This Study Resource Was: Exploiting Education To Achieve Unruly Power

Freshta
Karemzadah
001308726
Stephanie Edwards
English 1AA3
Education Leads to Power

Exploiting Education to Achieve Unruly Power
Language and education are used throughout George Orwell’s novel, Animal
Farm, as a tool by the intelligent animals, specifically the pigs, to control and command
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the less intelligent animals on the farm. The pigs are quick to realize the importance of
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education and use it to manipulate the other farm animals in order to benefit the pigs.
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The uneducated animals fall victim to deceit and control by the pigs and are unable to
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make decisions for themselves because of their unintelligence. In Animal Farm, the pigs
use education and language as tools to create a hierarchy over those that lack in
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intellect within the community, which leads to the suffering of the other animals.
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After the animals take over Manor Farm from Mr. Jones, the pigs, specifically
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Snowball and Napoleon, make it clear to the other farm animals that they would assume
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leadership. Assuming command is shown at the beginning of the hay harvest when
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Napoleon and Snowball gathered all the animals together and “revealed that during the
past three months they had taught themselves to read and write from an old spelling
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book” (Orwell, 22). Orwell’s use of the word “revealed” indicates that the pigs are hiding
their effort to educate themselves from all the other animals. The pigs keeping their
education a secret is analyzed as a means for the pigs to overpower the other farm
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animals. If the pigs had initially shared the spelling book with the all the other animals
on the farm and helped everyone learn, the pigs would no longer be the only clever
animals. In turn, the pigs would not be able to deceive the farm animals into believing
all of their claims because the animals would be able to tell if they were being
manipulated.
Furthermore, using that primary advantage of education, the pigs convince the
other farm animals that along with assuming leadership, they do not actually need to
work but should rather supervise and direct the all the other animals. The pigs' lack of
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physical work automatically creates an inequality amongst all farm animals. Since the
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pigs are no longer going to be out working on the farm with the other animals, they
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have segregated themselves from the rest of the farm. The segregation creates the idea
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that the pigs are superior and do not need to put in any physical work to achieve
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rewards like all the other animals.

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Initially, the most powerful individuals in Animal Farm are considered the
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Humans. All the animals are afraid of the humans and agree that unlike the humans
they should treat each other equally. As Napoleon takes over complete control and in
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turn power, this idea of “all animals are equal” begins to diminish. Using his intelligence
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Napoleon creates a hierarchy in which he is superior to the rest of the farm animals.
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Without being questioned by the other farm animals, Napoleon took the newborn
puppies away from their mother and raised them privately. Napoleon was secretly
raising these puppies to be his guard dogs and uses them to create fear in the other
farm animals. Orwell explicitly shows this when:
Napoleon, with the dogs following him, now mounted onto the
raised portion of the floor stood to deliver his speech…the
animals would have protested if they could have found the
right arguments…the sheep broke out into a tremendous
bleating of ‘Four legs good, two legs bad!’ which went on for
nearly a quarter of an hour and put an end to any chance of
discussion (Orwell, 42-43).
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Orwell’s use of imagery when Napoleon “mounts on the raised portion of the floor”
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demonstrates that not only is he intellectually superior to the other farm animals but
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due to his intellect, he is now also physically superior to them. The idea that Napoleon's
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intelligence made him the leader is driven home when the other animals are unable to
protest due to their lack of knowledge to come up with the right arguments. With their
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lack of education and the fear of Napoleon's guard dogs, the other farm animal’s voices
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become silent.
Furthermore, Napoleon uses the sheep as a means to shut down any protest
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from the animals on the farm. Unable to learn the Seven Commandments the sheep are
taught the simpler maxim, “four legs good, two legs bad.” Every time something
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unacceptable happens on the farm, Napoleon gives a speech, and the sheep draw
attention away from the problem by chanting this maxim. This results in the other farm
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animals being incapable of protesting or having any further discussion about the topic.
Towards the end of the novel, when Napoleon and the other pigs adopt the human
characteristics that they initially claimed unacceptable, the pigs teach the sheep the
new maxim, ‘Four legs good, two legs better’. The unintelligent and easily influenced
sheep chant the maxim throughout the farm drowning out the other farm animals
thoughts and judgments. Once again, the farm animals are manipulated into believing
that the pigs’ actions are acceptable. The lack of debate solidifies the hierarchy
Napoleon has created since no one interrogates his authority.
After the pigs have taken over complete power, they begin to oppress the other
animals further by using the animal’s ignorance against them. The pigs are quick to
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fabricate lies that cause the unintelligent farm animals to stop questioning and accept
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what the pigs are telling them. Boxer, one of the horses on the farm, is getting weak and
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ready for retirement. Conveniently, for the pigs, Boxer suffers an injury that requires
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him to go to the hospital. The pigs arrange for Boxer’s visit to the hospital, and he is
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picked up from the farm. The animals all rush out to see Boxer’s departure when
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Benjamin, the goat, notices the writing on the van and exclaims:
Fools! Do you not see what is written on the side of that

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van?'... ‘Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughterer and Glue

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Boiler, Willingdon. Dealer in Hides and Bone-Meal. Kennels

Supplied. Do you not understand what that means? They
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are taking Boxer to the knackers! (Orwell, 84).

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By showing that the animals are not intelligent enough to understand what the writing
on the van means, the animals have missed their opportunity to help Boxer. It becomes
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apparent that the pigs are not willing to pay for Boxer’s retirement and use Boxer’s so-
called “trip to the hospital” as a scheme to get rid of Boxer. In order to maintain the
trust of the farm animals, and in turn keep their position of power, the pigs need to
convince the farm animals that Benjamin’s exclamation is not correct. The pigs
effortlessly do so, by using the farm animal’s lack of literacy and knowledge to deceive
them into believing that the van has not yet been re-painted. The pigs convince the farm
animals that everything is fine and going according to plan. The unintelligent animals
simply accept the pig’s explanation because they lack the education to make any
counterarguments against the pigs. The pig's methodical manner of putting together
sentences persuade the animals to accept every construed thing they say because the
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other animals do not completely understand what they are being told. The pig’s intellect
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allows them to manipulate the other gullible farm animals from questioning their
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notions and as a result remains at the top of the hierarchy.
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In Animal Farm it is evident that the pigs’ intelligence lead them to rise into
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leadership. Moreover, by withholding education they stayed in power without facing
rebellion from the other animals. If the other animals were able to learn, then the
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leadership roles might have been distributed differently in the sense that the animals
that could do best for the farm would be in power. Additionally, education could
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liberate the farm animals into thinking for themselves and not being victims of
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manipulation and deceit. Intelligence is used as a means of power and those animals
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with higher intelligence achieve greater power and in turn made a community that was
supposed to be equal into a community of hierarchy.
Work Cited
Orwell, George. Animal Farm. London: Arcturus Publishing Limited, 1956.
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Freshta

rewards like all the other animals.

farm animals. Orwell explicitly shows this when:

Napoleon has created since no one interrogates his authority.

Fools! Do you not see what is written on the side of that

van?'... ‘Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughterer and Glue

Boiler, Willingdon. Dealer in Hides and Bone-Meal. Kennels

are taking Boxer to the knackers! (Orwell, 84).

leadership. Moreover, by withholding education they stayed in power without facing

supposed to be equal into a community of hierarchy.

Orwell, George. Animal Farm. London: Arcturus Publishing Limited, 1956.

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