In Animal Farm, Boxer dies in Chapter Nine when he is sold by Napoleon to a local glue manufacturer. His death is particularly tragic because of a number of details:
- Boxer and the other animals do not realise that the van belongs to a glue manufacturer because only Benjamin is able to read the relevant sign.
- Orwell uses emotive language, like "a cry of horror," to portray the distress of Boxer's friends as they realise what is really happening. This is reinforced by the image of these animals chasing the van as it leaves the farm.
- Orwell creates an auditory image of Boxer kicking his hoofs against the van to depict the distress he feels when he realises that he is going to the "knacker's" and not to the vets.
- Orwell also emphasises Boxer's weakness as a means of evoking sympathy from the reader. This is shown through the line: "The time had been when a few kicks from Boxer’s hoofs would have smashed the van to matchwood." This makes his death even more tragic because it implies that he could have saved himself, had he not already been injured.
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