Question

Read the passage from chapter 10 of Animal Farm.

Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer—except, of course, for the pigs and the dogs. Perhaps this was partly because there were so many pigs and so many dogs. It was not that these creatures did not work, after their fashion. There was, as Squealer was never tired of explaining, endless work in the supervision and organisation of the farm. Much of this work was of a kind that the other animals were too ignorant to understand.

Which theme is revealed by Orwell’s use of situational irony in this excerpt?

Leaders should not be trusted.
Ideals can become mocked in practice.
Indifference can lead to corrupt governments.
Equality applies to all social classes.

Answer 1

"Ideals can become mocked in practice."

Explanation: The animals' original ideal of equality is undermined—though the farm is richer overall, only the pigs and dogs benefit, and the pigs justify their privileges with claims the others "are too ignorant to understand." This situational irony shows the revolution's ideals have been corrupted and turned into a mockery.