Animal Farm: AQA GCSE 9-1 English Literature Text Guide
My animal farm grade 9 gcse notes
I achieved a grade 9
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contains more than 50 quotes from the whole novel, with extreme details and exam style analysis
split into
-napoleon
-squealer
-snowball
-old major
-boxer
-irony
-inequality
Ruthless
● Napoleon is described in his introduction as having a “reputation of getting his
own way”. Napoleon is immediately suggested to be a corrupt and opportunistic
character which is cataphoric for the later events in the book in which Napoleon
takes control of the farm. The imperative “[get]” emphasizes Napoleon’s
determination and the ambiguity implies that he will turn to immoral and ruthless
unorthodox methods to assume leadership of the farm later on in the novella.
The adjective “own” further foreshadows Napoleon’s takeover of the farm and
evokes a sense of relentless desire to be in control. The reader would have
noticed from this that equality would never have existed on the farm which
reflects Orwell’s views that a communist utopian society was idealistic and could
never be carried out in practice.
● Napoleon’s description of a “large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar” illustrates
his ruthlessness. From the start of the novel Napoleon is established to be
different from the other pigs, as he is large and of a particular breed, highlighting
subtly the theme of inequality. The adjective “fierce” has connotations of a tiger
and outlines Napoleon’s potential future aggressiveness and violent actions.
● After the show trails “a pile of corpses” were at Napoleon’s “feet”. The
unemotional noun “corpses” and the adverb “promptly” highlights Napoleon’s
unemotional reaction and sense of dismissive power reflecting his ruthlessness
and lack of empathy. The noun “feet” symbolises Napoleon’s absolute authority
over the animals and the established hierarchy in which Napoleon is above all
the other animals. This event frightens the animals into becoming suspicious and
nervous of each other. The reader should have been horrified by Napoleon’s
psychopathy evoking negative feelings towards the Soviet Union which Orwell
criticised. The executions in the novella parallel Stalin’s show trails which were
intended to remove Stalin’s opponents and sustain his position of absolute power
over the Russian people through terror.
● The declarative “The dogs promptly tore their throats out” reflects Napoleon’s
lack of remorse through the depressing and unemotional tone. This clause is
placed in the middle of a complex sentence to increase the sudden and shocking
impact of this sentence on the reader, who would have been horrified at this
, event. The verb “promptly” conveys the dog’s lack of hesitation and complete
loyalty to Napoleon, reflecting Napoleon’s ruthless personality as he raised the
dogs intending to kill Snowball. The alliteration in the lexemes subtly illustrate the
horrific violence through the consecutive harsh “t” sound.
● A link between Animal Farm and Manor Farm is made when Orwell says the
“Smell of blood… was unknown there since the expulsion of Jones”. The use of
sensory imagery for the “blood” is rarely used elsewhere in the Novella and
therefore deeply shocks the reader who can visualise the horrific murder in that
enough blood was spilt that it accumulated into a smell. This reminds the reader
that Animal farm is becoming more like it was in Jones’ time, implying that
inequality is returning or becoming more apparent in the farm. An indirect parallel
is made between Napoleon and Mr Jones, emphasizing the cyclical structure of
the novel and highlighting that Napoleon’s ruthlessness parallels that of Jones.
Orwell’s message is that the newly appointed leader of the Soviet Union Stalin is
no different to the Tsar Nicholas II in that they were both ruthless dictators with
no regards to human rights.
● Napoleon is described as “not much of a talker” suggesting that Napoleon has
fewer ideas than Snowball and is not as good as accumulating support for
himself from the other animals, and therefore must result to darker methods.
Furthermore, Napoleon’s lack of speech gives him a sinister and secretive
personality implying that he may come to forceful means in taking control of the
farm.
● The dogs “dashed straight for Snowball… sprang from his place just in time to
escape their snapping jaws”. Orwell’s use of sudden onomatopoeia in “dashed”,
“sprang” emphasize the sudden nature of the attack while the violent
onomatopoeia present in “snapping jaws” reflects the brutal and horrifying dogs.
The reader can visualise the attack from the sensory effect of the onomatopoeia
making the event more horrifying for the reader. The violent expulsion of
Snowball parallels the falling-out between Stalin and Trotsky. Napoleon, who was
clearly losing the contest for hearts and minds of the animals, turns to his dogs
which reflect his ruthless nature. This parallels Stalin, who built his power through
his secret police (the dogs) to overthrow Trotsky. Orwell criticises Stalin’s brutal
and ruthless methods used to obtain power which he disapproved of as they
ignored the principles of Animalism.
Leadership
● “It was noticed that [the dogs] wagged their tails to him in the same way as the
other dogs had been used to do to Mr Jones”. The dogs wagging their tails show
their devotion and loyalty to Napoleon. The syntax of this description is significant
in that it was “noticed”, which conveys the idea that someone insignificant noticed
this. The ironic narrator highlights to the reader of the parallel to Mr Jones and
therefore the disillusionment and betrayal of revolutionary ideals on the farm. An
immediate parallel is drawn between Napoleon and Mr Jones reflecting the
, cyclical structure of the novella and that the leadership of Napoleon is no
different to that of Mr Jones. The phrase “It was noticed” The reader would have
been shocked by this knowing that these events paralleled those of the Russian
revolution, as it suggests that Stalin was the same as the Tsar Nicholas II.
● After the rebellion Napoleon “led [the animals] back to the store-shed and served
out” food to the animals. The commanding verb “led” suggests that Napoleon has
assumed control of the other animals and is taking a role of leadership. This is
reinforced by the verb “served” which further implies that Napoleon has authority
and responsibility over the other animals, in which he takes control of the food
the animals have obtained and serves it out himself. Here there is clear inequality
between the animals despite Jones having just being overthrown.
● The animals refer to Napoleon as “Our Leader, Comrade Napoleon” which
portrays him as the absolute leader of the farm. The noun “leader” is juxtaposed
with the noun “Comrade” suggesting that the animals are oblivious to Napoleon’s
authority and control over the farm and still believe that all animals on the farm
are equal, emphasized through the formal and grateful tone. The reader would
have recognised this contradictory phrase as symbolism of the manipulation and
deceit of the animals.
● Napoleon is described as being the “Father of all Animals” (which parallels the
title given to Stalin which was the Father of Nations), “Terror of Mankind”,
“Protector of the Sheep-fold” and “Ducklings’ Friend”. These titles outline
Napoleon’s cult of personality in which he uses to gain power other the other
animals. An artificial image is created of Napoleon which has connotations of
love and suggests he is the right leader of the farm. The noun “father” suggests
Napoleon is caring towards the other animals which is emphasized by the
determiner “all” which portrays him as an Omni-benevolent and godlike
character. The noun “protector” has connotations of defence and moral
rightfulness. Napoleon’s use of the cult of personality parallels that of Stalin who
also used a cult of personality to portray himself as an all-powerful and
all-knowing leader. Orwell uses this to expose the lies spread by Stalin to control
and manipulate the other animals.
● Squealer talked about “Napoleon’s wisdom, the goodness of his heart, and the
deep love he bore to all animals everywhere” which further Napoleon’s cult of
personality which the use of a rule of three to highlight Napoleon’s said
goodness. Napoleon’s love is emphasized using the intensifier “deep” and the
determiner “all” gives Napoleon an Omni-benevolent and all-powerful quality. The
noun wisdom is used to covey Napoleon’s Omni-science encouraging the
animals not to protest and maintain their faith in Napoleon who is said to always
make the correct decisions.
● Orwell narrates that “It had become usual to give Napoleon the credit for every
successful achievement and every stroke of good fortune”. This is ironic as
Napoleon, who is the tyrant, is praised for every good thing that is happening on
the farm, furthering the idea that he is a God, who can control every stroke of
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