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George Orwell uses the character of Boxer to explore the idea of abuse of power and corruption in ‘Animal Farm’. He does this through Boxer’s lack of education, strong loyalty and trust, and use of emotive imagery. Orwell uses Boxer to represent the proletariat in Russia whose work pay was exploited, meaning they could not afford food or housing. Therefore, this political allegory highlights the abuse of power and corruption they would have experienced, which is especially obvious through Boxer’s character.
Boxer, as well as many of the other animals, is uneducated and struggles to express himself and his thoughts, which is shown when Orwell illustrates that “he set his ears back, shook his forelock several times and tried to marshal his thoughts; but in the end, he could not think of anything to say”. Unlike the pigs, who kept education to themselves, the animals weren’t given the opportunity to learn. The fact that he couldn’t “think of anything to say”, shows that even simple tasks like expressing his feelings are extremely difficult for animals like Boxer. Orwell uses this to provide a strong contrast to the pigs’ level of education, shown by the fact “Snowball often won over the majority by his brilliant speeches”. This meant that the pigs could abuse their power and manipulate animals like Boxer to do whatever they wanted, as they didn’t really understand what they were following. This mirrors the real events of a Russian leader, Stalin, who abused his power over the proletariat at the time. The pigs represent Stalin’s leadership, whilst Boxer symbolizes the uneducated peasants and workers, creating an allegory that is very relevant and important to many readers.
Orwell also uses Boxer to show that without the benefit of learning, he cannot express himself and so he will never be able to speak out against the pigs. The repetition of the quote “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others” shows the inequality of education between the farm animals, which allowed the pigs to corrupt and maintain their power over them. They could control the animals by keeping them ignorant, so they did not realize that they were being exploited. Repeating this quote throughout the book, reminds the reader over and over again that there isn’t true equality. This demonstrates the impact of the lack of education, as this is one of the reasons they can’t become truly equal. Boxer’s hard-working mentality with his lack of education shows how easy it was for pigs to abuse their power.
Another way that the pigs abuse their power is by manipulating the strong loyalty and trust that honest workers like Boxer have toward their leaders. Orwell uses the repetition of “I will work harder!” and “Napoleon is always right” to display that the proletariat believes everything that Napoleon tells them. The language is simple and short, which reflects how naive and unaware Boxer is, despite being the strongest animal on the farm. Boxer even stands up for the pigs when he says “If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right” in Chapter 7. Orwell uses the imperative noun “must” to show how Boxer aimlessly believes everything the pigs say, without questioning their trust. The pigs abuse the strength that Boxer has, by getting him on their side so that others join him. The noun “Comrade” is repeated throughout the book to represent the communist ideology of everyone being a companion and equal. It demonstrates that Boxer speaks of the pigs as equal to him and trusts them like a friend. However, the pigs abuse this relationship so that they can use Boxer’s physical presence and loyalty to their advantage.
Finally, Orwell uses the technique of emotive language and imagery to create sympathy for Boxer, and stress how awful the abuse of power and corruption was for him and the other animals. Boxer puts in a lot of effort to make a windmill for the farm, which shows his strength, and his work ethic. Orwell includes a detailed, asyndetic quote of Boxer’s hard work.; “To see him toiling up the slope inch by inch, his breath coming fast, the tips of his hoofs clawing at the ground, and his great sides matted with sweat, filled everyone with admiration”. This description of Boxer is very emotive and inspirational. The image and metaphor of him dragging huge rocks whilst “matted with sweat” shows his great strength and the struggle he went through, but also shows how much the pigs abused this strength by making him do extremely hard work. The personification of “his hoofs clawing at the ground” shows the tribulations and intense fatigue that he had to go through. This creates a vivid illustration for the reader, which may provoke sympathy for Boxer, and therefore for the proletariat. The reader feels a sense of dramatic irony, as they know that the pigs are corrupt and are abusing their power over good, hard-working characters like Boxer.
In conclusion, Orwell’s use of characters such as Boxer demonstrated the themes of abuse of power and corruption by highlighting his lack of education and strong loyalty through the clever use of powerful imagery. The emotive language, repetition, imperative nouns, and extended allegory emphasize the cyclical and almost inevitable corruption and abuse of power, that Boxer clearly experiences
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