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Pathos
Definition of Satire
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of satire, but satirists can take... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians... read full definition
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:
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.
Related Themes:
Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—Windmills Again:
The animals abandoned the windmill project after Squealer “explained” to them why it was a wrong-headed idea, only to have Napoleon tell them they must begin it again a short while later. Here, Orwell employs satire to critique the way corrupt leaders manipulate political messaging to exploit loyal laborers:
Unlock with LitCharts A+On the third Sunday after Snowball’s expulsion, the animals were somewhat surprised to hear Napoleon announce that the windmill was to be built after all. He did not give any reason for having changed his mind, but merely warned the animals that this extra task would mean very hard work, it might even be necessary to reduce their rations. The plans, however, had all been prepared, down to the last detail. A special committee of pigs had been at work upon them for the past three weeks. The building of the windmill, with various other improvements, was expected to take two years.
Related Themes:
Chapter 10
Explanation and Analysis—The Whip:
Describing Napoleon’s final, triumphant two-legged return to the farmyard, Orwell satirizes the way dictators often reproduce the cruelties of the systems that came before them. This depiction of Napoleon also calls attention to the allusion Orwell makes with the pig’s name:
Unlock with LitCharts A+And finally there was a tremendous baying of dogs and a shrill crowing from the black cockerel, and out came Napoleon himself, majestically upright, casting haughty glances from side to side, and with his dogs gambolling round him. He carried a whip in his trotter.
Related Themes:
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.
Related Themes:
