Animal Farm Group

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pimpxslayer
pimpxslayer
Student
High School - 9th Grade

What does Animal Farm say about how language can be manipulated as an instrument of control?

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Posted by pimpxslayer on Wednesday September 17, 2008 at 1:19 PM and tagged with animal farm, language manipulation, squealer, themes.

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  1. ms-mcgregor Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    The character of Squealer is the one who consistently manipulates language for control of the animals. Orwell writes that "he could turn black into white". As propaganda chief for the pigs, Squealer has an answer for everything: why the commandments of Animalism seem different, and why the "ambulance" called to take Boxer to the hospital has a sign for a horse slaughterer on its side. He also helps rewrite the past when he makes the animals believe that Snowball, who Napoleon wants to discredit, never had received the order of "Animal Hero, First Class." All of this is done, of course, to control the animals so they will not question the pigs' leadership.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/animal
    http://www.enotes.com/animal/squealer

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    Posted by ms-mcgregor on Wednesday September 17, 2008 at 2:12 PM