Power and Communication Aredangerous Things in Orwells Animal Farm

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Power and Communication are dangerous things in George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Orwell’s satirical novel mocks the political oppression placed on the people of Russia, by the Totalitarian Government, in the middle of 20th century. The book Animal Farm puts across the opinions of socialists on the corrupt regime that caused the population to suffer. The lower down a person in the hierarchy, the poorer they were, and the poorer they became, is put across in the book, and represents the reality in Russia. The book however is clearly set in England, so as not to directly insult the Russian Government. The meetings, which were eventually stopped by Napoleon, allowed the animals to form opinions collectively. The way in which Old Major and Snowball ran the farm, was democratic. Even though Old Major gives the message of ‘all animals are equal’, the farm’s animals accepted him as their leader. This is supported by, “highly regarded…lose an hour’s sleep in order to hear what he had to say.” The animals, due to Old Major’s maturity, accept what he says as fact and believe that he will act on what he declares. Snowball, although arguing with Napoleon regularly, takes on the opinions of the other animals on the farm, and tries to make the future of the farm successful. This is shown by, “Snowball also busied himself with organising the other animals into what he called Animal Committees.” Snowball also decided to change the seven commandments into one single maxim, “four legs good, two legs bad.” Snowball puts his efforts into spreading the word of animalism on other farms, through the pigeons, and communicates with the others on Animal Farm for himself. Napoleon, however, uses other animals to send out his messages, so that he becomes an unknown character to the other animals. This leads them to believe that he is superior to themselves, and that all of the decisions he
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