Language and Manipulation in Animal Farm - Free Essay Example

Language is a powerful aspect, it can persuade people to go against the better judgement. Language of power is a key idea to what the story Animal Farm is all about. Mr. Jones (the owner of manors farm) is a cruel man who kills pigs and drowns dogs when they get too old. The author, George Orwell writes this fictional story about an animal rebellion that relates to real-life tragedies such as the Russian Revolution. Orwell used manipulation of language by using the pigs to try their full ability for any situation that questioned their supremacy. Language is used as an instrument of social control in multiple ways. The character, Squealer uses language to keep Napoleon in power. In Chapter 6, it states, With some difficulty Muriel spelt it out. It says No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets she announced finally. Curiously enough, Clover had not remembered that the Fourth Commandment mentioned sheets; but as it was there on the wall, it must have done so. This quote demonstrates manipulation of power because of how easily Squealer and Napoleon can change the Seven Commandments without any animals noticing. George Orwell develops the theme of Animal Farm throughout the course of the novel. It states, All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others. That quote shows how the theme of the story is leadership and the corruption of power. The story Animal Farm is about the Russian Revolution and how communism really developed This leads us into how manipulation of language might have been used. Considering the rewriting of history, the pigs were responsible for rewriting history. In the story Animal Farm, the pigs gain power and then use that power against the animals to manipulate them. Snowball and Napoleon had everything planned out from the beginning. Snowball was a traitor to the animals, while Napoleon was the mastermind behind everything. In Chapter 7, Squealer was the one rewriting history because he put Snowball out there as Mr. Jones agent. Therefore, if anyone wanted to agree with Snowball was automatically assumed as a traitor and enemy to the animal farm. Its not what actually is done, it is what others portray them as. Another way history was rewritten in Animal Farm involves the rules of Animalism. No animal shall sleep in a bed. No animal shall drink alcohol. No animal shall kill any other animal. All animals are equal. These rules are changed into No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets. No animal shall drink alcohal in excess. No animal shall kill any o ther animal unless killing is necessary. All animals are equal but some are more equal than the others. In conclusion, manipulation of language plays a huge role in the story Animal Farm. Language is used as an instrument of social control, Orwell develops the theme of the article throughout the text, and the pigs had a big part in the rewriting of history. The idea of this story was not about violence, but how manipulation began. Therefore, this is a good learning story.