Abuse of Power/ Manipulation and Scapegoating Flashcards
Milk
Already at the end of chapter one, the first abuse of power by the pigs is hinted at despite them also making the commandments in this chapter- they drink the milk from the cows behind everyone’s back.
Milk is found to be….
mixed into the pigs’ mash
Windfalls
FIRST BLATANT ABUSE OF POWER- Given to the pigs although all the animals had assumed they would be shared equally among them. (The pigs have realised that the power they have can be used to their advantage.- to create inequality)
Blaming any problems on the farm on Snowball
MIRRORS how Stalin blamed many of Soviet Russia’s problems on Trotskyists in the country.
SHOWS how corrupt leaders create a common enemy for the population, to direct their focus away from their real enemies (the leaders). An enemy also allows corrupt leaders to pose their dictates and unjust rules as ways to keep people safe
“thoroughly frightened” of Snowball
The narrator describes the animals this way to show that Napoleon has morphed Snowball into something terrifying in the minds of the animals so out of fear for Snowball, they obey Napoleon.
Snowball is described as an “invisible influence…menacing them”
Te narrator HIGHLIGHTS to the reader the power of fear especially over UNEDUCATED MASSES by remind the reader that Snowball is not actually present on the farm yet, his presence can cause so much fear because of how it is manipulated by Stalin
What is a moment which shows how whenever Napoleon needs to make an enemy of someone, he uses Snowball?
Napoleon declares that Snowball has been plotting with Frederick of Pinchfield to attack the Farm
How does scapegoating help Stalin maintain control aoart from through fear?
Stalin made a scapegoat of Trotskyists by spreading false information about them using propaganda machines (Snowball). Therefore, this allowed him to maintain his message and control because if anyone opposed what he passed on through the media, they could easily become a scapegoat themselves and so an enemy of the nation. They join the outcasts(like the rats who Napoleon declared in to be “in league with Snowball”)
CORRUPT LEADERS RELY ON SCAPEGOATING to purge out those who oppose them from society.
Several animals confess to crimes that have something to do with Snowball and are executed immediately by Napoleon and his dogs
ALLEGORICALLY MIRRORS Stalin’s show trials which he commonly used to murder political enemies e.g. Trotskyists to maintain control
INSTILLING FEAR into the nation to prevent rebellion
What does the mass killing of the animals who confess to crimes show?
The capacity for the human mind and humans to be manipulated and condone extreme injustices like unlawful death sentences when living in extreme fear
