Persuasive Techniques In Animal Farm

Orwell’s novella Animal Farm shows how power gets to one’s head through dishonesty. Squealer demonstrates this by tricking the animals into doing many things that they are unaware of doing themselves. He uses propaganda to help Napoleon because it will give him access to power, which he, too, desires. Squealer is able to use their stupidity against them and make them do unreasonable things. He also gives Napoleon more publicity than he deserves, which leads to him being elected as leader.

Propaganda is usually some type of misleading information that is used to promote a certain political view or idea. One crucial part of the propaganda is when the pigs trained the sheep to bleat “Four legs good, two legs bad!” (34 Orwell) at moments when the animals were uneasy about the rules that the pigs were creating. For example, when Napoleon announced that they would begin to engage in trade with other farms

We often find that it is simpler to stay hidden in the dark, rather than step out into the light. As citizens it is our responsibility to call out our leaders if they are not taking notice of what we, the people, want or need. The animals, in Animal Farm, overthrew their farmer and attempted to form a fair government, but soon became dictated to, by the pigs. The book records the evolution of tyranny to totalitarianism which became as terrible as their first situation. In Animal Farm, George Orwell illustrates that it is the responsibility of the citizens to stand up against injustice and inequality.

He makes them believe everything he and the pigs are doing is for the greater good of the whole farm despite the fact that it is not. Squealer controls them in many ways but the strongest or most apparent are telling the other animals Mr. Jones their neglective abusive owner will come back, lying about Boxer the horse’s death, and finally changing the unalterable commandments into one that reads “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”. One of the very first and most used techniques Squealer uses is instilling fear in the animals. He does this by threatening Jones’s return.

The small minded people follow blindly by their leaders because the people’s ignorance is easier for them to be told to do something rather than themselves to think of it on their own. For example, in the book the sheep made it easier for the pigs to take control over a large group of the farm animals. The pigs were able to easily change the commandments because the sheep were to ignorant to notice that the commandments drastically changed from what they had been before. This also reminds me of another one of James Orwell’s books, 1984, in that book the government changed the citizens vocabulary so they are socially and politically

The satire present here is that the altering of the ten commandments effectively portray how the absurd the concept is. There is no way that animals could become, “more equal” than others. In the beginning of the novel, Old Major expressed that the animals shall overcome their oppressors, but the pigs become the oppressors. Through their chants and the ten commandments, the citizens are brainwashed to believe that everything is just and fair because when the commandments and chants were first written or said, everyone was in agreement, and believed it was fair. The pigs start to alter the propaganda, and the animals still believe that it is fair, when in reality it is not.

Napoleon also uses manipulation to gain and maintain a firm control by changing the Commandments for the farm in ways that work to his benefit. Squealer, Napoleon’s propaganda department, Keeps the farm animals believing in Napoleon by describing what they hear and see to make it seem harmless. Using effective tactics of fear, convincing propaganda, and manipulation, Napoleon gains and maintains control of Animal Farm. “Animal Farm” has corruption and equality in a way the animals try to succeed and achieve a goal to make the farm better. Power corrupts in “Animal Farm” because the pigs have a goal which is working together and helping one another.

(ch.5 pg.47) It all clearly points to the fact that all animals (and humans) have different strengths and different jobs and that they are not equal. This is also the case because some of the animals capabilities elevated their status within their society. This inequality sometimes helped the farm by providing a firm government but often lead to harsh mistreatment of many of the animals. The only reason animals often listened to the leader was because he had ferocious dogs protected him and in certain cases he used that power to protect his own interests.

One of the themes of Animal Farm is that people’s ignorance can contribute to their social and political oppression. All the animals (except the pigs) were not very intelligent. They blindly went along with what the pigs had to say. Most were unable to read, and did not notice when a commandment was changed. They were proud to be part of the only animal-owned and animal-run farm in England, but did not realize that the pigs were leading them just as Mr. Jones had.

Napoleon ruled animal farm harshly and overworked the animals. Orwell described, “This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half” (Orwell 59). The animal’s are given a choice in the sense that if they wanted to, they could have Sundays off. However, the brutal consequences the animals would face if they did not work forced the animals to listen to the pigs.

The animals have no idea what is going on in Animal Farm since squealer uses his charming words to confuse the animals. Napoleon, the boar, has many goals but the main one was to have complete and absolute power. The pigs act in specific situations to weaken equality and give up their freedom by giving fewer rations to the other animals and forcing them to work on Sundays. The other animals do not realize that the animals are losing their freedom and equality because they are not smart and do not understand the conflict. The pigs do influence the attitude and behaviors of other followers on animal farm.

Due to his dedication and loyalty on the farm, Boxer influences the other animals in some ways; he tries to convince the animals that they will be able to solve all of their problems if they listen to Napoleon and work harder on the farm. Boxer is extremely committed to his work and to his comrade,Napoleon, which is why he is frequently used as an example that should be followed by the other animals. His behavior is similar to the other followers on the farm, but when they start to rebel, Boxer tries to convince them that they are wrong and Napoleon

What is the importance of lies being told by the leadership in the novella Animal Farm? The novella represents lies and hypocrisy of the Soviet Union government through animals. The novella also shows that the pigs are the government that rules over the land while being hypocritical and lying to the animals about their acts and dealings. The lies represent the hypocrisy of leadership in Animal Farm by George Orwell since the leadership garbles their message to the animals through propaganda.

Persuasion in Animal Farm causes the animals to be blinded by the pig’s lies and leads the farm to a system of class distinction. The passage from Animal Farm,” About this time, too, it was laid down as a rule that when a pig and any other animal met on the path, the other animal must stand aside” (Orwell 65), shows how pigs were more important in Animal Farm. This show class distinction because it shows that pigs were more important than the other animals. Also, this shows what happens to you when you get all of the power, you become corrupt and create a system of class distinction. Another quote from Animal Farm that shows the hierarchy in Animal Farm is, “He believed that he was right in saying that the lower animals on Animal Farm did more