what kinds of speeches does squealer continue to make

Animal Farm

George orwell, everything you need for every book you read., squealer quotes in animal farm.

“Comrades!” he cried. “You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organization of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples.”

“No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?”

If a window was broken or a drain was blocked up, someone was certain to say that Snowball had come in the night and done it, and when the key of the store-shed was lost, the whole farm was convinced that Snowball had thrown it down the well. Curiously enough, they went on believing this even after the mislaid key was found under a sack of meal.

At the foot of the end wall of the big barn, where the Seven Commandments were written, there lay a ladder broken in two pieces. Squealer, temporarily stunned, was sprawling beside it, and near at hand there lay a lantern, a paint-brush, and an overturned pot of white paint. [...] None of the animals could form any idea as to what this meant, except old Benjamin, who nodded his muzzle with a knowing air, and seemed to understand, but would say nothing.

Besides, in those days they had been slaves and now they were free, and that made all the difference, as Squealer did not fail to point out.

Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer—except, of course, for the pigs and the dogs.

“Four legs good, two legs better !”

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.

The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

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• Squealer’s Propaganda in Animal Farm

Animal Farm , an allegory by George Orwell, echoes real historical figures and ideas about the Russian Revolution. The story about a group of animals that overthrow their farmer, Mr. Jones, is actually about the Communist Revolution that took place in 1917. Orwell brilliantly uses his characters and storyline to represent the events and support his political commentary. One of the characters, Squealer, a pig second in command, is fairly represented by George Orwell as Soviet propaganda for he persuades others by taking advantage of their pride in hard work and he spreads lies by appealing to emotions.

 Through his character Squealer, Orwell wants to illustrate how the propaganda of the revolution was persuasive because it took advantage of worker pride. Russian propaganda often displayed images of proud workers. For instance, Long live the indissoluble Union of the iron of the working class with the peasantry! by Ivan Simakov depicts 2 strong men carrying the soviet flag and farming tools as they walk upstairs towards success (Figure 1).

It is an image of pride, strength, and idealism. They hold tools to show that they are farmers and laborers who take pride in their work. Squealer tries to make the animals on the farm work harder by taking advantage of the pride they felt in hard work: “[He] made excellent speeches on the joy of service and the dignity of labor, but the other animals found more inspiration in Boxer’s strength and his never-failing cry of ‘I will work harder!’” (Orwell 57).

Squealer uses the image of hard work to exploit the animals into making a greater sacrifice. When Boxer dies, Squealer uses his death for personal gain. He recounts the events of Boxer’s death to the animals:

I was at his bedside at the very last. And at the end, almost too weak to speak, he whispered in my ear that his sole sorrow was to have passed on before the windmill was finished. ‘Forward, comrades!’ he whispered. ‘Forward in the name of the Rebellion. Long live Animal Farm! Long live Comrade Napoleon! Napoleon is always right.’ Those were his very last words, comrades (Orwell 92).

Soon we discover that Boxer had actually been taken to be slaughtered and that Squealer had simply lied to the animals to inspire them to keep working. Squealer is effective because he takes advantage of the inspiration the animals feel with hard work and can easily manipulate others , just like Russian propaganda.

Orwell also uses Squealer to show us how propaganda is able to spread lies by manipulating other’s emotions. In PRAVDA: A PROPAGANDA SHEET IN DISGUISE OF NEWSPAPER? Tarihi discusses how  one of “the most important [propaganda] tools can be said to be “suggestion” or “stimulation”” (Tarihi 8). This is a great example of one of Squealers various persuasion techniques of proposing an idea, and convincing people to accept, but not through logic and reasoning.

His claims are very compelling to the animals even if it makes no logical sense to trust them. This is because he appeals to their emotions, but most specifically fear. Squealer frequently assures, “Do you know what happens if we pigs fail in our duty? Jones would come back!” (Orwell 22). This is one of many times throughout the book in which Squealer exploits the animals’ fear so that he may maintain order and power.

He does so by insinuating that Mr. Jones would come back if the pigs were not in charge. This causes the animals to feel like they have no other choice but to trust the pigs. Squealer completely exploits that trust and the power that he has over the animals by spreading lies and gradually changing the list of commandments. By manipulating their emotions, Squealer leads the animals to believe in these dishonest commandments and other lies.

George Orwell wants to warn the world about the dangers of totalitarianism, but he knows that people are not interested in a news story about the Communist Revolution. Instead, Orwell uses allegory and writes a simple story using the kind of farm animals you can find in a children’s book. The allegory makes a complicated issue easier to understand.

Orwell uses the power of a story to inform and educate the reader about the lies spread by propaganda, which is represented by Squealer. As can be seen, Orwell has fairly characterized Squealer as his real-world representation for he uses the animals’ pride in hard work to control them, and is able to convince them his lies are true by targeting their emotions.

Works Cited

Orwell, George. Animal Farm . Secker and Warburg, 1945. PDF file, drive.google.com/file/d/1K6TPb2GEwxIYECyV6ix3baHP4lwEioxx/view. Accessed Sep 5, 2020.

Simakov, Ivan. Long live the indissoluble Union of the iron of the working class with the peasantry! 1924, lithograph on paper.

Tarihi, Gönderim and Kabul Tarihi. PRAVDA: A PROPAGANDA SHEET IN DISGUISE OF NEWSPAPER? 2018. PDF file. Accessed Sep 5, 2020.

Works Referenced

Rodden, John. Understanding Animal Farm: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. ks Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999. Google Books, books.google.com.br/books?hl=en&lr=&id=TG-YpkczTjEC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=russian+revolution+propaganda+animal+farm&ots=jlt5cYZsvV&sig=_KUGhxL2bW_EUDUUB3C3r2fEADg#v=onepage&q=squealer&f=false. Accessed Sep 5, 2020.

Strakhov, Adolf. Emancipated Women: Build Socialism! 1926, lithograph on paper. Tate Modern, London.

Related Posts

• Animal Farm: Allegory of Stalinism
• Animal Farm and Communism: Analysis
• Animal Farm: Character Analysis of Napoleon
• Animal Farm Critical Passage
• Animal Farm Monologue: Squealer

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• Animal Farm

George Orwell

• Literature Notes
• Animal Farm at a Glance
• Book Summary
• About Animal Farm
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• Summary and Analysis
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Summary and Analysis Chapter 9

This manipulation of language is again found when Animal Farm is proclaimed a Republic, with Napoleon its "elected" President. The word "Republic" connotes a land of self-government whose citizens participate in the political process, as the word "President" connotes one who is of the citizenry but who has been appointed by them to preside over — not control — their government. Of course, these words are outrageous jokes to the reader, but not to the animals, who again and again swallow the pigs' twisted language to make themselves feel better: As Orwell slyly remarks, "Doubtless it had been worse in the old days. They were glad to believe so."

Similarly, the animals are "glad to believe" Squealer's obvious lies about Boxer's final moments in which he supposedly praised both Animals Farm and Napoleon. This is Squealer's most outrageous and blatant piece of propaganda, and a reader may well wonder why none of the animals raise the slightest suspicion about it. The reason is that they are afraid to do so — afraid of Napoleon and his dogs, of course, but also afraid of probing too deeply into the story and thus upsetting their own consciences. Believing Squealer is easier politically and morally. They can excuse their lack of action by willingly believing Squealer's lies about the owner of the van. As Orwell ironically explains:

The animals were enormously relieved to hear this. And when Squealer went on to give further graphic details of Boxer's death-bed, the admirable care he had received, and the expensive medicines for which Napoleon had paid without a thought to the cost, their last doubts disappeared and the sorrow that they felt for their comrade's death was tempered by the thought that at least he had died happy.

Words like "admirable," "expensive," and "without a thought to the cost" all give the animals license to excuse their own inaction. As Orwell wrote elsewhere, "To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle" — a struggle that the animals doubtless are able to overcome.

The return of Moses is, like the destruction of the first windmill, used to the pigs' advantage. A reader may wonder why the pigs allow Moses to remain on the farm (and actually encourage him to do so by giving him a gill of beer a day). The reason lies in the effect Moses has on the animals. Again recalling Marx's famous metaphor, Moses' tales of Sugarcandy Mountain figuratively drug the animals and keep them docile: If life now is awful, at least (so Moses' tales imply) it will not always be such. Therefore the animals continue working, laboring under the hope that, one day, Moses' stories will come true.

Napoleon's fathering of the 31 piglets suggests how saturated with his image and presence the farm has become. In a biological sense, Napoleon is now creating the very population he means to control. His decision to build a schoolhouse for the pigs is reminiscent of such fascist organizations as the Hitler Youth, and his numerous decrees favoring the pigs (such as the one requiring all animals to step out of their way when approached by pigs) recalls Hitler's thoughts about Aryan superiority.

Also notable in this chapter is the great amount of ceremony that Napoleon institutes throughout the farm: The increased amount of songs, speeches, and demonstrations keep the animals' brains busy enough not to think about their own wretchedness — and Napoleon packs the meetings with the sheep in case any animals momentarily see past all the pomp and circumstance. The wreath Napoleon orders to be made for Boxer's grave is a similar display for Napoleon's own ends, as is the elegy for Boxer that he ends with the horse's two maxims in order to threaten the other animals. The fact that the pigs get drunk on the night of the supposed solemn day of Boxer's memorial banquet betrays their complete lack of sympathy for the devoted but ignorant horse. Their drunkenness also makes them more like Jones, their former oppressor.

gill a unit of liquid measure, equal to 1/4 pint or 4 fluid ounces.

Previous Chapter 9

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He represents the propaganda wing of the Communist Party, almost like Goebbels in Nazi Germany.

From the start, Orwell derides Squealer and describes him in negative terms stating he is a ‘small, fat pig with very round cheeks, twinkling eyes, nimble movements and a shrill voice’ making him appear ridiculous and not one to be respected.

Even his name ‘Squealer’ gives the reader a clue to his character, as ‘Squealer’ not only describes his shrill voice but can be interpreted as ‘one who squeals’ or informs on people.

Squealer is Napoleon’s propaganda machine, twisting the truth so eloquently that it is said he ‘could turn black into white’.

He does this from the start when the pigs commandeer the apples for their own use, he is on hand to explain telling the other animals that ‘our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health’. He goes on to justify this by telling them that it is for their sake that the pigs drink milk and eat the apples, arguing that ‘if the pigs failed in our duty, Jones would come back’ ending with the twisted logical conclusion of ‘surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?’

Later in the book he goes further in his twisting of the truth when some of the animals remember a resolution against trading with other animals, he goes as far as to suggest that the animals must have dreamt it: ‘Are you certain that this is not something you have dreamed, comrades?’

Squealer is the one who physically amends the commandments written on the wall of the barn; he falls from the ladder and is found on the ground by the other animals with an upturned pot of white paint beside him.

Orwell uses Squealer to represent Molotov, a loyal companion, spokesman and protégé of Stalin who supported him in his early struggles for power. Stalin rewarded him by making him chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars. Molotov oversaw some of Stalin’s most draconian and damaging policies.

Squealer also represents the Soviet newspaper, Pravda, which was the main body for announcing change of government policies.

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Squealer'S Speech

Tess Darlington 10.6/L/RJS

SQUEALER’S FIRST SPEECH

Right through Squealer’s speech; he uses a lot of persuasive techniques and there is no doubt that they work very well in his favour.

We can see these techniques from the very start when Squealer begins his speech with “comrades”. This straight away makes the animals feel a sense of equality between all of them and the repetition of the word enforces this throughout key points in his speech, incase the animals are having any doubts;

“This has been proved by science, comrades” / “Surely, comrades...”

Another example of repetition is near the end of Squealer’s speech where he repeats the statement; “Jones would come back!”  

By repeating this statement a few times it becomes accepted by the animals, who are apparently naive enough to think that a simple matter of milk and apples would bring Jones back.

Another persuasive technique that Squealer uses to its full advantage is the use of Rhetorical Questions. They all have obvious answers and just remind the animals that they don’t want Jones to come back at any cost. Basically there is only one possible answer for all animals to choose, the one which lets the pigs end up with the apples and milk.

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Squealer says; “You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege?”

This makes the animals feel guilty to have even thought to doubt the pigs.

Squealer’s last statement is also a rhetorical question; “Surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?” It is the last thing animals will remember and if Squealer hadn’t won them over by this point, they would probably be scared enough not to take this risk.

Squealer makes the animals feel guilty yet again when he says; “It is for your  sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples.” He even backs this up with evidence; “Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. I dislike them myself. Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health.

Milk and apples (this has been proved by science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig.”

In addition, Squealer uses exaggeration to benefit his argument;

“The whole management and organization of this farm depend on us.” On top of the fact that he has convinced the other animals into thinking that Jones will come back if they do not get their milk and apples.

One last thing to consider is Squealer’s body language, which can be equally as persuasive as words. “...cried Squealer almost pleadingly, skipping from side to side and whisking his tail ,”

This is previously mentioned in the first chapter when Squealer is being described;

“When he was arguing some difficult point he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail  which was somehow very persuasive.”

It is mentioned right at the end of his speech, when he needed to win them over for good.

So to conclude, Squealer’s speech is full of persuasive techniques. These include; repetition, rhetorical questions, use of evidence and exaggeration. Persuasive speeches are obviously biased but Squealer’s speech is more or less ‘brainwashing’. He acts as though he is equal with the other animals but is manipulating them for his own (or the pigs’ own) personal gain.

By Tess Darlington 10.6

Document Details

• Word Count 577
• Page Count 2
• Level University Degree
• Subject Biological Sciences

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