|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
Squealer :
Articulate, propagandist, hypocritical.
He is the pig which spreads Napoleon's propaganda among the other animals. Squealer justifies the pigs' monopolization of resources and spreads false statistics pointing to the farm's success. Throughout his career, Orwell explored how politicians manipulate language in an age of mass media. In Animal Farm, the silver-tongued pig Squealer abuses language to justify Napoleon's actions and policies to the proletariat by whatever means seem necessary. By radically simplifying language—as when he teaches the sheep to bleat "Four legs good, two legs better!"—he limits the terms of debate. By complicating language unnecessarily, he confuses and intimidates the uneducated, as when he explains that "a bird's wing … is an organ of propulsion and not of manipulation." In this latter strategy, he also employs jargon ("tactics, tactics") as well as a baffling vocabulary of false and impenetrable statistics, engendering in the other animals both self-doubt and a sense of hopelessness about ever accessing the truth without the pigs' mediation. Squealer's lack of conscience and unwavering loyalty to his leader, alongside his rhetorical skills, make him the perfect propagandist for any tyranny. Squealer's name also fits him well: squealing, of course, refers to a pig's typical form of vocalization, and Squealer's speech defines him. At the same time, to squeal also means to betray, aptly evoking Squealer's behavior with regard to his fellow animals. Squealer is the hypocritical and articulate propagandist. We are told that he can ‘’turn black to white’’ and that he has a ‘’shrill voice’’ and ‘’twinkling eyes’’, which are his assets that he manipulates for his propaganda. Him and the general persuasiveness of his character are crucial to Napoleon’s success. He is responsible for the devious alterations of the commandments. He grows increasingly fat as the novel progresses and his cowardice becomes apparent when he is ‘’unaccountably absent’’ from the fighting.
How does Squealer persuade animals to follow the pigs’ wishes? 1) RHETORICAL QUESTIONS: A question that does not require an answer but is used to try and emphasise a particular point. One does not have to think for oneself, and so in other words you submit to someone else’s authority: ‘’Surely Comrades you don’t want Jones back?’’ 2) PINPOINTING THE ENEMY: Trying to identify an enemy, in this case trying to make the animals believe that Snowball is the enemy so that they can turn to Napoleon and consider him the most suitable. An example being that they blame Snowball for everything including the destruction of the windmill and even the loss of the keys to the shed. 3) LYING: An example being when Snowball says that the only reason the pigs eat the apples and drink the milk is for the animal’s benefit as they contain substances vital for brainwork: ‘’ Many of us actually dislike milk and apples.’’ 4) SELECTION: This is selecting out of a mass of facts, the ones suitable for his purposes. 5) ASSERTION: The making of bold statements to defend a case. 6) REPETITION: By repeating a statement often enough it will eventually become accepted by the audience. Such as the continuous repetition of the rhetorical question: ‘’Surely Comrades you don’t want to see Jones back. ‘’ These are the typical propagandist methods used. Snowball had some additional ones: 1) The use of difficult intellectual words that the animals cannot understand so that they can do nothing but agree. 2) He gives the animals meaningless statistics to convince them that life is better than it used to be. 3) While he is delivering the speeches to the animals he has the dogs menacing in the background which bark and show their teeth if any animal disagrees. The sheep are also present which burst in and bleet ''Four legs good, two legs bad'' if anyone attempts to disagree.
HOME - summary - characters - themes - seven commandments - symbolism - political background - useful quotes - biography - "why i write"