Animal Farm Analytical Essay

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a. Animal Farm, a novella written by George Orwell in 1945, is an allegorical commentary on what went wrong when Czarist Russia evolved into Communist Russia. At the time when Orwell 's book was published, Animal Farm wasn 't very popular because Russia was actually an ally to the western world in the fight against Hitler during World War II. Orwell himself wasn 't always completely anti-communist. He was actually a socialist who supported the belief that industry should be controlled and owned by the workers for the good of everyone, not just the elite. It wasn 't until he witnessed the corrupt evolution of Communist Russia, and how it departed from the initial goals, that he felt he should warn us of the dangers of unchecked authority. …show more content…

b. It is through Squealer that Orwell is at his strongest in constructing how language can reflect power. Squealer 's function in controlling the printed word and the spoken word is powerfully important. Napoleon is not able to wield the power he is unless Squealer is able to construct the truth that validates his authority. It is through language and political rhetoric that credibility is conferred upon the government. When Squealer rewrites history, he does so to ensure that it reflects the Pigs ' rule as a benevolent one in favor of the animals on the farm. Squealer 's vision of truth is the only vision of truth that is able to be articulated on the farm. This means that if Squealer writes it, there has to be an acceptance, forced or not, of truth. This enhances the idea that language is power, especially in a state controlled setting where what is said has no other competition. When Squealer rewrites the past so that Snowball never receives the award of "Animal Hero, First Class," there is no other conception of truth because there is no other alternate history to be articulated or other rhetorical conception of truth allowed. In this light, Orwell suggests that if authority possesses control of rhetoric and is not questioned at each turn because of it, there is a greater chance it will use the power it gains to consolidate its own credibility, and not work for the larger conception of