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Literary response to the animal farm
Literary response to the animal farm
Literary response to the animal farm
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Language is a very powerful tool. It is a means of basic communication, and has been around for centuries. Just like any other tool, language can be powerful in a positive or negative way, and can either work to one's advantage or can result in negative effects. Certain words can touch a certain chord inside someone, so they can be easily influenced by the language. A good example of this is George Orwell's Animal Farm, a fable in which a multitude of gullible animals are exploited by a group of power mongering pigs. Words can appeal to a persons basic needs and desires and conjure up hope or even fear in his or her mind. These emotions can be manipulated by others to their own advantage, and clever use of language can be used to cheat, deceive, spread rumors. In Animal Farm, Orwell shows how the pig's use of influential language manipulates and enslaves the animals.
Through use of language, the pigs appeal to the animals basic hopes and desires of a better life and a better future. They make others work extremely hard, while they themselves rest and unfairly reap most of the benefits of the work. For example, “Now comrades,... to the hayfield! Let us make it a point of honor get in the harvest more quickly than Jones and his men do.” Later in chapter three, Squealer is sent to justify the pigs selfishness and to convince the animals that the pigs are working in their favor. He said, “You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples...Milk and apples contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig...the whole management and organization of this farm depend on us.” This how the animals are persuaded to believe almost anything without question.
Words that appeal to our fears make us feel vulnerable, and when we feel vulnerable, we are ready to do just about anything to make us feel invulnerable again. In Animal Farm, the animals feel very insecure deep down, but they also are gullible and they do not wish to go against the pigs. For example, Squealer tells them “Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty?
Language is a tool used by all of humanity, with the ability to express the emotions and thoughts of people worldwide. “Animal Farm” by George Orwell focuses on three pigs that go by the names of; Napoleon, Squealer and Snowball. These three take command of the farm they reside on after overthrowing their human master freeing them and the other animals on the farm. After the expulsion of Snowball later on in the story, Napoleon declares himself leader of the farm. In order to secure a life of luxury for Napoleon and his fellow pigs, Napoleon (with Squealer as his spokesman) uses language that distorts the truth, language that intimidates, and language that appeals to the emotions of others to manipulate the gullible animals of Animal Farm.
As Napoleon's spokesman, Squealer uses intimidation to prevent the animals from questioning the intentions of Napoleon and his fellow pigs. He first uses intimidation on the night that the animals question why the pigs get to receive the missing milk from the harvest. "'Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty? Jones would come back!'" Squealer intimidates them by inferring that the consequence of not preserving the milk for the pigs is Jones's return, which is a false exaggeration. However, his attack on their vulnerability to the government and the security that they are provided with by the pigs causes the animals to trust Squealer's word and willingly supply the pigs with the milk as the pigs' personal luxury. When Clover also questions why only the pigs are enabled to use beds, a human mechanism, Squealer intervenes by saying, "' You would not rob us of our repose, would you comrades?'" Squealer here uses reverse psychology to intimidate Clover by accusing her and the others of denying the pigs' comfort...
By the end of the story, the pigs act upon their gained trust by bossing the animals around to do more work while they lie on their backs and drink because the animals are too stupid to realize that they are being treated unfairly. Because the pigs have advantages when it comes to being smart, they take advantage of the fact that the animals have no idea whats actually going on. Though the pigs rarely do anything, they get more portions of food. Towards the end of the book, the animals see that while they are working very hard for the farm, the pigs are inside drinking and talking with humans. Though they may not realise it, they are not treated equally.
The actions of the pigs express this theme by starting with good intentions, but slowly becoming more and more like what they were trying to avoid. In the beginning of the story Old Major gives a speech to the animals on the farm, and in this speech he mentions how cruel the humans are. During his speech Old Major uses Boxer the horse as an example when he says “You, Boxer, the very day that those great muscles of yours lose their power, Jones will sell you to the knacker, who will cut your throat and boil you down for the foxhounds.” (Orwell 11). He then proceeds to tell the animals that once they revolt the cruelty will end, and at first it does, but soon the pigs begin to act more like humans. The pi...
..., power, and manipulation are the aspects of language substantiated in Animal Farm. By fabricating with a precise and sensible illustration, language can be deceptive. Words can carry power or influence with the use of terse and persuasive dictions and repetition. Finally, Orwell describes how manipulative the language can be using the examples of mottoes controlling the animals and being the foundation of their personal conducts. The reason for Orwell presenting such abilities of words this book is to highlight the importance of one’s education and mastery of language. The author writes this fable in order to deliver the message that those who do not do so will be susceptible to such deception or manipulation. The proficiency in speech, writing, reading and listening comprehension and the flexibility in lexica determine one’s capability of living in this society.
Throughout the story, the first signal that illustrates the corruption in pigs started right after the animals chased away Mr. Jones. When the animals milked the cows and discussed about what to do with all the milk, Napoleon cried “Never mind the milk, comrades…placing himself in front of the buckets” (p18) and then all buckets of milk disappeared. This is foreshadowing that later Napoleon may become the kind of leader who keeps everything good for himself and does not care about others, and this actually happened later. Several days later, someone found out that all the milk was mixed in pigs’ mash everyday as well as the apples and pointed that pigs broke the rule of “All animals are equal” (p17). This time the pigs cannot stay calm anymore. Squealer firstly said that they pigs actually do not like milk and apples and the reason why they added those into their mash was because they were ‘brainworkers’ and those were good for their brain and only when they were healthy enough the other’s safety can be guaranteed. After that, Squealer used repetition...
“The pen is mightier than the sword”, a popular saying, and one that is unequivocally true. Although physical force and power can manipulate someone into acting a certain way, it is not as effective as intelligence. Intelligent people can use the force of their words to extents that physical strength does not extend. Furthermore, intelligent people can use things like propaganda, lies, and deceit to get whatever they want. This is clearly proven by the actions of the pigs in the Animal Farm. Because of their high levels of intelligence compared to the other animals of the farm, the pigs are able to manipulate everyone else to achieve their own personal means through the use of propaganda, lies, and deceit. Propaganda can be seen clearly in the role of the pig Squealer, although it is prevalent throughout the story. In this case, propaganda is used by the pigs to tell the other animals exactly what they want to hear, and to cover up any sort of mistakes on the parts of the pigs. Lies are used to further the personal agendas of the pigs, as well as damage the name of Snowball in the eyes of the animals. Propaganda is used as a defensive measure on the part of the pigs, whereas lies are used as an offensive maneuver by the pigs to strengthen their positions. Deceit is used by the pigs to placate the animals, a maneuver that can be seen as neither offensive nor defensive. Deceit is most prevalent in the maxim of “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”
The first rhetorical device that Squealer uses to persuade the other animals is ethos. In the beginning of the novel, Squealer explains why the milk was not being distributed evenly, and why most of it was going to the pigs. Squealer supports this idea by emphasizing the leadership that the pigs play on Animal Farm. Squealer conveys the authority of the pigs by saying “The whole management and organization of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples” (Orwell 31). This quote is an example of ethos, because it shows that the pigs are looking out for the other animals. This shows that the pigs have credible reason to have the milk and apples. It is not really true that the pigs need all of the milk to themselves, so Squealer is using his speaking skills to his advantage, so that he and all of the other pigs are able to enjoy all of the milk. This is not fair to the rest of the animals, but the animals trust the pigs to know how to run things on the farm, so they accept this as a viable reason for their greediness.
First, Squealer persuades the animals on the farm that the pigs are keeping the apples and milk for their health even though the pigs enjoy these items. In Animal Farm, squealer says the following: “Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. I dislike them myself. Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health. Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. “ in this quote Squealer is talking to the animals about the milk and apples. Squealer states how the pigs do not enjoy the milk and apples and he says proven by Science the milk and apples are needed in the pigs’ diets. Even though Squealer says he does not like apples and milk he is later in the book said to be eating the apples. Also, Squealer says that the apples and milk are needed in their diets to watch over the animals welfare and that it’s for the animals sake the pigs eat these items. Squealer then says to the animals that if the pigs fail in their duty, Jones will come back. Since all the animals are afraid of Jones coming back, there only option to avoid this is to give the pigs all the milk and apples, which the animals agre...
“The pen is mightier than the sword.” This is a popular saying that explains that, sometimes, in order to persuade or convince people, one should not use force but words. In Animal Farm, by George Orwell, animals overthrow the human leader and start a new life, but some animals want to become the new leaders. To make the other animals obey the pigs, they first have to persuade the farm’s population. Squealer is the best pig for this job because he effectively convinces the animals to follow Napoleon by using different rhetorical devices and methods of persuasion.
The word language is most often associated with speech, yet it is also closely related to power. While many see language as a tool of unification and empowerment, it is also used to silence others. Society gives advantages to individuals that speak the dominant language, and those who are not fluent, are victims of social pressures such as ridicule, harassment, and isolation. Language gives individuals the power to manipulate and oppress others. Oppression occurs when one group has power over another group, and use that power to manipulate. Language gives dominant groups the power to oppress minority individuals through segregation, assimilation and hierarchies.
The first way the pigs use language to abuse their power is by using extensive detail and by using terms and vocabulary foreign to most animals. An example of the pigs using unknown terms can be found when Squealer explains to the other animals about how hard the pigs need to work to keep the farm running. “There was, as Squealer was never tired of explaining, endless work in the supervision and organization of the farm. Much of this work was of a kind that the other animals were too ignorant to understand. For example, Squealer told them that the pigs had to expend enormous labours every day upon mysterious things called ‘files,’ ‘reports,’ ‘minutes,’ and ‘memoranda’…” (129). In this scene, the animals, exhausted, hungry, and overworked, are told about how the pigs work just as hard as they do. Although this is completely untrue, seeing that the pigs only occupy themselves in self-centered and self-beneficial engagements, the other animals believe it to be true because they do not know what files, reports, minutes, or memoranda are. Their ignorance leaves them unable to question Squealers story and they mistake the pigs’ true...
The Use of Language in Animal Farm Animal Farm by George Orwell is an allegory in which animals are personified to represent the struggles and conflicts of the Russian Revolution. The main point emphasizes in the novel is that language is a powerful tool, which can be used to manipulate and control people in order to bring about change, whether big or small. In the story the pigs govern everything that happens, whether it is something as miner as eating a meal, or something as major and important as fighting a strategic battle. Napoleon, the foreman, or leader of the pigs is the most powerful of them all. Napoleon and his “side kick”, Squealer, abused the powers of language to manipulate the animals of the farm into thinking that the farm was a beautiful society flourishing with life and freedom, when in fact, it was quite the opposite.
In this novel, an intellectual increase in the exploitation of the animals started with little things such as the eating of the apples for the pigs' health. Then the animals couldn't make an informed decision, which led to their bad decision making. Next, Squealer would constantly tell the animals of the great things that they accomplished now that the pigs had gotten rid of Jones. After that, the pigs used the animals' lack of memory to their advantage by changing laws and telling the animals that the rules that were on the wall, had been there forever.
After overthrowing Jones, the owner of the Animal Farm, all the animals got together and worked with more superiority for the reason that they were not slaves of the human beings anymore. Nevertheless, they were not mature enough to realize the fact that, they are turned into the slaves of their own kind. The pigs become the domineering characters in the farm after defeating Jones. Keeping all the apples and milk came to be the turning point of the story, because it was from that moment onwards that the pigs instigated to tyrannize over the animals. The main reason for that was the greed for power.