The Dangers Of Propaganda In Animal Farm

The Dangers of Propaganda

Risky, deceiving, and dangerous are three words to describe propaganda. Such ideas are significant because they can warn people of the dangers of propaganda. Specifically, this text describes the dangers of listening to everything someone says with no proof. For example, in the story “Animal Farm” there are numerous examples of the animals taking action with no proof, including everyone turning on Snowball. Propaganda can lead to disastrous results when people blindly accept information, fail to critically think, and act without awaiting proof.

In the literary work “Animal Farm” by George Orwell, he explores the idea of propaganda. In the author’s words, “As for the dogs, when they grow old and toothless, Jones ties a brick around their necks and drowns them in the nearest pond.” (Orwell 9) Major is trying to turn all the animals against Jones with no real proof. He tells the animals horrible things like this, which may or may not be true, which is what propaganda is about. Inevitably, the animals need to decide whether they want to believe what Major is saying.

According to the author, “There was a cry of indignation, and everyone began thinking out ways of catching Snowball if he should ever come back.” (Orwell 70) This quote relates to critical thinking. It shows that immediately after Napoleon found everything destroyed, he put the blame on Snowball and everyone believed him right away. This point is important because if the animals were critically thinking, they would stop and want proof before immediately turning their attention to violence against Snowball. All in all, it is very important to always be critically