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Definition of Irony
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this seems like a loose definition... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how... read full definition
Irony
Explanation and Analysis—Growing Humanity:
There’s a brutal situational irony to the changes the pigs undergo in Animal Farm. At the start of the novel, the animals, led by these same pigs, overthrow Mr. Jones with the promise of creating an equal and fair society free from human exploitation. They establish the “Seven Commandments,” which mandate animal equality and explicitly prohibit any behaviors deemed to be too human. A key tenet of the founding of the new “Animal Farm” is that the era of humans has ended and further revolutions must follow. All of the Commandments underline these foundational beliefs. Even the simplified version the smarter animals teach to the sheep and hens emphasize a clear divide between humans and animals. “Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad” is the foundation upon which the animals’ new society is built.
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Irony
Explanation and Analysis—Cycles of Power:
Animal Farm revolves around a central situational irony: that even though the animal revolutionaries who overthrow the cruel Mr. Jones have the best intentions, they end up in an almost identical system of oppression. What’s worse, this new regime is led by one of their own, their former revolutionary leader Comrade Napoleon. Through this, Orwell implies that gaining power brings out the selfishness and tendency to exploit others in even the most well-meaning of leaders.
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Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Seven Commandments:
Perhaps the most intense moment of combined situational irony and satire in Animal Farm appears at the end of the novel, when it becomes clear that the pigs have altered the Seven Commandments. At the beginning of the novel, the “Commandments” read like this:
Unlock with LitCharts A+THE SEVEN COMMANDMENTS
1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal.
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Chapter 10
Explanation and Analysis—Seven Commandments:
Perhaps the most intense moment of combined situational irony and satire in Animal Farm appears at the end of the novel, when it becomes clear that the pigs have altered the Seven Commandments. At the beginning of the novel, the “Commandments” read like this:
Unlock with LitCharts A+THE SEVEN COMMANDMENTS
1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal.
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Explanation and Analysis—Something Subversive:
Napoleon tries to “clarify” things to the human farmers from the surrounding area at a peacemaking dinner the pigs hold. Orwell uses situational irony to highlight the duplicity in Napoleon's toast, as the narrator recounts it:
Unlock with LitCharts A+For a long time there had been rumours—circulated, he had reason to think, by some malignant enemy—that there was something subversive and even revolutionary in the outlook of himself and his colleagues. [...] Nothing could be further from the truth! Their sole wish, now and in the past, was to live at peace and in normal business relations with their neighbours. This farm which he had the honour to control, he added, was a co-operative enterprise. The title-deeds, which were in his own possession, were owned by the pigs jointly.
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