nicolette asked:


An essay on animal farm for my english class, what do you think? on a scale of one to six? thanks so much

In society there are many flaws, whether they are product of the government or society, or a combination of both. Many times these flaws are not seen as flaws at all, but are used as a tool to feed one’s greed and power. The ignorance and blind obedience of the majority of society allows them to be manipulated, and sculpted into the brainwashed “soldiers” of the ones in power. In a quote by John Keats it says “The exact opposite of what is generally believed is often the truth.” It is often that this quote is proved true, when people are fed lies and fabrications for so long that what they believe to be reality is the furthest thing from it. In the novel Animal Farm, by George Orwell this quote is profusely supported.
The ways that Orwell characterizes the animals and his critical tone in his dystopian novel Animal Farm contain the same theme as the quote. Orwell portrays his characters as brainwashed followers who do not have the common sense to see what is right before their eyes, to see the difference between reality and falsehood. The blame he places on his characters is tremendous. One of the biggest offenders of the novel was Benjamin, who represents every person has ever witnessed wrongdoing and looked the other way. The way Benjamin could easily realize what was happening, the corruption and devastation of Old Major’s revolution, and not try to do anything to show the others the truth was a despicable act. When asked by Clover about the possible change in the commandments his response was “he refused to meddle in such matters.” The tone used by Orwell when speaking of Benjamin is one of the most critical and accusing in the novel, because if he could have gathered his ambition and had some morality he may have stopped the destruction of the revolution. Another character who may have been able to stop the downward slide was Boxer. Though he may have lacked a large quantity of brains, he did have the brawn. For example at a point in the novel he had an opportunity to stop the dogs; he had the power to kill them with one step, but because of his lack of self opinion he “looked at Napoleon to know whether he should crush the dog to death or let it go.” His failure to think for himself was clearly criticized in Orwell’s tone. Orwell also picks out the weakness in the motherly, caring character of Clover. The night of the executions when she sat on the hill and thought to herself that “These scenes of terror and slaughter were not what they had looked forward to on that night when old Major first stirred them to rebellion,” makes it clear that she does possess enough intelligence to realize that something is wrong; she wonders why “they had come to a time when no one dared speak his mind, when fierce, growling dogs roamed everywhere, and when you had to watch your comrades torn to pieces…” she understands that things are not the way they initially were predicted to be. Yet she still holds on to the lie that Napoleon is a good leader, as shown in the quote “..She would remain faithful, work hard, carry out the orders that were given to her, and accept the leadership of Napoleon.” The use of Propaganda by Napoleon and Squealer abuse the trust of many, and cause generous, caring animals to suppress their morals and opinions.
The animals are fed so many lies that nearly none of them really remember what the real truth is. Much of this blame can be placed on Napoleon and Squealer. They viewed themselves as the elite, they abused their power, which Orwell foreshadowed since the very beginning when they began to take the milk and apples. This was just the very beginning to the making of a class ruled society, one where your race or species would rule your rank in society. By the end of the novel this elitism is clearly acknowledged when it is laid down that “when a pig and any other animal met on the path, the other animal must stand aside.” To protect the continuation of their rule, Napoleon and Squealer used propaganda to instill a sense of fear in the animals and forced them to be afraid to believe the truth. In the novel Squealer used his charismatic speeches and his hypnotizing motions as powerful tool to indoctrinate the citizens of Animal Farm, rendering them more or less brainwashed for the purposes of the pigs. Squealer can be reasonably compared to Joseph Gobbles who was a **** propaganda minister for Hitler; he was said to “know how to use words and emotions to sway an audience,” much as Squealer did with his speeches. If there ever was a question to the decisions made by the tyrants they would be squashed with threat of the returning of Jones, or a lovely growl from one of Napoleon’s henchmen dogs. The way Napoleon and Squealer used fear as a major component in their propaganda was, and is common practice when trying to influence a crowd, threaten someone with the thing they fear

ESTELLE