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Carolyn Anderson

Mr. Delguercio

English I Honors

23 December 2016

Ignorance is Not Bliss in ​Animal Farm

The characters of ​Animal Farm​ all have varied reactions to the idea of power and

command, as they have different levels of intelligence. The use of language and the ability to

read plays a huge role in the animals’ willingness to follow the leader. For the animals not as

intelligent, they will also be gullible to the lies that are being fed to them by whoever is in

control. Also, if they know they are not as intelligent, they are going to be less confident in

themselves and not want to speak out against the leader if they have thoughts of doubt. The

different components of intelligence heavily impact an animal’s response to control and power

from the other characters.

As the pigs are almost the only animals whom can read and write, they are at a great

advantage. They are also brilliant talkers. When first introducing Squealer, the pig who is all

about propaganda, Orwell writes “The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into

white” (Orwell 16). The usage of propaganda is strongly demonstrated when Napoleon teaches

the sheep to chant “four legs good, two legs bad.” Since the sheep can not think for themselves

and will blindly do whatever their leader tells them to, they are more than willing to chant this at

any time. However, the chant is later changed to “four legs good, two legs better.” This is right at

the time that the pigs begin walking on their hind legs. Changing the chant was “an

oversimplification, like the rest of the pigs’ ideology, which disguises the evil intentions of the
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unscrupulous” (Elbarbary par. 10). Another example of language being used to overpower the

animals is with the commandments written on the wall. Since the majority of the animals,

besides the pigs, cannot read, the pigs are able to modify what is written without the other

animals knowing. Without being able to read, they do not know if the commandments say what

they had always said. However, Benjamin the donkey ​can​ read, but chooses not to use his

intelligence or interfere because of his pessimistic views on life and his future. These are clear

situations in which the lack of intelligence in the animals causes them to succumb to the

controlling forces.

Going along with language is the thought that the animals will be more gullible to what

they are told. Gullibility closely depends on the idea of language not being their strong suit, and

is seen yet again with the wall of commandments. Their lacking in the language department

combined with their flaw of gullibility causes the pigs to have even more control over them. At

one point, Clover briefly strays from her usual stupidity to question the wall of commandments.

The pigs have just moved into the farmhouse and are sleeping in the beds, despite one of the

commandments forbidding animals to sleep in beds. After Muriel reads to Clover what she sees

on the wall, Clover comes to the conclusion that she “had not remembered that the Fourth

Commandment mentioned sheets; but as it was there on the wall, it must have done so” (Orwell

67). It is already apparent that the pigs have been changing the commandments and twisting the

words to accommodate their own luxuries, and by doing so, they “exploit their listeners’ lack of

facility for recall, and their textual comparison ineptitude” (Elbarbary par. 10). That is just one

from a myriad of examples of the animals’ gullibility. Earlier on in ​Animal Farm​, when the pigs

have just recently taken control, there is a controversy about where the cows’ milk is going. It is
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brought to the other animals’ attention that the cows’ milk, along with the ripe apples from the

trees, was being mixed into the pigs’ mash. However when the animals started to question the

necessity of this, Squealer shut it down immediately by explaining to them that the milk and

apples were vitally important to the pigs’ health. He convinced them that he did not even like

milk and apples, and was purely eating them only for the health benefits. All of the unintelligent

animals believe this, and life carries on. In another instance, Squealer was convincing them that

Snowball had never even fought in the Battle of the Cowshed. However in reality, Snowball

fought courageously and “the animals decided unanimously to create a military decoration,

‘Animal hero, first class’” (Orwell 44). Many times, the animals’ gullibility, due to their lack of

intelligence, gives the pigs complete power over them.

As gullibility is connected to language, confidence is also connected to both. When the

animals realize that they have low levels of intelligence, they are not confident in themselves and

become more hesitant to speak out against the leader. This also closely relates to the element of

fear, and the animals being scared of the leaders. In the beginning of the revolution on the farm,

the pigs are quick to take control. The other animals know that the pigs are naturally more

intelligent. Because of this, they are content with the pigs holding the most power. This may also

be because Old Major, the animal who inspired the whole rebellion, was a pig. The idea that the

pigs must be smarter is etched into all of the other animals’ brains, except maybe Benjamin’s. In

fact, Boxer “voiced the general feeling by saying: ‘If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be

right’” (Orwell 56). This proves just how ready the animals are to accept the pigs as being more

intelligent than them, and to not think anything against them. Another situation in which the

animals fear the leader is during the executions. Napoleon has gathered all the animals in another
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attempt to keep turning them against Snowball. If the animals admit to have been secretly

working with Snowball, Napoleon orders his dogs to slaughter them. Some of the less intelligent

animals, such as the hens, admit to working with Snowball. However, it is extremely unlikely

that this is true, and that they are merely confessing out of fear, because Napoleon has twisted

their minds and brainwashed them. After seeing the other animals slaughtered, “the animals,

frightened and disturbed, are mournful. They perceive that their dream . . . is somehow in

jeopardy” (Karolides par. 8). All of the animals are living in fear because they are not intelligent

enough to form their own thoughts and believe in them, and they are now starting to wonder if

the initial dream of animalism is not so easily obtained.

In summation, the animals’ responses to control or power from the pigs is heavily

affected by their levels of intelligence. The usage of language and ability to read, taking

advantage of the animals’ gullibility, and intimidation are all ways that the pigs have control over

the other animals. ​Animal Farm​ is a novel in which manipulation, propaganda, and deceitfulness

are demonstrated through the groups of characters and the plot.

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Works Cited

Elbarbary, Samir. “Language as Theme in ​Animal Farm​.” ​The International Fiction Review 19,

no. 1, Chelsea House Publishing, 2009,

http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin=MCIAF004&Sin

gleRecord=True. Accessed 11 Dec. 2016.

Karolides, Nicholas J. “​Animal Farm.​” ​Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on Political

Grounds, ​Third Edition, Facts on File, Inc., 2011, New York,

http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&WID=17169&SID=5&iPin=BB

P3017&SingleRecord=True. Accessed 22 Dec. 2016.

Orwell, George. ​Animal Farm.​ New American Library, 1996.