In the novel, of Animal Farm, the author, George Orwell, shows the methods used by the pigs to gain power and control over the animals by their ability to read and write, and using their trotters and clever brains. First, the pigs are the only animals capable of reading and writing. The pigs teach “themselves to read and write from an old spelling book” (15) found in the home of Jones, the previous owner of the farm. Being literate allows the pigs to alter or change important documents and potentially mislead the clueless animals. Out of all the animals in the farm, just the pigs are qualified to milk the cows, due to their unique trotters. Unlike the other barn animals, the pigs have “trotters well adapted for the task” (16) of milking cows.