Social Roles In Animal Farm

“All animals are equal.” This is the foundation for the novel Animal Farm in which farm animals rebel against a drunken, abusive farmer and create their own society which they think is flawless. Can everyone be equal while societal structure remains operational? The characters in Animal Farm by George Orwell show that every person is different and that societal structure is based on factors such as intelligence, power, influence, and strength with leadership and power as a constant struggle between multiple forces. Every animal in the book had a different role and a relationship with other animals in the farm that affected his/her societal position and power. Each animal was unique in a sense and had a different job, intelligence level, and

“...every animal down to the humblest worked… even the ducks and hens… carrying tiny wisps of hay in their beaks.” (ch.3, pg.28) They were very proud that they could run a society by themselves with each of them having a different job. These differences lead to what the animals did: the stronger animals worked on the fields while the smarter ones used their intellect to guide the farm. Some jobs were also more important and were more respected than others. “The whole management and organisation of this farm depend on us, [pigs]” said a pig. (ch.3 pg.36) This meant that since each animal contributed differently to the farm and had a certain level of respect, each of them had a different importance level. This lead to a social hierarchy with the respected animals at top. Because of the different reputations among the animals, many different connections and relationships appeared between them. Each person tried to benefit the most from the farm and their connections. This often caused many different opinions to sprout and sometimes the animals disagreed with one another. These relationships and the thought of personal gain (for the intelligent animals) often got ahead of the benefit of the farm and this caused unique conflicts and different loyalties. With all the conflicts going on among different animals, societal structure was key for

Some animals had more power and influence which caused a struggle of power between some animals. The animals were all different species; each of them were raised to do different jobs. They had different intelligence levels and some of the animals like Boxer were strong and worked hard while other animals guided work but used their intellect to further the farm. Different jobs were looked up to and respected because of their wisdom and some of the jobs were reserved for certain people because of their power. It was assumed the animals with wisdom would govern the farm as shown, "... the pigs, who were manifestly cleverer than the other animals, should decide all questions of farm policy." (ch.5 pg.47) It all clearly points to the fact that all animals (and humans) have different strengths and different jobs and that they are not equal. This is also the case because some of the animals capabilities elevated their status within their society. This inequality sometimes helped the farm by providing a firm government but often lead to harsh mistreatment of many of the animals. The only reason animals often listened to the leader was because he had ferocious dogs protected him and in certain cases he used that power to protect his own interests. Many of the animals tried to take advantage of this situation by siding with the animals with more power. By showing the