How Does Napoleon Use Propaganda In Animal Farm

Propaganda is a powerful weapon. In George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, Napoleon and the animals start a rebellion that leads to the human owners being chased off the farm. Napoleon uses propaganda to manipulate the animals by instilling fear in them so they listen to him, tricking them into thinking everything is good, and undermining the reputation of those who are trustworthy. Napoleon instills fear in the animals by using his dogs to chase off Snowball and commanding his dogs to murder animals. When Napoleon decides to put an end to Snowball, he uses his guard dogs to chase Snowball, but Snowball was “just in time to escape their snapping jaws.”(53) After the other animals witness this nail-biting chase, they are too intimidated by Napoleon’s

Just after all the animals, including the pigs, realize that their windmill has been destroyed, Napoleon wastes not a second to exclaim that this is the work of Snowball, for he snuck here at night and “destroyed our work of nearly a year.”(70) By using Snowball as a scapegoat, Napoleon gets the animals to believe that Snowball is a traitor and also removes the blame from himself, even though the windmill only collapsed as a result of his designs and orders. Whenever something unfortunate happens on the farm, it is associated with Snowball, and as Napoleon carries out a full investigation of this case, he declares multiple times that Snowball has been here, and that “I can smell him distinctly!”(79) Even though Napoleon can not actually detect any trace of Snowball, his false accusation helps ruin Snowball’s reputation and gain the trust of the animals. Since the animals are convinced that Snowball is a traitor and that he often sabotages the farm, it makes it easier for Napoleon to get away with incidents that are, in reality, his