Animal Farm
George Orwell
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Quote Bank: Manipulation
|
Quote |
Speaker |
Chapter |
|
“He was a brilliant talker, and when he was arguing some difficult point he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail which was somehow very persuasive. The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white.” |
Narrator |
2 |
|
“‘Comrades!’ he cried. ‘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” |
Squealer |
3 |
|
“’Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty? Jones would come back! Yes, Jones would come back!’” |
Squealer |
3 |
|
“So it was agreed without further argument that the milk and the windfall apples (and also the main crop of apples when they ripened) should be reserved for the pigs alone.” |
Narrator |
3 |
|
“’No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?’” |
Squealer |
5 |
|
“’One false step, and our enemies would be upon us. Surely, comrades, you do not want Jones back?’” |
Squealer |
5 |
|
“Had not these been among the earliest resolutions passed at that first triumphant Meeting after Jones was expelled? All the animals remembered passing such resolutions: or at least they thought that they remembered it.” |
Narrator |
6 |
|
“‘Are you certain that this is not something that you have dreamed, comrades? Have you any record of such a resolution? Is it written down anywhere?’” |
Squealer |
6 |
|
“‘And do you not remember, too, that it was just at that moment, when panic was spreading and all seemed lost, that Comrade Napoleon sprang forward with a cry of ‘Death to Humanity!’ and sank his teeth in Jones’ leg? Surely you remember that, comrades?’ exclaimed Squealer, frisking from side to side.” |
Squealer |
7 |
|
“The animals saw no reason to disbelieve him, especially as they could no longer remember very clearly what conditions had been like before the Rebellion.” |
Narrator |
8 |
|
“A too rigid equality in rations, Squealer explained, would have been contrary to the principles of Animalism.” |
Narrator |
9 |
|
“For the time being, certainly, it had been found necessary to make a readjustment of rations (Squealer always spoke of it as a ‘readjustment,’ never as a ‘reduction’)” |
Narrator |
9 |
|
“There was nothing with which they could compare their present lives: they had nothing to go upon except Squealer’s lists of figures, which invariably demonstrated that everything was getting better and better.” |
Narrator |
10 |
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Animal Farm
Sample Essay
Animal Farm captures the events of the 1917 Russian Revolution. In February 1917, the oppressive and autocratic Tsarist government was overthrown and replaced with the unpopular Provisional Government, which later, in October,
was also overthrown, this time by the communist Bolshevik Party. The aftermath of this rebellion is reincarnated in the form of a fable, the events of which reflect the hostile political landscape of Orwell’s context and ensuing social injustice.
George Orwell’s Animal Farm begins in Manor farm, where it is revealed that the drunken farmer Mr Jones has been continually mistreating his animals. Old Major, a wise and esteemed boar now approaching his final days, calls together a meeting, where he tells the other animals of his dream – a utopian society, where the farm animals are free to live a life without the burden of slavery by mankind. In this speech, Major declares rebellion to be the key in achieving this idealistic society and patriotically accentuates his speech with the anthem “Beasts of England,” which becomes a symbol of the animals’ freedom and integrity. Shortly after, Major dies, leaving his dream behind for the other farm animals to achieve.
Plans of rebellion are made, with the pigs establishing themselves as leaders of the coup. With a united effort, the animals are able to drive Mr Jones away from the farm and soon find themselves revelling in freedom. Without the control of Mr Jones, the farm flourishes and the animals experience freedom for the first time in a long time. However, the future of the farm shortly becomes a point of conflict between the established leaders, Snowball and Napoleon, as the two pigs have differing aspirations for the farm. The struggle for power culminates in Snowball eventually being driven away, giving Napoleon total unopposed control over the farm. With Napoleon at the helm, the ideals of equality on the farm seem to quickly vanish, with the pigs slowly establishing control through false claims of altruism. Through rhetoric and propaganda, the other animals are compelled to follow the pigs’ leadership.
Life on the farm for all the other animals except the pigs becomes inevitably worse under the rule of Napoleon. The rewards of labour on the farm are used to ensure a luxurious lifestyle for the pigs, subsequently subverting the concept of an equal society once proposed by Major. In fact, life on the farm seems to be worse than it had been under the control of Mr Jones. This is symbolically exemplified in the conclusion of the novella, where the other farm animals witness the transformation of the pigs as they begin to walk on two legs and play cards, eerily resembling the humans who oppressed the animals in the first place.
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