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Examples Of Social Commentary In Animal Farm

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What is Social Commentary? -Social commentary is the act of using rhetoric, verbal and/or written, to provide commentary on societal issues that people are prohibited from mentioning or do not believe to be true. It is a silent but bold form of rebellion. The goal of social commentary is normally to promote change. Our Social Commentary: -Language and the use of language plays a vital aspect in attaining power and manipulating others through said power. How do some of the characters contribute to our understanding of social commentary in Animal Farm? -Napoleon: Napoleon is the star of our social commentary. He constantly uses fear-inducing methods and rhetoric, words he'd taken from Old Major's speech about animalism and twisted it, to gain the favor of his fellow farm animals. Along with the help of propaganda (from Squealer), he becomes the leader of Animal Farm and, in the process, gains power over the animals. Napoleon not only twists the words of Old Major into his own version of animalism to benefit himself, he also uses rhetoric to twist the image of Snowball in everyone's mind. One major instance in the book would be when he convinces the animals that the windmill idea was his all along, and that Snowball was …show more content…

While Napoleon draws attention to himself in order to attain power, Napoleon does it to popularize his ideas. The intentions behind his ideas were good; he'd wanted to improve the farm and the lives of the animals. Based on contributions, Snowball is the unwilling assistant to Napoleon's schemes because despite not directly or intentionally helping him, the destruction of Snowball's image helped elevate Napoleon's position on the farm. Napoleon alters the animal's memories of Snowball by putting the blame of many unfortunate events on Snowball and accusing him of being a spy. He later convinces the other animals that Snowball was an enemy all

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