Rhetorical Devices
Squealer uses words like "we" and "comrades" to build this among the animals.
What is Unity?
This loyal but unthinking horse represents the exploited working class.
Who is Boxer?
This is what it symbolizes when the Seven Commandments are secretly painted over.
What is the breakdown of truth/rewriting of history?
Napoleon uses this technique when he blames every farm problem on Snowball.
What is scapegoating?
This happens to the "truth" over the course of the novel.
What is it is rewritten and manipulated?
Squealer justifies the pigs' sleeping in beds by claiming the rule was only against this human invention.
What are sheets?
This character tells stories of "Sugarcandy Mountain" to keep the animals hopeful and submissive.
Who is Moses the Raven?
At the end of the book, the pigs do this physical action, showing they are no different from humans.
What is walking on two legs?
Squealer whisks his tail and skips from side to side while speaking to serve as this.
What is a distraction?
This character’s development best proves the theme "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Who is Napoleon?
Squealer's primary argument to manipulate animals through fear involves the return of this person.
Who is Mr. Jones?
This character leaves the farm because she misses sugar and ribbons, representing the bourgeoisie.
Who is Mollie?
During Napoleon’s executions, animals confess to crimes they didn't commit because they are paralyzed by this.
What is a "reign of terror"?
Napoleon abolishes this song because he doesn't want the animals to think about rebellion.
What is "Beasts of England"?
The pigs' knowledge of "tactics" is significant because it is used as a tool for this.
What is control?
Old Major uses vivid, gory descriptions of a "cruel knife" to evoke this from his audience.
What is an emotional reaction?
Napoleon educates these animals in private to create his own loyal police force.
Who are the puppies?
Changing the name of the farm back to this proves the revolution has completely failed.
What is Manor Farm?
The sheep’s constant chanting serves to do this to any actual debate or independent thought.
What is drown it out?
This tragic event reveals that the leaders view workers as expendable and only valued for labor.
What is Boxer's death (the van incident)?
Squealer uses "smart-sounding" jargon like "Science" and "Tactics" to make the animals feel this way, preventing them from questioning the pigs' decisions.
What is inferior (or unintelligent/confused)?
This donkey can read and see the truth but represents the danger of being an uninvolved observer.
Who is Benjamin?
By the end of the novel, the Commandment "All animals are equal" has this famous phrase added to it.
What is "...but some animals are more equal than others"?
Squealer uses this term (a mild word for a harsh reality) when he says rations are "readjusted" instead of "reduced."
What is a euphemism?
In the final scene, the animals realize this "horror" while looking from pig to man.
What is that the new bosses are just as oppressive as the old ones?