Throughout history, leaders have used propaganda to maintain control over various populations, elevating the social standing of an individual or a particular group. This tactic uses extremely slanted and false information that supports a particular viewpoint and restricts the target audience’s capacity for original thought. In George Orwell’s book Animal Farm, propaganda limits the rebellion against a supreme being, Napoleon. The pig population utilizes propaganda techniques such as employing slogans, creating mythic enemies, and mobilizing Squealer as the official voice of the pigs to maintain control over all the animals. The pigs employ many propaganda techniques to maintain their control over all the farm animals. For example, Napoleon …show more content…
For instance, accusing Snowball as a spy for Jones, Squealer states that Snowball “‘was Jones’s secret agent all the time. . . Did we not see for ourselves how he attempted−fortunately without success−to get us defeated and destroyed at the Battle of the Cowshed?’ The animals were stupefied” (56). Forcing this information on the animals, Squealer manipulates them into thinking that Snowball causes all of their problems and leads them away from the truth. The untrustworthy and devious Squealer convinces the animals that their memory of the Battle of Cowshed was wrong and that Snowball has always been plotting against them, ready to rebel. Justifying their wants, Squealer asks, “Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty? Jones would come back! Yes, Jones would come back! . . Surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?” (13). To convince the animals that the pigs need milk and apples to stay healthy, Squealer persuades them to think that if the pigs are not healthy, then Jones will return. Threatening the animals that their worst nightmare will come true, Squealer preys on their fear to keep them from finding skepticism about the truth. Moreover, to introduce the idea of an animal farm, Old Major tells the animals to “never listen when they tell you that Man and the animals have a common interest, that the prosperity of one is the …show more content…
For example, when the pigs take all the milk and apples for themselves, Squealer explains to the others, “Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. I dislike them myself. Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health. . . We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organization of this farm depend on us” (26). Squealer, the most persuasive pig, convinces the other animals that milk and apples are necessary for the pigs’ health, and without those, the farm would fall apart. Squealer also rationalizes the animals into thinking that he always tells the truth, even if he logically justifies the pigs’ controversial behavior. The animals easily believe him, returning to their daily work without suspicion. Similarly, in the winter, when the animals’ portions were getting smaller, Squealer “had no difficulty in proving to the other animals that they were not in reality short of food, whatever the appearances might be. For the time being, certainly, it had been found necessary to make a readjustment of rations (Squealer always spoke of it as a ‘readjustment,’ never as a ‘reduction’), but in comparison with the days of Jones, the improvement was enormous” (77). Squealer tries to hide the negative connotations of the word reducing by replacing it with readjustment. When Squealer changes the wording, the situation does not sound as
When squealers were talking about how “plentiful” the food was on the farm to the humans, if the animals were smarter than they could have easily told that wasn't the case for the farm. After squealer speaks of a lie the narrator states that , “Squealer was soon able to convince them their memories had been their fault.” p.98 Squealer easily lied to the animals because of their failure of intellect. Squealer and the pigs will continue this lying facade to all the animals and they will never
The pigs use language that distorts the truth in order to manipulate and take advantage of the other animals. They start by exaggerating a claim in order to get the other animals into thinking Snowball is an enemy of Animal Farm. Squealer states that Snowball is “no better than a criminal” and was on Jones side “from the very start”(55,79). Since society shuns criminals due to their unpopularity, Squealer chooses that word. As a result of lying to the animals of Animal Farm, a scapegoat to blame all troubles on develops.
Squealer's tone and attitude frightened the other animals, scaring them into obeying his or Napoleon's orders. He says, “But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades.” (P. 55) By warning the animals of the unknown, he forces them into slowly conforming due to fear. He also states, “Surely none of you wishes to see Jones back?”
For a while now it was questionable as to why animals smart as Benjamin and Clover did barely anything against the pigs’ reign on the farm. This was answered for the reader when it was affirmed that “The animals saw no reason to disbelieve him, especially as they could no longer remember very clearly what conditions had been like before the Rebellions” (89). Benjamin, Clover, and the rest of the animals are accustomed to their current life in which they slave away for hours, while the pigs do absolutely nothing. Just the same when Jones was in control of the farm however, it is worse for the animals now. This gives the pigs an advantage when it comes to persuasion.
Squealer is trying to convince the other animals that the pigs need better food to live and since the pigs are leaders and are the only ones that understand English well, they must have decent food. Another reason the animals listened and believed Squealer is because, “He was a brilliant talker,” Meaning people listened to what he said. And the most recognized thing he did to convince them was “he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail which was somehow very persuasive” (16) Squealer was the only reason that people listened to Napoleon and followed him. One of the biggest lies spread in Animal Farm was the only thing left on the commandment board at the end of the book. They had changed the commandment board so many times in the book to benefit the pigs and this one was the biggest.
In Animal Farm, Squealer, chief propagandist, attempts to convince the animals that their lives under the regime of the animals is better than that of the humans. Squealer tries to convey this message, for example, by telling the animals that the animals would better off if Napoleon made decisions for them. Squealer says, “No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves.
It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples…Jones would come back!” (36). The pigs use propaganda to convince the animals that without them getting the rations, Animal Farm would cease to exist. Squealer is the spokesman for Napoleon and uses the scare of Jones coming back to trick the other animals.
Manipulation is the most deceitful way for us to achieve the things we desire the most. Throughout George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm, language and the use of persuasive language lead to the accumulation of power. Language and the disappearance of Mr.Jones is where Napoleon dictatorship is made possible. The powerful rhetorical and their smart manipulations skills of language for any situation was what controlled the farm of its entirety. Pigs manipulated the Seven Commandments,Napoleon dictating, and the deceitful lies told by the Pigs were all methods for them to gain more power.
Stalin’s use of propaganda unjustly changed the view of his people and kept him in power, much like the tyrannical pig Napoleon. In chapter three of George Orwell’s famous allegory of the Russian Revolution, Animal Farm, the animals object to the pigs getting extra milk and apples put into their mash. Luckily, Orwell’s character Squealer steps in to convince the animals that the pigs need said milk and apples in order to successfully complete their jobs on the farm. Squealer, who represents the propaganda used in the Russian Revolution, uses the rhetoric devices pathos, logos, and diction to untruthfully change the opinions of the other animals on the farm.
In chapter 3, Squealer needed the pigs to work harder so he asked them if they “know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty? Jones would come back! Yes, Jones would come back!” (Orwell 16). Squealer uses the fear of Jones to persuade the pigs to work harder.
Propaganda can be described as a language tool. Using subconscious language to relabel ideas as fact. The pigs use power and propaganda to shape perception and manipulate cognition in the animals throughout Animal Farm. The lowly animals are uneducated hence the power going to the cleverness of the pigs. With the right language, it can become quite persuasive and direct behavior to achieve the desired response.
Yes Jones would come back!’”(Orwell 36). Squealer uses language that implements fear into the animals which is how he stopped them from accusing him and the pigs of doing something wrong. Next, the animals showed suspicions of the pigs as they questioned a change in a commandment, “‘You did not suppose, surely, that there was ever a ruling against beds? A bed merely means a place to sleep in. A pile of straw is a bed, properly regarded.
In addition, Squealer often threatens the animals that Mr. Jones will return if they did not follow as instructed by Napoleon to manipulate the farm animals. For instance, pigs decided that the milk and windfall as well as the main crops of apples should be reserved for the pigs alone. Ostensibly, pigs need to be in healthy state as they claimed to be the Einstein of the welfare of the farm. Here also, Squealer threatens the animals that Jones would return if they oppose the idea. Therefore, the animals agreed with
He initially does this when sent to explain why the pigs need milk and apples. “Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty? Jones would come back! Yes, Jones would come back! Surely, comrades… surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?”
Surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?’ the animals petrified of Jones, “did not want Jones back. When it was put to them in this light, they had no more to say” This demonstrates that the threat of Jones was an effective way to suppress the other animals and maintain