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Oxymoron In 'Animal Farm' By George Orwell

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From the book Animal Farm by George Orwell: "There was nothing there now except a single Commandment. It ran: ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS” (Orwell 134). We can see the pigs’ hypocrisy in this quote as when they finally became more comfortable and friendlier with humans, they then became more comfortable in changing the Seven Commandments. In other words, the pigs cannot keep their words.
The quote, in other words, means that the non-pig animals are equal to other animals while the pigs’ superior intelligence allows them to communicate with humans, allowing them to be acquainted with both the animals and the humans which makes them “more equal”. This quote uses the literary device oxymoron; oxymoron is defined as when two contradictory terms are combined to give a thoughtful rhetorical effect. This is an example of oxymoron by combining the two independent clauses “All animals are equal” and “but some animals are more equal than others” which shows contradictory thoughts, although the first clause seem to not have any contrary ideas, but interestingly is contradicted by “more equal” when in reality you cannot be more equal. The plot of this quote occurs when Clover-- who has a failing eyesight-- asked for Benjamin’s favor to read her the Seven Commandments as Clover suspects the Seven Commandments on the wall seem different-- indeed it is. The context of this quote is part of the overarching idea of the pigs’ dictatorial leadership
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