It is said he is the only animal on the farm that never laughed. His stance does not change after the revolution, just as it was before; with the philosophy that 'donkeys live a long time,' he believes that life, in essence, will get neither better nor worse. In truth, he had sensed from the very beginning that the revolution would fail or that the pigs would become dictatorial. Despite having the implicit intellectual weight and ability to read to prevent the evils, he remains silent, simply saying, 'a village in sight needs no guide,' and gives no warning. However, when his closest friend Boxer starts heading toward death after being exploited, he steps out of his shell for the first and last time and tries to stop the van with a desperate cry, as Boxer is the only sacred thing left in his soundless life.
