Animal Farm Flashcards
In theory, animals would rejoice if man was removed because..
‘Man is the only real enemy we have.’ - OM
‘The only good human is a dead one.’ - Snowball
Theme of manipulation
‘The others said of Squealer that he could turn black to white.’
‘We pigs are brainworkers…It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples.”
‘Surely comrades, surely there is no one among you that wants to see Mr Jones come back?’
Orwell was concerned about the power of language and how it can be manipulated to change its purpose and meaning - the use of language to control and have power over others was the most dangerous kind of control to Orwell because it’s so difficult to detect, especially by the uneducated.
Animals dream of a utopia in beasts of England
‘golden future’
Orwell uses the sheep to deliver the quote…due to their traditional stupidity, showing how part of society allowed others to manipulate them and blindly followed. Also shows the control the pigs had over the intellectually inferior animals.
‘Four legs good, two legs bad’
‘Four legs good, two legs better’
Boxer’s maxim
‘I will work harder’
‘Napoleon is always right’
Single, changed commandment left
‘All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.’
Craziest motif ever
‘Cruel whips no more shall crack’
‘He carried a whip in his trotter’
Craziest ending ever
‘The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig…but it was already impossible to tell which was which.’
False class consciousness
The proletariat do not recognise that they are being exploited by the bourgeoisie, and even contribute to their own exploitation.
Hegemonic structure
Dominance of one group over another
Context
Although Orwell was critical of Soviet communism, he supported many of the principles underpinning the Russian Revolution and strongly believed in building an equal society. This is shown in the idyllic description of the first Sumer after the rebellion - at this point, the pigs have not yet corrupted the principles of Animalism, and the other animals are described to be as ‘happy as they had never conceived it possible to be.’
Napoleon v Snowball
Napoleon:
- ‘a pile of corpses lying before napoleons feet’
- ‘ reputation for getting his own way’
- pushes animals to feel that Snowball is an ‘invisible influence’
Snowball:
- ‘full of plans for innovations and improvements’
-‘ He himself dashed straight for Jones’
- ‘Snowball conjured up pictures of fantastic machines’
Snowball’s idealism makes him vulnerable whilst Napoleon’s ruthlessness and cunning nature make him powerful. The difference is seen when Snowball teaches the sheep the simplified commandment in an attempt to educate them about Animalism but Napoleon finds a more practical use for it by training the sheep to chant it over Snowball’s speeches.
