The most likely reason the author wrote this passage is to show that Napoleon will use extreme cruelty to stop a revolt. The passage illustrates Napoleon's ruthless measures to suppress the hens' rebellion, including stopping their rations and threatening death to those who assist them. This emphasizes the lengths to which he will go to maintain control and quash dissent, highlighting the authoritarian nature of his leadership.
Read the excerpt from Animal Farm.
One Sunday morning Squealer announced that the hens, who had just come in to lay again, must surrender their eggs. Napoleon had accepted, through Whymper, a contract for four hundred eggs a week. The price of these would pay for enough grain and meal to keep the farm going till summer came on and conditions were easier.
When the hens heard this, they raised a terrible outcry. They had been warned earlier that this sacrifice might be necessary, but had not believed that it would really happen. They were just getting their clutches ready for the spring sitting, and they protested that to take the eggs away now was murder. For the first time since the expulsion of Jones, there was something resembling a rebellion. Led by three young Black Minorca pullets, the hens made a determined effort to thwart Napoleon's wishes. Their method was to fly up to the rafters and there lay their eggs, which smashed to pieces on the floor. Napoleon acted swiftly and ruthlessly. He ordered the hens' rations to be stopped, and decreed that any animal giving so much as a grain of corn to a hen should be punished by death. The dogs saw to it that these orders were carried out. For five days the hens held out, then they capitulated and went back to their nesting boxes. Nine hens had died in the meantime. Their bodies were buried in the orchard, and it was given out that they had died of coccidiosis. Whymper heard nothing of this affair, and the eggs were duly delivered, a grocer's van driving up to the farm once a week to take them away.
What is the most likely reason the author wrote this passage?
to show the animals’ increasing resistance to Napoleon
to show that Napoleon will use extreme cruelty to stop a revolt
to show that food can be a very powerful motivating force
to show that rebelling against authority does not change anything
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