Question

how does old major describe the lives of farm animals in england? what specific words and phrases does orwell use to develop old major’s perspective? provide three examples from pages 6–9 to support your answer.

Explanation:

To answer this, we analyze Old Major's speech in Animal Farm. He portrays farm animals' lives as one of suffering, exploitation, and slavery under human rule.

1. "Miserable, laborious, and short": This phrase sums up the animals' existence, emphasizing hardship and brevity.
2. "Slaves": Old Major calls the animals slaves to humans, highlighting their lack of freedom and being exploited for human gain.
3. "Overwork[ed]...slaughter[ed]": He describes how animals are overworked until they are no longer useful, then killed, showing the cruel cycle of exploitation. These examples use emotive and direct language to build his perspective of human oppression.

Answer:

Old Major describes farm animals’ lives as “miserable, laborious, and short,” dominated by exploitation by humans. Three examples:

1. Phrase: “miserable, laborious, and short” (summarizes the bleak, oppressive nature of their lives).
2. Word: “slaves” (frames animals as enslaved by humans, emphasizing lack of freedom).
3. Phrase: “overwork[ed]…slaughter[ed]” (shows the cycle of exploitation: work until useless, then killed).

These words/phrases develop his perspective of human tyranny over animals.