Orwell uses persuasive terminology in his speech to portray Old Major as an inspirational figure on the farm. This is predominantly obvious when Old Major declares “I do not think, comrades, that I shall be with you for many months longer, and before I die, I feel it my duty to pass on to you such wisdom as I have acquired.” Old Major addresses the other animals as “comrades”, a term used my socialists to show that the speaker and the audience re equal and on the same side. This is a typical communist technique of flattery and political lexis to promote unity and also express Orwell’s use of the plural noun to reflect the language of other Communists states such as Russia. This is used by the Old Major as a way to get their attention by telling them that he is about to die. This is a blatant appeal to emotion. It makes everything he’s about to say seem more important and to unite and indorse equality amongst all of the animals, regardless of some being stronger or more intelligent than others. One of Old Majors emotional traits were that he continuously cherished the animals and was persistently eager to share his astuteness with the rest. This is substantial for; Orwell presents Old Major’s high esteem in parallel to the image of Karl Marx through his use of descriptive language. Major is conveyed by Orwell as being greater to the humans where he is “highly respected” by the other animals.

Old Major rejuvenates and inspires the animals during his speech. He speaks about the necessity of giving animals everywhere a better life by overthrowing humans. In conclusion, Old Major wishes a revolution. He goes so far as to cite the everyday injustices of Man, highlighting that humans claim the resources produced by the sweat, blood and tears of the animals. This is exhibited in the citation, “Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished forever.” Orwell uses simple sentences to create memorable slogans, for example the aphorism, “Man is the only real enemy we have” voices Old Major’s message that Animals labour during short, dejected lives. This is not just a part of nature. Animals’ difficulties are introduced by Man. It is essentially stating that Man, though he is the laziest of all creatures, can control everything in the world. Man is at the top of the food chain except he didn’t necessarily work for this position and rise up there – he just started at the top. In my opinion it is questioning the reader if Man deserves the power he has. This passage is enquiring the reader, ‘How selfish are we?’ Man creates pollution, man creates war, man creates poverty – and all of these things are problems. The characterization of Old Major is portrayed by Orwell as a mature and resilient character, and creates belief for Major’s hyperbolic statements. Orwell’s Old Major presents Karl Marx who was a great thinker and philosopher and like Old Major he died before his ideas were used by revolutionaries around the world.