Original artwork, not a still
Animal Farm · 1945
Napoleon is always right.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Loyalty turned into a way of not thinking: Boxer ends every doubt with it, and the pigs use him for it. His fate, the loyal worker sold to the knacker, makes the slogan the book's sharpest picture of obedience repaid with betrayal. It is quoted of any leader whose followers have stopped asking questions.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Animal FarmShow the scene
Boxer the cart-horse adopts this as his second personal maxim in Chapter V of Animal Farm, after Napoleon has driven Snowball off the farm and ended the Sunday debates, arguing that debating might bring Jones back. Boxer, who has had time to think things over, concludes that if Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right. The maxim sits beside his private motto, I will work harder. He repeats it through the book, including in Chapter VI when Clover questions the pigs sleeping in beds.
Sources (1)
- Animal Farm, full text (Project Gutenberg Australia)Chapter V; Chapter VIReference checked
Context reviewed
