Link to Wider Societies(ORDINARY PEOPLE- their feelings and hope) Flashcards
(21 cards)
Animals are “shaken and miserable” after Napoleon’s mass assassinations and so “with one accord” are “huddling together for warmth”
Orwell creates a very MOROSE IMAGE here which evokes sympathy for the animals from the reader. The animals seem to be trying to comfort each other after what they have just witnessed. Orwell is SHOWING the effects of dictatorships on ordinary people. He is portraying the events in Russia and any other dictatorship as despicable.
“with one accord”
This is how the animals’ actions described as they lie down and are “HUDDLING TOGETHER FOR WARMTH”
ECHOES the words of the narrator when describing the animals as they rebel.
In Chapter 1, the way the animals assemble in the farm shows their UNITY in their want for a better life and the image of “huddling together” is reflected though the phrase is not directly used
When they rebel, the UNITY is reflected also with this statement.
However, during Napoleon’s rule, the image of them huddling together and being unified at several points in the novel becomes them huddling together in fear.
Here gain, the animals are seen “huddling together” and “with one accord” also like when they rebelled, presenting them as a unified body of just ordinary animals who have gone through so much suffering together over the course of the novel.
“huddling together for warmth”
SYMBOLIC IMAGE which is a REPRESENTATION of the ordinary animals’ collective vulnerability and unity throughout the novel.
Highlights the animals’ need for comfort like a need for “warmth” in winter as they suffer under the injustices of the totalitarian rule of Napoleon which has both a physical and emotional effect on them.
“feeling this to be in some way a substitute for the words she was unable to find, she began to sing ‘Beasts of England’ “
Beasts of England is a SYMBOL for the hopes and dreams of the animals for freedom from all forms of oppressive rule. Allegorically, it represents the yearning for an egalitarian society within people who are oppressed.
Orwell is showing how the animals still hold on to the hope of Animalism and for an Egalitarian society instilled in them by Old major despite the new dictatorship that has emerged
Animals sing ‘Beasts of England’ “slowly and mournfully” after witnessing the show trials done by Napoleon
ADVERBS show how the animals joyful hopes which are outlined in this song have been warped into a painful yearning or longing. OR
ADVERBS may be representative of lost hopes. The animals could be seen as mourning any hopes they ever had for an Egalitarian society as ‘Beasts of England’ is a SYMBOL of their hopes OR
Orwell uses these ADVERBS to create a very morose image.
AND SO?- He is showing their intense feeling of loss which is reflective of the feelings of loss ordinary people feel as they strive to destroy a dictatorship only to enter a new one.
Omniscient narrator delves extensively into Clover’s feelings and thoughts as the animals are “huddling together” portraying what she would ave said “if she could have spoken her thoughts”
Orwell makes use of the INTERNAL PERSPECTIVE the omniscient narrator provides to convey the feelings of ordinary people in Russia and other dictatorships who the reader might never have spoken to or even thought about and so, show the effects of totalitarianism outside of just politics but on an emotional level also in the ordinary people of the country.
EMOTIVE LANGUAGE used to describe the animals’ thoughts as they look upon the farm from the knoll where they are “huddling together for warmth”
Orwell describes the farm as “so desirable a place” to the animals and the narrator also describes the suprise they feel as they realise that the farm is actually theirs and adds that Clover’s “eyes filled with tears”.
Orwell allows the narrator comment on this after the show trials to show the pride, hope and love the animals had concerning the farm and how these were broken by the disunity they witnessed in the show trials.
AND SO?- Orwell is trying to show the consequences of failed leadership on ordinary people. He is showing how the ordinary Russian people, in particular, felt about their country and so, highlight their sadness as they started to see disunity and new dictatorship in the country they reclaimed from the Tsars.
EFFECTS OF BAD LEADERSHIP ON THE HOPES AND DREAMS OF A NATION’S PEOPLE
Why does Orwell make the narrator give us an extended insight into/ focus on Clover’s thoughts and feelings after Napoleon slaughters animals in a show trials manner?
To show the emotional effects on dictatorships and manipulation of power on ordinary people apart from the obvious political effects.
He is trying to show the granular effects by focusing on one of the animals thoughts. Clover’s feelings at this moment are REPRESENTATIVE OF the feelings of betrayal, hopelessness and sadness felt by the people who strive for freedom only to be betrayed by leaders who were supposed to lead them in freedom.
The common people trusted leaders like Stalin to lead them in a new egalitarian post-tsaric Russia but instead, they were swept into a new dictatorship
Clover “lacked the words to express her thoughts” on the injustice and hopelessness the animals are faced with after Napoleon’s show trials.
She REPRESENTS, at this moment, the powerlessness of people with improper education and their suffering. This is reflective of many amongst the uneducated masses in Russia and in many other dictatorships who are abused but may not even understand their suffering and exploitation or be able to properly outline the injustices being done to them.
Napoleon abolishes ‘Beasts O England’ in response to the animals singing it after the show trials
Orwell is showing the efforts of dictators to erase the hope for a better life and society within people. SIGNIFIES the importance of hope as Napoleon acts swiftly to destroy it (N.B. Hope(‘Beasts of England’ is what Old major gave to the animals which caused them to rebel).
DICTATORS do not want people to hope for something better than their oppressive rule
Squealer explains that ‘Beasts of England’ is abolished because the animals no longer need to hope for a better society as that society as been established.
Orwell is showing the LIES and MANIPULATION used by dictators to quell hope and keep people trapped in an oppressive society, believing there is nothing better they can hope for.
Signifies the importance of hope again. The hope of the animals within ‘Beasts of England’ would spark rebellion just as it sparked a rebellion against Jones
Examples of societies or countries whose people suffered similarly to the animals in Animal farm under the emergence totalitarian rule
RUSSIA- Russian people helped to oust the Tsars only to be placed under new oppressive rule
MANY AFRICAN AND SOUTH AMERICAN COUNTRIES- People would have fought for independence and freedom from colonial rule only to be betrayed and oppressed by the very leaders that led them in initial rebellion. They were moved from under one dictatorship to under another
“shaken…
… and miserable”
“with…
…one accord”
“huddling…
…together for warmth”
“feeling this to…
…be in some way a substitute for the words she was unable to find, she began to sing ‘Beasts of England’ “
“slowly…
…and mournfully”
“lacked the…
…words to express her thoughts”
‘Beasts of England’ could be symbolic of…
…HOPE
What is heard amongst the singing of the drunk pigs?
The strains of ‘Beasts of England’- SHOWING that even the pigs(some of Stalin’s associates) had hope for a better society and future for Russia and socialism/ egalitarianism
By chapter 10, every animal on the farm knows ‘Beasts Of England’ despite the fact it was banned
This is SYMBOLIC of how the animals’ hopw was never lost(the people in Russia never lost hope for a better society). The fact that all the animals know it though it is not sung openly is representative of how hope never dies. Despite being handed over to a new dictatorship, the animals still have hope just like how they had hope under Jones.
