Pigs Gain Power with Propaganda in George Orwell's Animal Farm

1747 WordsJul 17, 20187 Pages
People desire dominance; to fulfill their craving, manipulators use propagandic methods to maneuver and manage their audience’s mind. Propaganda is a communication method which creates certain feelings and motivates specific actions (Stults). In George Orwells’ Animal Farm, the animals of the farm plan on living in peaceful equality after overthrowing their human leaders, but the intelligent, cunning pigs seize the farm’s defenseless leadership. Orwell wrote Animal Farm as an allegorical “fairy story” (“Preface” 6) resembling the Russian Revolt during the 1900’s. An important similarity between Animal Farm and the Russian Revolution is the propaganda techniques the leaders used to acquire their power. By gaining trust, covering the truth,…show more content…
The animals already trust Old Major, but the new song builds the trust they have in him, along with their trust in other animals. The lyrics, “beasts of every land and climes” (13), make them believe that all animals can, and will eventually, unite and overthrow the humans. In addition, Squealer also gains the animals’ trust through his own speeches. For example, his speech about readjustments in chapter nine creates belief that life on the farm is better presently than it was before their revolt (112-113). The reader understands the animals are losing food, but Squealer twists the truth of the matter to the animals. He says the readjustment was not much, considering they still receive more food than they did when Jones was present. The animals of course believe Squealer and do not complain about the loss of food. They trust Squealer when he said the days of independence are far better than the faded memory of the working days under Jones. Squealer and Napoleon constantly refer to the other animals on the farm as “comrades”, to make the animals believe they are all equal and care for each other. For instance, when accusing Snowball of disloyalty after the windmill was destroyed, Squealer said “comrade” ten times (79-82). The use of the word seems equivalent to nothing, but it affects the animals in an unfathomable way. Squealer wants the animals to believe the pigs are on their side and would not hurt their alleged friends. He gains the

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