The pigs' employment of propaganda in Animal Farm is a successful strategy for keeping them in charge since it allows them to continue manipulating and ordering the other animals to do what they want while staying in control themselves. The pigs deceive the animals for their own gain by using gas-lighting, half-truths, and the song "Beasts of England."
In “Animal Farm” by George Orwell, Napoleon (with Squealer as his spokesman) uses language that intimidates in order to secure a life of luxury for the pigs. The pigs have stolen the milk and apples, and Squealer justifies their actions to the other animals. ‘‘‘It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples.’” He coerces the pigs’ agenda by introducing the idea that they are consuming the foods for the other animals. The pigs settle in the farmhouse, against the original commandments they had set earlier.
“To swallow and follow, whether old doctrine or new propaganda, is a weakness still dominating the human mind” (Charlotte Perkins Gilman). Throughout history, propaganda has been used in many different situations and events, whether effective or not, it has brought people together and against each other. In the book Animal Farm, the author uses many scenarios where propagandas such as testimonial, fear, transfer, repetition, loaded works, name calling, and bandwagon are used to manipulate and deceive the animals on the farm. In the book many propagandas were efficient, but one that had a huge impact on the revolution was repetition—using repeated messages on pictures to persuade. Although propaganda is not a technique that involves force by the user, it is a technique that alters the choices and actions of the animals.
The animals in Animal Farm represent different groups of people and political ideologies. The story reveals the dangers of totalitarianism and the importance of democratic principles. Napoleon's rise to power and leadership style in Animal Farm mirrors Stalin's rise to power and leadership style in the Soviet Union during the Russian Revolution. Both Stalin and Napoleon were ruthless and cunning leaders who used propaganda, violence and fear to maintain his power.
George Orwell once stated, “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” In other words, leaders commonly use manipulation to gain power and force their ideas while having full authority. In George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, he demonstrates how propaganda can assist corrupt leaders to hold total power, plant fears to influence the audience to believe the media, and blind individuals to make society seem perfect when in reality, everything is falling apart. To ensure that Napoleon had full power, he continuously lied to the animals and constantly exploited their thoughts. In the story's beginnings, the pigs “reduced” the principles of Animalism to “7 commandments” (Orwell 11).
“A lie told once remains a lie. A lie told a thousand times becomes truth” (Joseph Goebbels). History’s powerful leaders have indoctrinated the public, using propaganda. A ruthless leader’s eyes shine at the opportunity to gain complete dominance, over an entire population. George Orwell wrote Animal Farm as a cautionary tale, on how governments can effortlessly strip people of their individual rights.
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).
Inequality, corruption, and dictatorship. Do you ever wonder how someone managed to use animals to recreate the cruel issues of society? George Orwell used pigs to represent the ruling class and working animals to represent the commoners. There are many ways that Orwell shows the issues of society in Animal Farm. One of these ways is through demonstrating the effects of propaganda and how it is used to control the common people.
How does the government manipulate people and the working class? In Animal Farm by George Orwell, the government, or Napoleon and the pigs, manipulate the working class, the other animals. This is revealed through propaganda, fear, and punishment. How is propaganda used to manipulate the other animals? “Four legs good, two legs bad”(p.49) is a phrase that the sheep used to demonstrate that animals are superior to humans.
“The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse. ”Animal Farm is a novel by George Orwell using the form of animals to reenact the Russian Revolution. Throughout the story there are many different animals that represent actual people in the Revolution. The whole book is based on power and control.
Animal Farm, by George Orwell, was written to show how absolute power corrupts, just like Stalin’s power did following the Russian Revolution in 1917. In Animal Farm, each character represents a political figure from the days around the Russian Revolution. For example, Joseph Stalin is represented by a pig named Napoleon, Squealer, another pig, represents Stalin’s propaganda department, and the dogs represent the Secret Police (KBG). Using the nine dogs that Napoleon raises, Squealer, and manipulation, Orwell illustrates how Napoleon could gain and maintain control of the farm. The nine dogs that stay by Napoleon always are useful for Napoleon to gain and maintain control of the farm because they scare the other animals, intimidating them so
There are various themes throughout Animal Farm, but apathy sticks out more than the rest. Apathy makes it simpler for the reader to comprehend why the animals are taken advantage of so frequently. Orwell uses irony in Animal Farm to help the reader recognize how Napoleon and the pigs’ take advantage of the animals’ apathy to manipulate them into granting the pigs’ absolute control over the farm. Orwell uses dramatic irony to express how gullible the animals are for following the pigs so blindly or paying attention to the obvious indications that the pigs are lying.
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.
In Animal Farm, two themes were shown throughout the book. One theme was “Not everyone is equal; some people believe that they are more superior than others.” another theme was “People deserve to have their own thoughts and ideas. These were shown when Napoleon used his powers for hurt hurt not for the better of the farm. He used his powers to create a farm that is not equal for everyone.
Throughout Animal Farm there are present themes of tyranny and manipulation, most commonly used from the very beginning by the pigs, who utilize and exploit fear as a way of motivating their comrades. The
