Animal Farm

How is the power of language shown in the novel?

How does Orwell show the power of language in different parts throughout the novel? What comment is he trying to make about the society?

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Since this is an animal fable, the language represents the ways in which words can affect crowd behavior and belief. When Old Major gives his first speech, the animals are moved by the positive motivation he evidencfes as he tries to let them know how good life could be. When there are mottoes such as "Two legs bad, four legs good" the animals find the repetition comforting and basic: they now have an idea to follow. When the motto changes at the end, we see that the animals and their beliefs can change as quickly as the words. Language, whether it is in the commandments painted on the barn, or in the ways in which Napoleon gets the sheep to "go along" with whatever he says, is the driving force behind nearly every behavior of the animals except for the pigs.