In the book, Animal Farm by George Orwell, the main characters seem to group themselves together into four groups; the elite, intellectual pigs, the mildly intelligent animals, the stupid willing followers, and the outsiders. These groups interact in a way such that it is possible for one of them to control the rest with unquestioning authority.
The Pigs are the most intelligent creatures on the farm, they have the ability to read, write and handle complex business transactions. The pigs are also able to maintain a relatively cohesive and ordered society. The pigs did two main things to assert their authority over the other groups, first, they established, through a series of events; that they were much more intelligent then the other animals. For example, one of the first actions of the pigs was to set aside a room where they could work and study advanced crafts, thus separating themselves from the others in the minds of the animals. This assertion of power was echoed when Napoleon and Snowball announced to all the other animals that they were going to be taking the milk and apples, it was explained to the other animals by Squealer that “We pigs are brainworkers, the whole management and organization of this farm depends on us”(52). In addition to separation in the minds of the animals, the pigs also preformed other tasks from the animals, claiming that they were far too difficult for the animals to accomplish. This gave the pigs a supreme role, because if any animal needed help with repairing anything, they would need to ask a pig.
The moderately intelligent animals; Clover, The Cat and The Raven all act as if they are normal animals, with a few exceptions. Clover, repeatedly over the course of the book; checks the 7 commandments because she thinks that they have changed. The Cat skips out on work, and acts as though she was working all day, which was sufficient in tricking the dumber animals, and the Raven who takes an observatory role on the farm. This group serves as an indicator of the general feelings of the animals in the farm. If people are feeling oppresses, Clover will check the Commandments, if they are tired, the cat will act tired. These animals act as a buffer between the Human reader and the animal characters.
The least intelligent creatures, namely the sheep, Boxer, Mollie and the ducks are all representatives of the working class. They toil day in and day out, with great risk to their health, mental and physical, and with unobstructed obedience to their pig masters. These animals are the bread and butter of the farm, without them, very little work would get done, and the pigs would lose control. This group is the main cause of the pigs great power, because they never question the words of their leaders, Boxer, for instance makes his personal motto “I will work harder, Napoleon is always right” this is a perfect example of the unquestioning loyalty that led the animals into their submission.
The other animals are the ones who bring the most substance to the story, and who usually offer the least resistance to the pigs. The creatures in this group are Benjamin, Muriel and the dogs. Benjamin and Muriel have wildly different ideas the limit of loyalty from the dogs. Benjamin, who is the second smartest kind of creature from the pigs does not agree with their teachings. He believes that what they are doing is contrary to the original guiding principles of Animal Farm, and that they are abusing their power over the other animals in a way which is not beneficial for the others. Benjamin however remains indifferent on the surface. He does not cause any trouble, nor does he ever raise a fuss about the way that he is being treated. He serves as a digester of information for the human reader, helping them to associate the myriad of threads throughout the story which served to weave the oppression that resulted. Orwell indicates this at one point by having Benjamin speak about how donkeys were wise, a clue to the reader to follow Benjamin’s story. Muriel also acts as somewhat of an envoy, but rather being between the reader and the animals, it is between the animals and their thoughts. Sometimes they needed someone to read the commandments to them, because they could not read. What this did, was in stead of the animals remembering exactly what was written before on the wall, and seeing the changes in their own memory, they can always think that maybe Muriel’s memory is wrong, and this gives them some reassurance that the leadership is good. She acts as a kind of tranquilizer for the thoughts of the animals. The dogs simply play a role of keeping order through fear. Although some animals might have inconsistencies in their memories of events, “the dogs…growled so threateningly that they accepted [the] explanation without further question” (72). The dogs also added further to the gap between the pigs and the other animals.
Due to these complex interactions with each group of animals and their respective traits of behavior, the Pigs were able to gain and maintain control of the farm with little or no resistance from the community. Orwell is trying to explain that anytime in a society with a large number of uninformed citizens who cannot think for themselves, a group of menacing characters who maintain protection of the leaders; and with the superiority imposed by the leaders, there will always be corruption and inequality.
Reference:
- Orwell, George; “Animal Farm” Harcourt Inc. 1946.
