In Animal Farm propaganda and rhetoric are constantly used by the pigs. Squealer is one the many pigs that use propaganda. One would even call him the propaganda apparatus that spreads information to help Napoleon, the leader, gain popularity and trust with all the animals. For example when Squealer calls Snowball a “traitor” and a “criminal” for a rumor of how Snowball was working with the humans on other farms, is called name-calling.
This technique makes the audience reject the person or idea on basis of a negative symbol or name. Another example is when Snowball uses plain folks propaganda. In this quote Snowball calls the other animals “comrades” as if they were all friends. “Comrades, it’s half past six and we have a long day before us. Today we begin the hay harvest…” (Orwell 23).
By saying this he equalizes himself with the rest of the animals. Old Major also uses plain folk propaganda, by calling his audience “comrades” numerous times in his speech. Yet calling the audience “comrades” is not the only way Old Major used plain folk propaganda in his speech. He tries to relate to the pain of the other animals by saying “And even the miserable lives we lead are not allowed to reach their natural span” (Orwell 8). By relating to their pain, he claims himself to be a Plain folk.
The pigs use tactics of influence and persuasion against the other animals. The leading pig, Napoleon promptly takes over the farm after the rebellion and consequently turns his comrades’ lives into great suffering and torment. So the pigs use propaganda to make everything that’s happening seem normal and fine. Animal Farm vividly displays how the varying use of propaganda can easily misguide and potentially harm the uneducated or misinformed.
