Read the excerpt then In at least 150 words, explain how Orwell uses irony in this excerpt.

Animal Farm

About this time there occurred a strange incident which hardly anyone was able to understand. One night at

about twelve o'clock there was a loud crash in the yard, and the animals rushed out of their stalls. It was a

moonlit night. At the foot of the end wall of the big barn, where the Seven Commandments were written,

there lay a ladder broken in two pieces. Squealer, temporarily stunned, was sprawling beside it, and near at

hand there lay a lantern, a paint-brush, and an overturned pot of white paint. The dogs immediately made a

ring round Squeale, and escorted him brck to the farmhouse as soon as he was able to walk. None of the

animals could form any idea as to what this meant, except old Benjamin, who nodded his muzzle witha

knowing air, and seemed to understand, but would say nothing.

Answer and Explanation:

The type of irony we find in this particular excerpt of "Animal Farm" is called dramatic irony. Dramatic irony concerns a situation in which readers know and understand something that the characters themselves don't. To readers, it is clear that Squealer had climbed the ladder and was painting a new alteration to one of the commandments on the barn wall. That had been done before but, since the animals' intelligence is limited, they always assumed they just remembered the commandments wrong. Now, however, even though the evidence is right before their eyes, they still cannot see and grasp its meaning. Squealer is sprawling on the floor with paint and a broken ladder right next to him in the middle of the night. But the animals have been deceived by false propaganda and confusing orders ever since Napoleon took power. That, along with their little ability for reasoning, prevents them from understanding the truth. Benjamin is the exception, but he chooses not to say a word.