Animal Farm

What do you think about Squealer's explanation for sleeping in a bed in chapter 6 of "Animal Farm"?

This is a good question for the discussion board because it is asking for an opinion instead of a factual answer.

What do I think about Squealer's explanation? I think it is another rung in the ladder that places the pigs higher in rank than the other animals. When Clover notices that not only have the pigs moved into the farmhouse but they are also sleeping in the beds, she clearly remembers that their commandments forbid that. However, when she asks Muriel the goat to read the commandments to her, that one has suddenly changed: "No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets." Suddenly it is ok for the pigs to sleep in beds, so long as they don't put sheets on them. Gradually, the pigs are becoming like humans and are giving themselves privileges that they other animals don't have. The other animals don't realize that they are giving away their own freedom.

I think the main thing to take away from the explanation is that it shows how the pigs are willing to bend the rules for themselves by changing the meaning of the rules very slightly. This shows the duplicity of the pigs and how they are actually no better then their former human masters. It also shows how leaders use trickery and falsehoods to enrich themselves at the expense of others.