Essay on "Squealer's Use of Propaganda in Animal Farm"

Essay 4 pages (1442 words) Sources: 1

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Squealer's Use Of Propaganda In Animal Farm

Propaganda is a word that is often thrown around by individuals -- especially today. We often hear about people using propaganda when it comes to elections and candidates; oftentimes, candidates will use propaganda in order to hurt the other candidate, never help the other candidate. it's no wonder, propaganda can be very powerful. Propaganda is essentially the spreading of information for a cause, and that cause can either help someone, a cause, an organization, or an institution -- or, it can hurt any of those people or things. In Orwell's seminal work entitled Animal Farm, Orwell depicts propaganda as being something that is quite dangerous and it is Squealer who is the chief spreader of propaganda on the farm. Through Squealer's cunning machinations and his clever way of using propaganda, he is able to make the animals see everything the way that he wants them too, no matter how ridiculous his argument may seem.

Squealer is a pig (an apt name for him). He is well-spoken, persuasive, and incredibly tricky. Squealer finds many different ways to make sense and even justify the pigs' domination of the farm and all of its assets to the other animals. He also spreads incorrect information regarding the farm's achievements. Through Orwell's creation of Squealer, the reader is able to see how language is used by people with power -- or pigs with power -- to manipulate the truth in order to take and keep social and political control. If any of the animals on the farm dare question any of Napoleon's actions, no matter how awfully selfish the act may seem to be, Squealer is there to convince the animals why it is a good thing and why it is not selfish or, more importantly, why it is right and just. Squealer will not only dance circles around the truth in order to keep supporting Napoleon, but he will blatantly lie to the other animals.

Squealer is quite cunning when it comes to the tactics he employs for the pigs' cause. He uses a number of different tricks in order to persuade the other animals on the farm that the pigs should have control over all the apples and milk. He is quite manipulative in his mission. He tells the other animals that it may appear like having all the apples and milk is selfish, but he subtly lets them know that if they do think that the pigs are selfish, then they are simply ignorant. He flat-out lies to the other animals, stating that pigs don't even like apples and milk, when pigs actually love apples and milk. He claims that he doesn't like them at all, but he must take them in order to be healthy for the sake of the other animals on the farm (after all, the pigs are the brainworkers of the farm!). Squealer even goes so far as to make up information, coming up with a lie stating that it has been proven that milk and apples are necessary for pigs because they contain important ingredients that they can't get from any other foods. Pigs must eat all the apples and milk because they need it in order to be healthy and smart. If they don't take the apples and milk, then something could happen to them and Jones would certainly come back to the farm -- and the other animals surely don't want that. In this way, Squealer makes the other animals fearful and so they do not put up a fight about the apples and milk. Squealer goes a step further with the fear card. He tells the animals that if they do anything wrong, Jones will come back. Squealer is constantly reminding the other animals that Jones could come back at any time. It is the fear that Squealer instills in the animals that makes them want to comply with him. They believe that if they are to mess up, then they will have to face Jones.

Squealer has a knack for simplifying language that influences the proletariat farm animals. For example, he teaches the sheep to say, "Four legs good, two legs better" (Orwell 63). The first commandment on the farm was "Whatever goes on two legs is an enemy," (7) but then the pigs learn how to… READ MORE

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