ironic because they emulate the one creature that they rebelled against and the whole point of Animal Farm’s existence.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Animal Farm is a book that educates us not only on the Russian rebellion and other events under the powerful control of Stalin, but it teaches us of the nature of rebellion. It shows us the steady degradation of a rebellion, and democracy being the only way for equality to work. For example, rather than the farm becoming a place with democracy, they made it a place full of capitalist pigs dominating in a fascist nature. The book was written as a criticism of humans, the point being how dangerous the Soviet Union was and of how evil man’s nature can be if power and control is in reach. It teaches us that man will take power when offered it or when it is vulnerable and will do anything to procure it, for example when Frederick and Pilkington tried to influence Napoleon to join their confederation after the rebellion. This is an allegory for when America and England approached Soviet Russia after World War II, but the fighting continued into the Cold War. The novel in a way hints that something of the same nature will happen, and that there are many terrible up comings and threats heading our way. The moral of this book is that power corrupts.
