A Literary Analysis Of George Orwell's Animal Farm
Literary Analysis of Animal Farm
Intro
In the novella Animal Farm, Orwell wrote, “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” (pg. 141) This quote shows how the idea of a utopian society failed when the animals of Animal Farm tried to make one for themselves. In this story the animals want freedom from the drunken farmer, Mr. Jones, so they rebel and take the farm for themselves. The pigs start taking over and manipulate the other animals by using double speak. Eventually the farm returns to normal, however, the pigs are more powerful than the other animals. The utopia that all the animals wanted in the beginning is reversed and the pigs …show more content…
Orwell uses many types of irony to make this novella more emotional and intellectual for the reader. Some examples of different types of irony being used are verbal and situational irony. The verbal irony is mostly played out by Squealer, Napoleon’s second in command, whose job is to keep the animals in line. Squealer is always confronting and questioning the animals intentions but this is ironic because his intentions are the complete opposite of good. The situational irony is more significant than the verbal irony because in a way it is the main topic of Animal Farm. When the animals decide to have the revolution and eliminate the humans they are hoping to build a better society where “all animals are equal”. Instead, the opposite happens and the animals end up right where they started. The first sign of this is when Squealer announces that Napoleon is dying after there had been loud noises and crashing from the farmhouse the night before. Later that day, he says that Napoleon is on his way to recovery and Whymper is instructed to go and buy booklets on brewing and distilling. This is when the reader knows that things aren’t going as they should and that Napoleon is turning into another drunk, just like Jones. These types of ironies help the reader to better understand Orwell’s thoughts about the Russian Revolution and how the turn of events were not necessarily the expected outcome when the Revolution first began, relating this literary element to the theme of how one shouldn’t blindly follow someone in a position of power without understanding the intentions of the
Intro
In the novella Animal Farm, Orwell wrote, “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” (pg. 141) This quote shows how the idea of a utopian society failed when the animals of Animal Farm tried to make one for themselves. In this story the animals want freedom from the drunken farmer, Mr. Jones, so they rebel and take the farm for themselves. The pigs start taking over and manipulate the other animals by using double speak. Eventually the farm returns to normal, however, the pigs are more powerful than the other animals. The utopia that all the animals wanted in the beginning is reversed and the pigs …show more content…
Orwell uses many types of irony to make this novella more emotional and intellectual for the reader. Some examples of different types of irony being used are verbal and situational irony. The verbal irony is mostly played out by Squealer, Napoleon’s second in command, whose job is to keep the animals in line. Squealer is always confronting and questioning the animals intentions but this is ironic because his intentions are the complete opposite of good. The situational irony is more significant than the verbal irony because in a way it is the main topic of Animal Farm. When the animals decide to have the revolution and eliminate the humans they are hoping to build a better society where “all animals are equal”. Instead, the opposite happens and the animals end up right where they started. The first sign of this is when Squealer announces that Napoleon is dying after there had been loud noises and crashing from the farmhouse the night before. Later that day, he says that Napoleon is on his way to recovery and Whymper is instructed to go and buy booklets on brewing and distilling. This is when the reader knows that things aren’t going as they should and that Napoleon is turning into another drunk, just like Jones. These types of ironies help the reader to better understand Orwell’s thoughts about the Russian Revolution and how the turn of events were not necessarily the expected outcome when the Revolution first began, relating this literary element to the theme of how one shouldn’t blindly follow someone in a position of power without understanding the intentions of the