Animal Farm essay

“Napoleon is always right,”, “carrying a whip in his trotter”
TOPIC SENTENCE para 1

Orwell explores how revolutionary ideals are easily corrupted when power is concentrated in the hands of a single authoritarian leader. Through Napoleon, he shows how dictators manipulate both language and fear to entrench their control.

“Napoleon is right” para 1

The repeated slogan, “Napoleon is always right,” illustrates how the animals are indoctrinated into blind obedience. This slogan, with its hyperbolic phrasing, functions as propaganda, discouraging independent thought and constructing a cult of personality around Napoleon. Orwell satirises this through the animals’ naivety, using irony to highlight their failure to see the contradiction between their suffering and the supposed success of the farm. The humour is dark and pointed, mocking the absurdity of slogans replacing logic.

carrying a whip in his trotter + link para 1

Furthermore, Orwell uses stark symbolism in the image of Napoleon “carrying a whip in his trotter”. The whip, traditionally associated with human cruelty, reveals how Napoleon has adopted the very tools of oppression once used by Mr. Jones. This cyclical return to tyranny emphasises the betrayal of Animalism’s founding ideals. Orwell’s message is clear: in totalitarian regimes, language is weaponised and violence normalised, allowing corrupt leaders to reshape truth and history to serve their absolute authority.

“All animals are equal,” “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

“It was impossible to say which was which.” Topic sentence

para 2

Furthermore, Orwell critiques how those in power maintain the illusion of equality while creating an even more rigid hierarchy than the one they replaced.

“All animals are equal,” “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

para 2

The original maxim, “All animals are equal,” encapsulates the hopeful ideals of Animalism—a society free from class and oppression. However, the pigs gradually distort this commandment, eventually rewriting it as “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” The deliberate contradiction in this phrase, using the language of equality to justify inequality—exposes the perverse logic of totalitarian regimes. Orwell’s use of paradox here satirises the way political language is twisted until it loses all meaning, a direct reference to the manipulation of truth under Stalinist rule. The pigs’ reinterpretation of equality allows them to legitimise privilege while silencing dissent.

“It was impossible to say which was which.” + link

para 2

This betrayal culminates in the chilling final image: “It was impossible to say which was which.” The once-clear boundary between oppressor and oppressed has completely dissolved, reinforcing Orwell’s bleak warning that without checks on power, revolutions risk becoming indistinguishable from the tyranny they sought to escape.

intro

George Orwell’s allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) critiques the betrayal of revolutionary ideals in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. Through his use of allegory and satire, Orwell explores how revolutionary ideals are easily corrupted when power becomes concentrated in the hands of a single authoritarian leader. Orwell demonstrates this through the manipulation of propaganda, where he shows how language and fear are weaponised to entrench power and silence dissent. Furthermore, the use of paradox and symbolism reinforces how the illusion of equality under totalitarian rule ultimately leads to oppression, revealing Orwell’s bleak warning about the cyclical nature of tyranny.