Who Is Benjamin The Donkey In Animal Farm

Throughout Animal Farm, Benjamin the donkey is constantly seen abstaining from sharing his opinions. Benjamin seems to have a higher sense of intelligence than most of the other animals, presumably due to his age and ability to read. However, even when he sees how Napoleon is manipulating the less intelligent animals to do his bidding, he doesn’t do anything to stop him. Many animals seemed to think highly of Benjamin. If he showed his true feelings towards Napoleon’s rule, many most likely would have listened.
During the course of the novel, Benjamin had numerous chances to show clear evidence of the pig’s exploits. After the executions of the “traitorous” animals, Clover remembers that “that the Sixth Commandment decreed ‘No animal shall kill any other animal.” (Orwell 91) and when she asks Benjamin to read it to him, he declines. This further shows his plain uncaring for the state of the farm as he once again refused to expose the misinformation being spread that could have influenced the animal’s opinion of their leadership. Unfortunately for Benjamin, we all have to pick a side eventually. …show more content…
When he realizes that Boxer is not being taken to a “hospital” he runs out and pronounces, “Fools! Fools!’ shouted Benjamin, prancing round them and stamping the earth with his small hoofs. ‘Fools! Do you not see what is written on the side of that van?" (Orwell 122) This shows Benjamin does have some emotion left in him, but it’s arguable that he was the real fool; he did nothing beforehand and because the animals had been successfully brainwashed with no opposition, they had no reason to question it. If the animals had been more educated or even been taught to read on their own by Benjamin, Boxer may have still been alive. Instead, due to his detached and honestly lazy behavior, the Manor farm had been grasped by the cold grip of a dictatorship and had been destroyed long