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English Lit: AQA GCSE Animal Farm, topic 4.1.2

Irony

Irony is when words are used to express something deeper or different to their literal meaning.

Quotes

Quotes

  • “The animals worked like slaves”.
  • “Spontaneous Demonstration”.
  • “ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS”.
  • Sunday work is “voluntary”, but if it isn’t done rations are “reduced by half”.
  • The animals believe that all of their struggles are “for the benefit of themselves” not for “a pack of idle, thieving human beings”.
Analysis

Analysis

  • The pigs use language to control the animals and manipulate their thoughts; the animals believe that life is better now than it was before the revolution.
  • They are (unlike the reader) completely unaware that the pigs are also “idle” and “thieving”.

Political Language

Orwell wrote that “Political language [...] is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable” and it is “consciously dishonest”. We can see Orwell make this point through the use of political language in Animal Farm.

Squealer

Squealer

  • Squealer uses political language to control the animals and to enable the pigs to get away with being both “idle” and “thieving” just like the humans were.
  • The animals believe in his statistics, “readjustments”, “voluntary” work and presentation of facts (“proved by science” and "Jones would come back!”) and therefore think that they are better off under this regime. Therefore they remain loyal.
Equal

Equal

  • This can also be seen as the word “equal” loses its meaning completely by the end of the novel: “ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS”.

Squealer's Political Devices

Here are a few quotes that highlight the political devices Squealer uses:

Distraction

Distraction

  • “He had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail which was somehow very persuasive”.
Repetition (and threat)

Repetition (and threat)

  • “Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty? Jones would come back!”
Collective pronouns

Collective pronouns

  • “Comrades!”
Rhetorical question

Rhetorical question

  • “Surely there is no one among you who would want to see Jones come back?”
Facts and evidence

Facts and evidence

  • “Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig”.
  • “It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples”.
Subversion

Subversion

  • “He could turn black into white”.
  • The word “equality” is made to mean the opposite, in the same way work on Sundays is not really “voluntary” as otherwise their food would be halved and “spontaneous demonstrations” are organised as a means of control.
Obfuscation (making something unclear)

Obfuscation (making something unclear)

  • “Squealer told them that the pigs had to expend enormous labours every day upon mysterious things called “files”, “reports”, “minutes”, and “memoranda””.

Test yourself on Language

  • What is it called when words are used to express something deeper or different to their literal meaning?

  • Which of the following is NOT a quote from Animal Farm that demonstrates irony?

  • What political language does Squealer use to keep the animals loyal?

  • What type of language is used by Squealer to control the animals?

  • In Animal Farm, Squealer says “Surely there is no one among you who would want to see Jones come back?”
    What political device is being used here?

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