The Effects of Ignorance and Fearfulness on a Society (George Orwell’s Animal Farm Essay Sample)

“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity” (Martin Luther King Jr). George Orwell’s Animal Farm is an allegory to many things, but one of the most interesting things is how it explores the effects of stupidity and fear on a society. The Farm quickly goes downhill when Napoleon takes control of it. The animals' food rations are neglected, they are lied to, and it all ends up just the same as Jones’ day. In light of all this, an ignorant society can easily be swayed and manipulated. Secondly, the government can affect how ignorant a society can be. Thirdly, an ignorant society can be a forgetful one, which is a great danger. The effect an ignorant and fearful society has on itself is massively negative and can lead them into a hole they can not escape.

Firstly, an ignorant society can very easily be swayed and manipulated by simple remarks, and even more so by things that are a threat to them. As can be seen, ignorance comes in many forms, but it is usually a lack of critical thinking. Any big claim that is thrown at an uninformed society is not thought through thoroughly, instead they take the surface level meaning. For example, George Orwell writes, “Milk and apples (this [is] proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig… Surely there is no one among you  who wants to see Jones come back” (Orwell 52)? Here, Squealer threatens them with the fact that Jones will come back. Not thinking twice about it, the animals know Jones coming back is bad, and so the pigs must have milk and apples. Due to their lack of critical thinking, they did not stop to think that what the pigs said might not be true or even possible. All they know is Jones is bad, so it must be right. On top of the lack of critical thinking, ignorant people can easily be swayed by simple fear tactics and empty threats. The government conditions them to be fearful of almost anything, so they comply. The novel Animal Farm states, “The animals were not certain of what the word meant, but Squealer [speaks] so persuasively, and the three dogs who [are there] with him [growl] so threateningly, that they [accept] his explanation without further questions” (Orwell 72). What the animals had just witnessed was the conditioning of fear. They just witnessed Snowball being chased off the farm, and now with the dogs growling at them, they become instantly fearful. They know what the dogs and pigs were capable of, and with their lack of thinking, they automatically comply. Basically, to keep a society fearful and ignorant is to keep them compliant. It is easy to see early on in the book that they are being set up to be an obedient and oppressed society by their government. 

Speaking of the government, it plays a huge role in how a society can stay ignorant and fearful, and how it can condition them to be this way. In many cases, when a leader gains full control they can become lazy. They do the bare minimum and leave their society to rot, and are much more likely to make bad decisions. Orwell notes, “It [is] a few days later than this that the pigs [come] upon a case of whisky in the cellars of the farmhouse […] That night there [comes] from the farmhouse the sound of loud singing” (Orwell 111). Here the pigs discover alcohol and get very drunk. This shows a lack of responsibility by the pigs. While they are getting drunk, their own people are suffering. They continue to drink alcohol for the rest of the story, and it just serves as a distraction from what they should be doing, which is managing and leading. Moreover, education plays a major role in how a society functions and the citizens’ intelligence levels. Government controls education, and can bend and twist it however they want. But the most damaging thing of all has to be no education at all. Orwell remarks, “Napoleon [takes] no interest in Snowball’s committees. He [says] the education of the young [is] more important than anything that [can] be done for those who were already grown up” (Orwell 51). We can see early on Napoleon already has a vision of how he wants his society to look. Even before he overthrew Snowball he did not want the animals to participate and be educated through committees. There is also a major flaw in the fact he only wants the young to be educated. The older population are the only ones who are even capable of voting or thinking critically, but he sabotages their chances of that. They will never be able to make a smart decision due to his unwillingness to inform  and educate. In light of these things, many leaders have their clear visions of how they want their societies to be. They deliberately abuse their power and become lazy, and fail to supply proper education, as they know their people may rebel if they get too well informed.  But would they even want to rebel? Is their situation worse than before?

Finally, it is said that if we don’t learn about things that have happened in the past, history is doomed to repeat itself. Not remembering or passing any stories on is one of the biggest mistakes a society can make. In fact, a society can be very easily manipulated and lied to if it does not know or remember events of the past. Things are able to fly under the radar and people will not  know what has changed or what hit them. In Animal Farm, Orwell states, “Muriel [reads] the commandment for her. It [runs]: ‘No animal shall kill another animal without cause.’ Somehow or other, the last two words slipped out of the animals’ memory” (Orwell 98). In a rare act of critical thinking, the animals think that the slaughters of the numerous animals by Napoleon is against the commandments, and they check to see. But Squealer has already painted over them to replace those last 2 words, ‘without cause.’ The animals' poor memory and ignorance lead them to believe that this was always the case, so they never even get the chance to argue or fight back against Napoleon. Moreover, if stories are not passed down or history lessons are not taught, no one would know what it was like in the past. People begin to forget what it used to be like or what you can have. Orwell comments, “As for the others, their life, so far as they knew, was as it always had been. They were generally hungry, they slept on straw, they drank from the pool, they labored in the fields; in the winter they were troubled by the cold, and in the summer by the flies” (Orwell 129). As the years go by, new animals are born. As stated, life for them seems bleak. But that is not how it always has been. In the era of Snowball, life is comparatively better. Meetings are held on Sundays, and the animals take Sundays off. They have more freedom of speech as there are no dogs threatening them. But the animals fail to remember or tell the new generation about this. They can not fight back against Napoleon because they believe this is how it has always been. At the end of the day, the animals have dug themselves a hole they can not get out of. History did repeat itself and it was horrendous. Napoleon's harsh rule turns out to be just like Jones’ and it is mainly their fault for not remembering the past.

All in all, it is not always the leadership that is the downfall of society. It can be the ignorance and fearfulness of the society itself. As an ignorant society, you are manipulated, stripped from your right to a good education and good leader, and forget critical information that will help you move forward. This is important as it could be YOU who is contributing to the downfall of society. Societal issues should be taken seriously and deserve to be treated with utmost importance. Stay educated, confident, and learn from past mistakes so you do not make them again. After all, Martin Luther King did say, “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."