Chapter 5: Snowball vs. Napoleon

“[Snowball and Napoleon] disagreed at every point disagreement was possible.”

• use of hyperbole to exaggerate the extent of their conflict and emphasise their rivalry

• establishes the early divide between the two leaders and foreshadows the later conflict that arises

“There were some violent debates.”

• juxtaposition of ‘violent’ and ‘debates’; the word debates suggests rational discussion but violent contradict this

• suggests that politics in Animal Farm are already starting to shift towards aggression rather than reason

“Snowball often won over the majority by his brilliant speeches.”

• adverb ‘often’ suggests that Snowball is consistently more persuasive than Napoleon, highlighting his intelligence and charisma

• adjective ‘brilliant’ to describe his speeches shows how Snowball gains respect and wins the support of others through logic

• foreshadows how Napoleon, unable to match Snowball’s rhetorical skills;’ will resort to force rather than persuasion

“A piece of chalk gripped between the knuckles of his trotter’

• imagery of ‘trotter’ emphasises the unnatural nature of pigs taking on human habits, subtly hinting at their eventual transformation into oppressors

• against Old Majors word ‘Do not adopt his vices’

“In glowing sentences he painted a picture of Animal Farm.”

• metaphor ‘painted a picture’ highlights Snowball’s rhetoric skills and shows how he inspires through visionary language

• ‘glowing sentences’ has connotation of hope and idealism, which contrasts Napoleon’s later use of fear-based rhetoric

“Nine enormous dogs wearing brass-studded collars came bounding.”

• adjective ‘enormous’ suggests intimidation

• ‘brass-studded collars’ represents how humans also put collars on dogs, shows dominance and power over the dogs even though all animals are equal

“They dashed straight for Snowball.”

• dynamic verb ‘dashed’ suggests speed and aggressed, suggesting that the attack is pre-planned and ruthless

• ‘straight for Snowball’ shows that Napoleon carefully orchestrated the attack, removing any illusion of fair leadership

• suggests Napoleon feared he would lose in a democratic vote so resorted to unjust, forceful methods