Discussion Topic
Diction and language in Animal Farm and their role in conveying meaning and expressing the animals' attitudes post-rebellion
Summary:
In Animal Farm, diction and language play crucial roles in conveying meaning and expressing the animals' attitudes post-rebellion. Orwell uses simple and direct language to reflect the animals' initial optimism and straightforward goals. As the pigs gain power, their language becomes more complex and manipulative, illustrating the growing corruption and disparity between the leaders and the other animals.
How does diction and language in chapter 7 of Animal Farm convey meaning?
In chapter 7 of his novella Animal Farm, George Orwell continues his over-arching use of allegorical metaphor—that is, he is using a made-up setting to articulate a message about actual events.
Much of his meaning in this chapter is conveyed through the use of literary irony: in the second paragraph, for example, he uses the words "Squealer made excellent speeches on the joy of service and the dignity of labour, but the other animals found more inspiration in Boxer's strength and his never-failing cry of 'I will work harder!'" rather than just writing that Squealer was all talk while Boxer was demonstrative and worked hard physically as well.
Orwell uses imagery and descriptive language sparingly yet effectively—that is, he uses them enough to convey settings and feelings but is not verbose. He uses straightforward words rather than flowery ones. He very easily and quickly puts...
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the reader on the scene of a hard, punishing winter in which all the animals are cold and hungry. An example of this is the sentence "starvation seemed to stare them in the face," which is simple and to-the-point while also utilizing the literary device ofpersonification (starvation itself seems to become a character in the story rather than being something abstract).
Orwell describes his characters, their feelings, and their speech with diction that is both direct and emotive. Clover’s emotions regarding the trajectory of the animals’ rebellion, in a pivotal moment for her, is an example of this:
As Clover looked down the hillside her eyes filled with tears. If she could have spoken her thoughts, it would have been to say that this was not what they had aimed at when they had set themselves years ago to work for the overthrow of the human race.