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Animal Farm: Chapters 5-6 (Chapter 6 (Snowball is used as a Scapegoat…
Animal Farm: Chapters 5-6
Chapter 5
Mollie leaves the farm in search of ribbons and sugar
Snowball Vs Napoleon
Snowball and Napoleon disagree “at every point where disagreement was possible”. Snowball often “won over the majority with his brilliant speeches”, however “Napoleon was better at canvassing support for himself in between times”.
Snowball is presented as popular and persuasive, while Napoleon is devious and underhand.
Makes Snowball look naïve, as he is so focused on his plans and persuading the animals with his speeches that he overlooks the threat that Napoleon poses.
Snowball
Wants to "stir up rebellion" on other farms and spread Animalism
Full of ideas to improve farm life. Very persuasive and making a "close study" of books
Keen to build a windmill to reduce long term work of animals
Napoleon
More violent ideas, wants to protect farm with weapons
undermines Snowball by building support with the sheep
Urinates over windmill plans and calls them "nonsense"
The Windmill
Napoleon “declared himself against the windmill from the start”. When he visited the shed, “he urinated over the plans”. This disgusting act shows Napoleon’s disrespect for Snowball and that he is willing to use threatening, underhand tactics to establish his own power.
Napoleon trains the sheep to bleat, “Four legs good, two legs bad” at crucial moments in Snowball’s speeches about the windmill
Napoleon's Windmill
Three weeks after “Snowball’s expulsion”, Napoleon announces that the windmill will be built and that it will take two years.
“Squealer explained to the animals” that Snowball stole the ideas for the windmill from Napoleon. Napoleon’s own clever idea to get rid of Snowball, as he had realised that Snowball was dangerous and corrupt.
The animals accept what Squealer says because he confuses them with his language and they are threatened by the growling dogs.
The vote
At the Sunday meeting, the animals prepare to vote on the windmill. We hear that “Snowball’s eloquence had carried them away".
Napoleon calls his “nine enormous dogs wearing brass-studded collars” and they “dashed straight for Snowball”, chasing him off the farm. Start of Napoleon using violence and threats in place of democracy and fair debate. Snowball is exiled
New Regime under Napoleon
“Squealer was sent round the farm to explain” Napoleon’s new regime.
Squealer explains that “loyalty and obedience” are more important than “bravery”, when one of the animals says that Snowball was brave in The Battle of the Cowshed.
End of Democracy
The animals are terrified. The nine dogs wag their tails to Napoleon as the dogs used to for Mr Jones.
Napoleon announces the end of Sunday Meetings and there will be “no more debates”.
Language is power and Napoleon wants to end freedom of speech
The end of voting and debating signifies the end of democracy
Sets up a special committee of pigs to make decisions without a public vote.
Sundays.
Old Major’s skull is put by the flag. On Sundays, three pigs and the nine dogs sit at the front with the other pigs behind them.
The rest of the animals face them and Napoleon reads out the orders for the week in “a gruff soldierly style”. The hierarchy and rigid, violent authority has been established.
Chapter 6
The animals are treated like slaves
“The animals worked like slaves”.
This simile creates an incredibly sad atmosphere as it reminds the reader that the animals are unaware of their situation; they do not realise that they are not free and they are not working for their own prosperity.
This is ironic as the animals are now slaves to Napoleon.
Language is used to control
Boxer works incredibly hard and gets up even earlier to carry and break the stone for the windmill, contrasts pigs' laziness
The pigs use language to control the animals. Work on Sundays is “voluntary”, but if the animals don’t do it, their rations will be “reduced by half”. This is actually a disguised threat which forces the animals to work.
Trade
Napoleon tells the animals that they will now trade with neighbouring farms in order to get the materials that they need for the windmill.
He tells them that “the needs for the windmill override everything else”. If they need more money, they will sell the hen’s eggs.
Napoleon engages the services of a solicitor, Mr Whymper. Napoleon has broken Old Major’s rules by bringing capitalism back to the farm.
Claims it is for non-commercial gain.
Squealer goes around the farm and convinces the animals that a rule against trade had never been passed; it must have been in their imagination or one of Snowball’s evil rumours.
The commandments are changed
The pigs move into the farmhouse, sleep in the beds and get up later than the other animals. Their laziness contrasts with Boxer’s hard work and devotion.
Clover asks Muriel to read The Fourth Commandment, but it now reads: “No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets”. The pigs have corrupted language and the principals and Animalism.
Squealer manipulates the animals into complying with these changes by repeating that the pigs need a quiet place to do their “brainwork”.
Threat of Jones
The repeated threat of Jones not only manipulates the animals into agreeing with all of the pigs changes, but it also makes the animals continue to believe that life is better and safer without Jones; the pigs are now in control of the animals thoughts and memories.
Squealer repeats the threat: “Surely none of you wishes to see Jones back?"
Snowball is used as a Scapegoat
This enables Napoleon to keep control as the rest of the animals are afraid of an invisible enemy, rather than realising that Napoleon has become an authoritarian dictator.
He passes the death penalty on Snowball and a reward for anyone who captures him. Napoleon has made Snowball the scapegoat for anything that goes wrong on Animal Farm.
A violent storm destroys the windmill. Napoleon blames the destruction of the windmill on Snowball, claiming that he is a traitor who crept in and purposefully wrecked it
Snowball described as a "miserable traitor"