Question

The source of the trouble appeared to be that Napoleon and Mr. Pilkington had each played an ace of spades simultaneously.

Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

–Animal Farm,
George Orwell

How does Orwell use satirical techniques to develop the theme that ideals can be corrupted in practice? Check all that apply.

Orwell uses ridicule to mock the behavior of corrupt political leaders.
Orwell uses satire to make communist ideas appear to be the cause of corruption.
Orwell uses parody to show how naive citizens enable the corruption of leaders.
Orwell uses reversal to show how political leaders can betray their original principals.
Orwell uses parody to mimic the outcome of the Russian Revolution and the early Soviet Union

Answer 1

Correct answers:
- Orwell uses ridicule to mock the behavior of corrupt political leaders.
- Orwell uses reversal to show how political leaders can betray their original principals.
- Orwell uses parody to mimic the outcome of the Russian Revolution and the early Soviet Union.

Brief explanations:
- Ridicule: Orwell satirically exposes and mocks the pigs’ hypocrisy, greed, and self‑importance to show how leaders behave when corrupted by power.
- Reversal: The final scene (pigs indistinguishable from men) and the gradual betrayal of Animalism illustrate leaders reversing/abandoning original principles.
- Parody: Animal Farm parodies the events and figures of the Russian Revolution and early Soviet history to critique how revolutionary ideals were perverted.

Why the other options are not correct:
- Orwell does not primarily present “communist ideas” themselves as the cause of corruption; he targets the perversion of revolutionary ideals by those in power (the corrupting effect of power and hypocrisy), not the abstract doctrine per se.
- While naive animals help enable the pigs, that element is shown through allegory, irony, and characterization rather than being primarily a parody of naive citizens.