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Summary
- There is the threat of starvation.
- A solicitor, ‘Whymper’, is shown around the farm to reassure him that there is no famine.
- The show trial of some animals and their execution.
- Animals are frightened and confused.
The execution of the animals is a shocking episode in the novel. Napoleon & the other pigs have now taken total control of animal Farm; they manipulate the truth, re-write history and now intimidate the other animals into confessing to ‘crimes’ that they may or may not have committed. Stalin used similar methods to keep control in the Soviet Union; evidence against dissenters would be fabricated,
trialswere ‘fixed’ to ensure that enemies of the Sate were found guilty & summary executions were carried out so that the victims of the State had no chance to appeal.
[1] Show trial – often used by Russia’s Stalin to humiliate his enemies publicly & frighten the general populace.
The character of Napoleon is changing – he is rarely seen by the animals, his appearances are now ceremonial ; he awards himself medals for his ‘heroic’ actions at the Battle of the Cowshed; Squealer becomes the method of communication between Napoleon and the other animals. He is the spin-doctor of the farm, interpreting what Napoleon says for the animals and changing history to portray Napoleon in the best light. In history he is linked with Stalin’s Prime Minister Molotov.
Presently the tumult died down. The four pigs waited,
trembling, [2] with guilt written on every line of their countenances. Napoleon now called upon them to confess their crimes. They were the same four pigs as had protested when Napoleon abolished the Sunday Meetings. Without any further prompting they confessed that they had been secretly in touch with Snowball ever since his expulsion, that they...
