Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow. Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, and he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he claims dominion over all animals. He sets us to work, returns only the bare minimum to keep us from starving, and keeps the rest for himself. Our labour tills the soil, our dung fertilizes it, and still, not one of us owns more than our bare skin. You cows, look at yourselves-how many thousands of gallons of milk have you produced this past year? And what has become of it, milk that should have nurtured strong calves? Every drop has gone down the throats of our enemies. And you hens, how many eggs have you laid, and how many of those ever hatched into chicks? The rest have gone to market to bring in money for Jones and his men. And you, Clover, where are the four foals you bore, who should have supported and comforted you in your old age? Each was sold at just a year old-you will never see them again. For all your labour in the fields and your four confinements, what have you gained except bare rations and a stall?
Even the lives we do live are cut short, denied their natural span. I do not grumble, for I am among the fortunate. I am twelve years old and have borne over four hundred children. Such is the natural life of a pig. But no animal escapes the cruel knife in the end. You young porkers sitting before me, each of you will scream your lives out at the block within a year. This is the fate that awaits all of us-cows, pigs, hens, sheep, everyone. Even horses and dogs share no better end. Boxer, the very day your great muscles fail you, Jones will sell you to the knacker, who will slit your throat and boil you down for the foxhounds. And the dogs, when old and toothless, are tied with a brick and drowned in the nearest pond. (356 words) [Extracted with edits from George Orwell’s ”Animal Farm”]
The repeated reference to slaughter, drowning, and the knacker in the passage primarily implies to:
Correct Answer :
Evoke emotional outrage and highlight the brutality of exploitation
Solution :
The correct answer is: Evoke emotional outrage and highlight the brutality of exploitation
Explanation:
In the provided passage from George Orwell's Animal Farm, Old Major describes the harsh realities faced by farm animals. He points out how humans consume everything animals produce without giving anything substantial in return. By making specific references to tragic fates—such as young porkers screaming at the block, Boxer being sold to the knacker, and old dogs being drowned—the speech aims to make the animals deeply aware of the cruel and ruthless nature of human exploitation.
The primary purpose of using such graphic imagery of death and slaughter is to evoke emotional outrage and highlight the extreme brutality to which the animals are subjected, inspiring a collective realization of their shared plight.
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