Question

Read the excerpt from chapter 10 of Animal Farm.

But the luxuries of which Snowball had once taught the animals to dream, the stalls with electric light and hot and cold water, and the three-day week, were no longer talked about. Napoleon had denounced such ideas as contrary to the spirit of Animalism. The truest happiness, he said, lay in working hard and living frugally.

How does Orwell use irony in this excerpt?

The text shows that if the animals work harder, they will have luxuries they dreamed of.
The text shows that Napoleon’s dreams conflict with the dreams of the animals.
The text shows that the animals expected a different outcome than the reality they are facing.
The text shows that Snowball and Napoleon never meant to mislead the other animals.

Answer 1

Correct answer: "The text shows that the animals expected a different outcome than the reality they are facing."

Explanation: The passage is ironic because the animals were taught to expect comforts (electric light, hot and cold water, a three-day week), yet the reality after the revolution is the opposite — Napoleon tells them to work harder and live frugally and even denounces those earlier hopes. Option 1 is the opposite of what the text says. Option 2 is partly true but less precise: the key irony is the gap between expectation and outcome, not just a clash of "dreams." Option 4 is unsupported — the leaders are, in effect, betraying the animals’ expectations.