pigs Flashcards
characters - napoleon, squealer, snowball
NAPOLEON - “a large rather fierce looking berkshire boar, not much of a talker, but with a reputation for getting his own way”
- threatening manner and apapearanves
- he uses this to establish his powerful status
NAPOLEON - “took them away from their mothers, saying that he would make himself responsible for their education”
- his corruption is foreshadowed earliy
- he trains the dogs up to become his personal bodyguards
-> who bannish snowball and perform the executions, threatening the animals and using them for his tyranny
-» dogs are symbolic of stalins and soviet russia’s secret police and army - the pigs are enforcers of naopleons regime
NAPOLEON - “suddenly he lifted his leg, unrinated over the (windmill) plans”
- symbliic momenet highlighting his utter contempt owards snowball
-> and his ideas of the windmill
NAPOLEON - “they wagged their tails to him in the same way as the other dogs had been used to do to Mr Jones’
- compoarson to Jones shows his corruption
-> complete failure of animalsim
-» tyranny
NAPOLEON - “the dogs promptly tore their throats out and in a terrible voice napoelon demanded whether any other animals had anything to confess”
- he uses dogs to help rule ans strike fear in other animals
- through fear and intimidation
NAPOLEON - “napoleon ended his speech with a reminder of Boxer’s two fabourite maxims …”
- he amipulates boxer’s obediance to control the other animals
-> boxer was loved by the animals on the farm and so napoleon is using this to his advantage
NAPOLEON - “naopleon was now a mature boar of twenty four stone”
- his obesity in ch.10 is not only proof of his corrpution (and so a metaphor for the corrputiing effects of power) but also show his selfshiness as the other animals starve and were worse off than in Jones’ time
NAPOLEON - “naopleon announced work on sunday afternoons was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half”
- abuse of the adjective “voluntary” highlights how he abuses language in order to coerce the animals into doing more labour
NAPOLEON - “napoleon majestically upright casting hauty glances from side to side”
- symbolic moment of napoleon standing on his hind legs through the adjective “upright” indicates the complete and cyclic trasnformation of napoelon into jones and perhaps even worse than jones
- the adverb majestically has connotations of dignity and of causing respect and admiration - however when this is used to describe naopleon it is rather the anithesis of this as he causes terror in the other animals due to his imitations of humans - this negates old major and the fundamental structures of animalism by emulating human qualitites.
NAPOLEON - “naopleon and mr pilkingto had each played an ace of spades simultaneously”
- cheating in cards is used to reinforce the idea that both th epigs and the humans are as corrupt as each other
- the animals’ realization that the pigs are as cruel and oppressive as human farmers
- offers no hope for a workable political system with true equality for all.
- this moment signifies the ending posits that the corrupting nature of power which dooms all political systems to failure.
NAPOLEON - quote which shows description of napoleon at the stat=rt
“a lare, rather fierce looking berkshire boar not much of a talker but with a reputation for getting his own way”
NAPOLEON - quote which shows when he took the dogs away
“took them away from their mothers saying that he would make himself responsible for their eduction”
NAPOLEON - quote which shows how dogs are admiring nopeleon and how this mirrors nopleon and jones
“they wagged their tails to him in the same way as the other dogs had been used to fo to mr jones”
NAPOLEON - quote which shows when the dogs killed the animals
“the dogs promplty tore their throats out and in a terribke voice napoleon demanded whether any other animal had anything to confess”
NAPOLEON - quote which shows him manipulating the animals by suing boxers obediance
“napoleon ended his speech with a reminder of boxers’ two favourite maxims…”
NAPOLEON - quote which shows napoleon giving animlas no choice but to work on sundays
“napoleon annnounced work on sunday afternoon was strcilty voluntary but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half”
NAPOLEON - quote which shows naploen standing uprigth”
“napoleon himslef majestcially uprigth casting haurty glances from side to side”
NAPOLEON - quote which shows farmers and him palying cards at same time
“napoleon and mr pilkington had each played an ace of spades imultaneous.y”
SQUEALER - “the other said of sqeualer that he could turn black into white”
- metahpor
- he can distort the truth and make them beleive his lies
- he can manipulate others easily
- he is so extreme in being able to manipulatae the animals he can take something that is obviously good and persuade the animals to think it is bad
- “the other siad of sqeualer…” - this bit shows the animals are gullible as they know that sqeauler can manipualte them easily yet they still beleive everything that he says??? like why would they do that
SQEAULER - “it is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples”
- he distorts the truth to justify their exclusive consuption
- by suggesting that they need them
- this is the TURING POINT
- rwell demonstrates how those in power manipulate others by claiming their privileges are necessary for the common good. It reflects the propaganda techniques used by corrupt leaders to maintain control over the masses
SQEUALER - “do you know what would happen? jones would com eback”
- Squealer’s rhetorical question, is the first of many times when Squealer will invoke the name of Jones to convince the animals that — despite any discontentment they may feel — their present lives are greatly preferable to the ones they led under their old master. - -
- Orwell’s tone when describing the animals’ reaction to Squealer (“The importance of keeping the pigs in good health was all too obvious”) is markedly ironic and again signals to the reader that the pigs are slowly changing into a new form of their old oppressors.
- “jones would come back” - empty threat because not only is jones not coming back over some apples but also it is a veiled threat because he is exploiting the animals fear of jones’ but covering it as being genuinely concerned for them
SQEUALER - “who had unnacountably been absent during the fighting”
- adverb “unnacountably” is sarcastically highlighting his selfshinesses and self serving behaviour
- he refuses to risk his own life during the battle
SQEUALER - “tactics comrades tactics”
- noun “tactics” he uses obfuscation deliberatly confuse the animals
- by making it all harder for the animals to understand what is really going on - so covering up the truth
SQEAULER - “lifting his trotter and wiping away a tear” boxers death
- emotive deciefulnness to appeal to the animals by making them feel sympathy for him and they foregt what really happened (and what they literally saw with their own eyes)
- gullibility of animals
