Rhetorical Devices Used In Animal Farm

Using rhetorical strategies can go without being noticed, “Open a coke, open happiness” (2009 Coca-Cola slogan). What kind of Persuasion is that? Just like commercials, authors use rhetorical devices in their books as well, such as Animal Farm by George Orwell and Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. Orwell uses animals as his main characters while telling the story about the Soviet Union and Joseph Stalin. Shakespeare covers the story of the Roman Dictator, Julius Caesar, whose life was ended by his “best friend.” Both authors have their characters use persuasive authority, good logic, and emotion. Logos is one of the three different types of rhetorical devices,which is persuasion by using facts and logic. When being rhetorical, using a statistical fact to follow the persuasion can make it more convincing. Squealer did just that by telling the other animals “‘Many of us dislike the milk… Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health’” (Orwell 52). Squealer stated this to convince the other animals why the pigs should eat apples and drink milk. Like Squealer, Brutus has done the same persuading to the people of Rome, as he exclaimed, “Would you rather that Caesar were living and we all died slaves?” (51) This statement has the people of Rome rethink the murder of Caesar.

Brustus has taken his advantage to use ethos to persuade the people of Rome that he killed Caesar for their well-being, as he asserts, “‘Believe me because of my honor and respect my honor so honor so that you may believe.’” (50) with this he is trying to get Rome to trust his words because of his credibility. In Animal Farm ethos was used often by the pigs, such as, “We the pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organization depends on us.” (52) Sovereignty is shown here from the pigs proving to the animals that they could not continue the farm without