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Themes are the big ideas that run through the entire novel. AQA expects you to track these themes across the text and connect them to context. This lesson covers three closely linked themes: power, corruption, and revolution.
Animal Farm is fundamentally a book about power — how it is gained, how it is maintained, and how it corrupts those who hold it.
| Method | Example | Chapter |
|---|---|---|
| Violence | Uses the dogs to expel Snowball and enforce obedience | 5, 7 |
| Propaganda | Squealer rewrites history and manipulates the animals | 5-10 |
| Eliminating rivals | Drives Snowball off the farm | 5 |
| Controlling information | Most animals cannot read; the pigs control all knowledge | 3-10 |
| Exploiting loyalty | Uses Boxer's "Napoleon is always right" to suppress dissent | 5-9 |
| Creating fear | The show trials and executions terrorise the farm | 7 |
| Controlling food | Cuts the hens' rations when they resist | 7 |
Napoleon maintains power through a combination of:
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