Discussion Questions for Chapter 5

Remember: provide evidence from the text to justify your answers to these questions.

1. Why does Mollie leave? How has Orwell prepared us for this development? You will need to remind yourself of what she does in previous chapters.

Ans: She would rather work for humans as long as she gets her ribbons and lumps of sugar. The "little pile of lump sugar and several bunches of ribbons of different colours" (pg 49) which Clover finds in her stall are presumaby given to Mollie by one of Pilkington's men, who Clover saw talking to Mollie. Mollie cannot adapt to live in Animal Farm which involves hard work, because she is not used to work. Orwell prepares us for this by highlighting Mollie's behaviour and attitude to us, especially after the 1st rebellion of the animals. Mollie is always late for work and exuses herself by complaining of "mysterious pains". She is very lazy and is only interested in admiring herself. She only appears at mealtimes. Durign the Battle of the Cowshed, she is unable to fight alongside the other animals and runs to hide in a cowardly fashion. This shows that she is not committed to the rebellion, unlike the other animals.

2. Orwell says "It had come to be accepted that the pigs...should decide all questions" (pg 50). How did this happen?

Ans: It was because the pigs were accepted by all the animals as being "manifestly cleverer than the other animals". After Old Major's death, the pigs assumed the leadership position by vitue of their intelligence. However, they managed to control all the animals through their mouth piece Squealer, who would always brianwash and convince the animals of the necessity of having the pigs around, and in the leadership position - he always claims that since the pigs are "brain workers", the whole management and organisation of the farm depends on them, and if they were to fail, Jones would return. Due to this, the animals started to let the pigs always decide.

3. How does Orwell make us aware of the importance of the sheep's 'Four legs good, two legs bad' slogan?

Ans: Orwell mentions on page 50 that "It was noticed that they were especially liable to break into 'Four legs good, two legs bad' at the crucial moments in Snowball's speeches". This implies that Napoleon probably had a hand in this, and the unintelligent sheep, without realising it, are working in favour of Napoleon. They serve to break the flow of Snowball's speeches and distract the animals from his speeches.


4. Orwell says that Squealer's argument was 'unanswerable'. Do you think it was?

Ans: No, it could be countered. Squealer says that "Loyalty and obedience are more important" than bravery" (pg 56) when one of the animals said that Snowball fought bravely in the Battle of the Cowshed. However, this is ironic because the pigs were earlier trying to convince the animals not to have loyalty and obedience to Jones, but to rebel. They are now encouraging it when it suits their purpose, because they want all the animals to be obedient to Napoleon. Therefore, their argument is not convincing and can be countered but the animals are too unintelligent ad naive to realise that. Also, he says that if the animals make one false step, Jones will return. There is no connection between the debates on Sunday mornings and Jones' return but once again, the animals fail to realise this.


One method that dictators use to maintain power is to control the way people think. Napoleon uses Squealer to 'explain' and 'justify' his actions to the animals. While you are reading the chapter, try to identify:

• the ways in which Squealer persuades the animals that 'Napoleon is always right'

- he says Napoleon has made a big sacrifice in acccepting the leadership role

- he says the animals sometimes make the wrong decisions (on other words, they are not capable of thinking for themselves)

- as a result, Jones may return.

• any of the methods Napoleon uses to maintain his position once Snowball has fled.

- Napoleon uses Squealer to explain to and convince the animals that he is needed as the leader, because the animals are capable of making wrong decisions, and if that should happen, Jones would be back. Squealer brainwashes the animals and confuses them - for e.g. when one of the animals says that Snowball fought bravely in the Battle of the Cowshed, Squealer says that they would soon find out that Snowball's part in it was highly exaggerated (later on, he even says that Snowball was working together with Jones). Squelaer also confuses the animals with the term "tactics" (pages 57-58). Even though the animals have no idea what it means, Squealer was so convincing that they believed him.

- Napoleon uses Snowball as the scapegoat for everything that goes wrong on the farm (e.g. the collapse of the windmill)

- Napoleon uses force, intimidation and threat through his dogs who growl fiercely and instill fear in the animals.