In his 1945 allegorical novella Animal Farm, George Orwell provides a scathing criticism of the nature of totalitarian governments which are universally characterised by their widespread terror, their blatant propaganda and their deliberate misuse of language.
As the only literate animals on the farm, the pigs misuse language and rhetoric to mobilise the revolution and to establish their supremacy in the purportedly egalitarian farm soon thereafter. The highly manipulative and convoluted discourse of the pigs, which only intensifies as the novel progresses, reveals the potential of language to be used by leaders as an instrument of coercion to manipulate the consciousness of the population and to consolidate power. This is first demonstrated by Old Major, a member of the pig intelligentsia, who uses powerful language to command the thoughts and actions of other farm animals and garner support for the rebellion. Furthermore, Squealer, uses language in deceptive ways in order to quash dissent and establish dominance.
In Old Major's lengthy address to the animals, he instils his vision of an animal utopia in the malleable mind of the animals and encourages rebellion. With his elocutionary style and highly emotive language, Old Major is able to trigger the revolutionary consciousness of the animals. He begins by describing the degradation suffered by the animals under Jones' rule, deliberately selecting provocative words such as "slavery ", "misery " and "cruelty " (p.3) in order to emphasise the need to overthrow the humans. He states that "man " is the sole cause "to all our problems " and labels him as "the only real enemy " (p.4). He repeatedly refers to the animals as "comrades " (Ch.1), a term which has connotations of camaraderie and which was particularly promoted by Communist leaders in the twentieth century to inspire solidarity among the people. He uses this term to unify the animals in their purpose and sings "Beasts of England " to prove that freedom and glory will follow the "Tyrant Man overthrow " (p.