In Chapter Five, the only official speech is reall that of Squealer sent to discuss with everyone the rise of Napoleon to power and the fact that Sunday meetings would be abolished. He says:
Do not imagine comrades, that leadership is a pleasure! On the contrary, it is a deep and heavy responsibility. No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal...
He goes on, but the basic point is made. The contradiction inherent in the idea that Napoleon believes everyone equal but at the same time will assume leadership and no longer be willing to listen to anyone, as you pointed out above.
An example from chapter VI
The rule was against sheets, which are a human invention. We have removed the sheets from the farmhouse beds, and sleep between blankets. And very comfortable beds they are too! But not more comfortable than we need, I can tell you, comrades, with all the brainwork we have to do nowadays.
Obviously we are working harder than you are so we need more comforts in order to maintain the equality of everything.
When Napoleon bans the singing of Beasts of England
Beasts of England was the song of the Rebellion. But the Rebellion is now completed... The enemy both external and internal has been defeated...
The fact is that Napoleon no longer wants the animals to think of themselves as equal, as the song suggests, because the power structure he wants is established and thoughts of subversion or rebellion are to be avoided.
No comments:
Post a Comment