Ignorance In George Orwell's Animal Farm

People who are willingly ignorant are easily misled. During the time of the Russian Revolution, the people rebelled against their king. Choosing to follow the rebellion was hard for many because of their level of ignorance. Eventually, some citizens realized that they fought for the wrong side as shown in Animal Farm. In the novel Animal Farm, author George Orwell explores the dangers of willing ignorance through the characters Mollie, Boxer, and Benjamin. One example of Orwell’s depiction of the dangers of willing ignorance involves the horse Mollie. She is an unintelligent white horse that was very close with her owner, Mr. Jones. As a result of embodying the wealthy, her focus is towards materialistic belongings such as sugar and ribbons.
Living for a large amount of time is common among donkeys allowing Benjamin to see all the changes that have occurred from the beginning with Old Major to the end with Napoleon. Long life could have been a great advantage in assisting with the rebellion, but instead he never uses it by choice. Benjamin is not only old but also wise. His intelligence is close to that of the pigs, which the animals’ could have used, but he disregards it most of the time. Finally, Benjamin chooses to only work as hard as the average animal. His mind and body are both rarely used to their full potential making him the greatest danger of willing ignorance. Orwell uses Benjamin to show himself and all the others who did nothing about Communism’s takeover in Russia. George Orwell’s disappointment with the communist exploitation that existed during the Russian Revolution is clear throughout the novel Animal Farm. Given that the people often ignored Orwell’s belief in socialism, he grew frustrated. Their lack of reason and knowledge lead to the start of the Russian Revolution. If they knew more of what was going on, it might have changed their country for the better instead of worse. The misleading of one can send thousands to a dangerous