Animal Farm (Passage & Analysis)

“Years passed. The seasons came and went, the short animal lives fled by. A time came when there was no one who remembered the old days before the Rebellion, except Clover, Benjamin, Moses the raven, and a number of the pigs. Muriel was dead, Bluebell, Jessie and Pincher were dead.  Jones too was dead – he had died in an inebriates’ home in another part of the county. Snowball was forgotten. Boxer was forgotten, except by the few who had known him. Clover was an old stout mare now, stiff in the joints and with a tendency to rheumy eyes. She was two years past the retiring age, but in fact no animal had every actually retired. The talk of setting aside a corner of the pasture for superannuated animals had long since been dropped. Napoleon was now a mature boar of twenty-four stone. Squealer was so fat that he could with difficulty see out of his eyes. Only old Benjamin was much the same as ever, except for being a little greyer about the muzzle, and, since Boxer’s death, more morose and taciturn than ever. There were many more creatures on the farm now, though the increase was not so great as had been expected in earlier years. Many animals had been born to whom the Rebellion was only a dim tradition, passed on by word of mouth, and others had been bought who had never heard mention of such a thing before their arrival. The farm possessed three horses now besides Clover. They were fine upstanding beasts, willing workers and good comrades, but very stupid. None of them proved able to learn the alphabet beyond the letter B. They accepted everything that they were told about the Rebellion and the principles of Animalism, especially from Clover, for whom they had an almost filial respect; but it was doubtful whether they understood very much of it. The farm was more prosperous now, and better organized; it had even been enlarged by two fields which had been bought from Mr. Pilkington. The windmill had been successfully completed at last, and the farm possessed a threshing machine and a hay elevator of its own, and various new buildings had been added to it. Whymper had bought himself a dogcart. The windmill, however, had not after all been used for generating electrical power. It was used for milling corn, and brought in a handsome money profit” (Orwell 92-93).
 

George Orwell alters his syntactical structure and primarily employs colloquial diction in order to demonstrate the history of a rebellion that doesn’t go as planned. It specifically displays his unique abilities and talents as a novelist to effectively play on words and various historical figureheads to get his message across to the intended audience. Sarcasm and irony are prevalent. The author uses a tone of discontent and overall dissatisfaction, primarily to increase amount of intensity felt by the animals, as well as the humans, in Animal Farm. Words are intentionally placed in specific locations to show the progression of the rebellion, and the toll that it has taken on modern society, paralleling with Russia’s turmoil and inner-conflict at this particular instant in time. The novelist shapes his novel by placing events in chronological order, but with the most emphasis on important events. These events aid in depicting the animals conflict with establishing a new life for themselves, as well as a better life for themselves. His words stress the most key incidents in Animal Farm. The sarcasm put forth in the novel essentially gives away Orwell’s discontent with communism. George Orwell masterfully crafts his novel through a cunning array of historical information, while presenting it in a colorful way. The historical element of this literary piece is overwhelmingly present throughout the entirety of the novel. It is deemed by many as the most important work of fictional and political satire in 20th-century Britain. Many parallels are drawn with Russian culture at the time, such as the struggle for power between Lenin and Stalin (Napoleon and Snowball) and the Bolshevik Revolution (The Animal Farm Revolution). It is vital to note the overall clarity of Orwell in expressing the outcome of the war; he does not attempt to sidestep the truth, but he rather embraces it with an intellectual approach. As this society as crumbled in upon itself, it has partially rebuilt due to the new era of government being put in place. Capitalization of key concepts reinforces the main ideas instilled by figureheads of the Revolution.