In Animal Farm, how does Squealer use language to control the animals?

Squealer uses a number of techniques to manipulate the other animals with language. One of the most common is the threat, veiled or unveiled. The first time he is sent out to explain why the pigs must eat all the apples and drink all the milk, he asks the animals whether they want to see Jones return. This is his favorite threat and is used to justify many of Napoleon's depredations. At the same time, Squealer's words are often backed up by the dogs, who happen to be nearby and growl threateningly.

In the same speech, Squealer also uses scientific claims to justify the pigs' position:

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. We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organisation 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.

Related to these scientific claims is Squealer's use of unfamiliar vocabulary to bamboozle the animals. He says that Napoleon pretended to oppose the windmill because he was using "Tactics," and the mere repetition of this word, which the animals do not know, has a persuasive effect, similar to that of his bogus scientific claims.

Squealer also employs his eloquence to create a false version of the past, which he describes so vividly that other animals think they remember it.

Do you not remember how, just at the moment when Jones and his men had got inside the yard, Snowball suddenly turned and fled, and many animals followed him? And do you not remember, too, that it was just at that moment, when panic was spreading and all seemed lost, that Comrade Napoleon sprang forward with a cry of 'Death to Humanity!' and sank his teeth in Jones's leg? Surely you remember THAT, comrades?

This becomes one of Squealer's most common techniques, by which he is able to change all the founding principles of Animal Farm until the new regime is indistinguishable from the old one.

In Animal Farm, how does Squealer use language to control the animals?

Squealer represents the propaganda machine in Communist Soviet Union.  He twists meanings and carefully selects words in order to serve Napoleon's purpose and get the pigs to fall in line with Napoleon's unjust policies.  He often takes advantage of the animals' lack of education by using long words and complicated phrasing in order to fool the animals into thinking Napoleon's policies are in the animals' own best interest. Some examples of this is when Napoleon makes the commandment "Four legs good, two legs bad," the birds originally complain since this excludes them.  Squealer confuses and ultimately appeases the animals by saying, "A wing is an object of propulsion, not maniuplation.  Therefore, a wing should be regarded as a leg."  In another example, the animals are working longer hours and getting smaller rations than ever.  Squealer gets them to accept this by saying the extra working day is not mandatory; however, rations will be cut for those who don't work it.  Anyone with any intelligence could see the exploitation here, but Squealer uses words in a crafty way to confuse the uneducated masses into working harder to help the pigs prosper.

In George Orwell's Animal Farm, how does Squealer use propaganda?

One of the most consistent themes in George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm is the way that propaganda is used to establish, enhance, and protect the power of Napoleon and the dictatorial regime he establishes. Squealer, the chief propagandist, plays an especially important role in advocating for, defending, and explaining the interests of this increasingly totalitarian state. Some examples of his behavior include the following:

• When the other animals discover that the pigs are being better fed than the rest of the creatures, it is Squealer who does the explaining and justifying:

'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. 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. We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organisation 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.'

• When Snowball is expelled from the farm and Napoleon assumes total leadership, it is Squealer who justifies the new arrangement.
• When some of the animals try to defend Snowball from attack, it is Squealer who explains why Snowball does not deserve any praise.
• It is Squealer who explains to the other animals that Napoleon had never really opposed construction of a windmill – a blatant lie.
• It is Squealer who claims that Napoleon’s apparent opposition to the windmill was merely tactical, merely a clever ploy.
• It is Squealer who claims that trading with humans is actually permissible. It is he who assures the skeptical animals that they are merely imagining prohibitions against such trading. Similarly, at one point the narrator reports that

the pigs suddenly moved into the farmhouse and took up their residence there. Again the animals seemed to remember that a resolution against this had been passed in the early days, and again Squealer was able to convince them that this was not the case. It was absolutely necessary, he said, that the pigs, who were the brains of the farm, should have a quiet place to work in.

• Similar propaganda is needed when the other animals learn that the pigs are now sleeping in beds – a practice that had earlier been prohibited.  Squealer, of course, has a ready explanation:

'You have heard then, comrades,' he said, `that we pigs now sleep in the beds of the farmhouse? And why not? You did not suppose, surely, that there was ever a ruling against beds? A bed merely means a place to sleep in. A pile of straw in a stall is a bed, properly regarded. The rule was against sheets, which are a human invention. We have removed the sheets from the farmhouse beds, and sleep between blankets. And very comfortable beds they are too! But not more comfortable than we need, I can tell you, comrades, with all the brainwork we have to do nowadays.'

Many other examples of Squealer’s talents as a propagandist could easily be cited, but these are enough to show how propaganda is used in the novel to (1) justify the behavior of the ruling junta, (2) justify departures from the original ideals of the rebellion, (3) rewrite history, (4) justify the privileges of the rulers and intellectuals, and (5) justify the treatment of the junta’s enemies.

How does Squealer "turn black into white" in Animal Farm?

In the opening of Chapter 2, Snowball is described as the best known of the male pigs (aside from Napoleon and Snowball). He could "turn black into white" because he was a very persuasive talker. 

He was a brilliant talker, and 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. 

Notice that as Squealer is being hailed for his persuasive speech, it is his "skipping from side to side and whisking his tail" that made him persuasive. This indicates that he was good at distracting those he spoke to and he was very good at changing his positions (going from side to side) in order to win arguments or in order to justify his new positions. 

There are many times in the novel when the commandments are changed and Squealer is able to fool the animals that the commandments have not been changed. Therefore, he is able to change his position (from black to white) without the animals even knowing it. At the end of Chapter 6, the pigs start sleeping in beds. This contradicts the initial fourth commandment which stated that "No animal shall sleep in a bed." When Clover suspects something, Muriel spells out the commandment which had been updated to state that "No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets." Squealer assures them that the commandment was always stated in this way: to only outlaw beds with sheets. 

You did not suppose, surely, that there was ever a ruling against beds? A bed merely means a place to sleep in. A pile of straw in a stall is a bed, properly regarded. The rule was against sheets, which are a human invention. 

How did Napoleon and Squealer control the animals in Animal Farm?

Napoleon and Squealer control the animals by cultivating an atmosphere of fear, spreading propaganda, altering the Seven Commandments to coincide with their current political agenda, and enacting laws that oppress other animals.

After usurping power, Napoleon immediately cancels Sunday assemblies and intimidates the other animals by surrounding himself with nine ferocious dogs at all times. Napoleon then employs Squealer to spread propaganda and manipulate language to control the animals. Squealer bolsters support for Napoleon by continually portraying him as a selfless leader who works tirelessly to improve the standard of living on the farm. He depicts Napoleon as a war hero, alters historical facts, portrays Snowball as an enemy, and strikes fear into the animals by continually reminding them of Mr. Jones's tyrannical reign. Squealer also alters the Seven Commandments to coincide with Napoleon's current political agenda and creates false statistics to make it seem like the farm is economically thriving.

In addition to employing Squealer to act as his mouthpiece and spread propaganda, Napoleon creates an atmosphere of hysteria and fear by holding public executions and murdering political dissidents. Napoleon also creates an aristocracy of pigs and segregates the entire farm to solidify his authority. Napoleon uses Snowball as a scapegoat and blames him whenever anything goes awry on the farm. In addition to using Snowball as a scapegoat and segregating the farm, Napoleon also creates a cult of personality in which he is depicted as a fearless, omniscient leader.

Which quotes best describe Squealer's traits and importance in George Orwell's Animal Farm?

Squealer is described as a clever speaker. At the beginning of the book, he is painted in the following way: 

How does Squealer brainwash the animals in Animal Farm?

Napoleon's propagandist-in-chief, Squealer, is very good at his job. Even though it is abundantly clear that Napoleon is not just a ruthless dictator, but actually flat-out incompetent as a leader, Squealer nonetheless manages to persuade the other animals that all is well on the farm.

Squealer accomplishes this feat primarily through clever use of propaganda. Squealer understands the value of a well-chosen slogan, such as “Napoleon is always right” in brainwashing the other animals into accepting the regime's continued rule. He's also remarkably adept at using what appear to be logical arguments to justify the regime's actions, even when it's clear to readers that, on closer inspection, his arguments are self-serving and disingenuous.

A prime example of Squealer's manipulation appears early on when he attempts to justify the pigs' extra rations of milk and apples by arguing that as the pigs are intelligent and responsible for managing the farm, they need more food. For good measure, he goes on to disingenuously claim that the pigs don't want these extra rations; they simply accept them for the good of the community as a whole:

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 (and this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are brain-workers. 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.

Squealer also often resorts to bald-faced lies in order to brainwash the animals. For example, he spins a completely fantastical account of the Battle of the Cowshed in which Snowball, who was, in reality, the hero of the hour, was a coward who played no part in the conflict. This is a clear example of the Squealer's persuasive power, as his false narrative directly challenges the animals' own recollections of this event. In the end, the animals believe Squealer's story over their own memory.

Squealer resorts to the exact same method as the pigs slowly alter the Seven Commandments of Animalism. The animals know what the Commandments originally said, but Squealer convinces them that they are mistaken in a cynical attempt to justify the pigs' blatant violation of Old Major's sacred principles.

How is propaganda used to control the animals' thinking in Animal Farm?

One example of propaganda is "Beasts of England," the revolutionary song that Old Major teaches the animals in the first chapter. With lines like the following, it is propaganda for an animal revolution:

Soon or late the day is coming/Tyrant man will be o'erthrown/And the fruitful fields of England/Shall be trod by beasts alone.

Another example of propaganda is the set of rules known as the "Seven Commandments." These statements, which were distilled down by Snowball to a propagandistic slogan "Four legs good, two legs bad," were to be the guiding principles of Animal Farm, but the pigs changed them throughout the book as they became more and more corrupt.

Finally, Squealer's speeches in support of Napoleon are wonderful examples of propaganda. Squealer is so skilled that he is able to convince the animals the events they actually witnessed, like Snowball's heroism at the Battle of the Cowshed, did not occur. 

What propaganda is present in Squealer's speech in Animal Farm?

Propaganda is information that a person or group uses to promote its ideology and ideas. Propaganda tends to be biased and/or based upon distortions of the truth. Napoleon uses Squealer to change the commandments and spread lies about Snowball.

At the end of Chapter 5, Squealer is giving his justification for some of Napoleon's new policies. He concludes by saying that they are better off under Napoleon than Snowball, the traitor. In truth, Snowball was loyal to the cause of Animalism and certainly was not a traitor. Napoleon and Squealer are using their propaganda to tarnish Snowball's reputation.

When the animals counter this by saying that Snowball fought bravely at the Battle of the Cowshed, Squealer replies, "And as to the Battle of the Cowshed, I believe the time will come when we shall find that Snowball’s part in it was much exaggerated." Squealer attempts to downplay Snowball's heroism.

Squealer makes propaganda speeches throughout the novel. Every time Napoleon changes the commandments, Squealer is there to trick the animals into believing that no changes have been made. Every time Napoleon hoards more of the food (i.e., hens' eggs), Squealer is there with a biased justification.

In Chapter 7, Squealer continues the false accusations about Snowball:

Snowball has sold himself to Frederick of Pinchfield Farm, who is even now plotting to attack us and take our farm away from us! Snowball is to act as his guide when the attack begins. But there is worse than that. We had thought that Snowball’s rebellion was caused simply by his vanity and ambition. But we were wrong, comrades. Do you know what the real reason was? Snowball was in league with Jones from the very start! He was Jones’s secret agent all the time.

What is a notable quote from the character Squealer in Animal Farm?

Squealer is a pig who becomes Napoleon's chief propagandist. Manipulating words to achieve a desired effect is his specialty. Much of his writing consists of rewriting previous slogans and rules that had guided the farm animals during the early revolutionary period. Gradually, he switches into bolstering Napoleon's power, which he does largely by discrediting Snowball. He is also skilled at starting and circulating rumors so that the ideas he promotes seem to be expressing popular sentiment.

Squealer's skills become evident in chapter 3 when he delivers a speech justifying the pigs' appropriation of the milk and the windfall apples. Squealer tries to convince the other animals that the pigs are actually making a sacrifice by consuming these things. He relies on the idea that the pigs are using greater brain power, which these foods support, and working on behalf of the others rather than themselves.

"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. I dislike them myself …. We pigs are brainworkers …. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for YOUR sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples."

Squealer frequently functions like a press secretary, addressing the animals on behalf of Napoleon. In chapter 9, as food grows scarce in the winter, his persuasive powers are evident in one such address. Squealer explains the principles behind the change in rations, which now favor the pigs. He shows his skill in manipulating facts and figures, in part through repeating dubious claims until the animals believe them.

A too rigid equality in rations, Squealer explained, would have been contrary to the principles of Animalism …. For the time being, certainly, it had been found necessary to make a readjustment of rations (Squealer always spoke of it as a "readjustment," never as a "reduction") …. Reading out the figures in a shrill, rapid voice, he proved to them in detail that they had more oats, more hay, more turnips than they had had in Jones's day ….

What examples from Animal Farm show propaganda used to control the animals through Squealer's characterization?

Old Major's last words are as follows: "And, above all, no animal must ever tyrannise over his own kind....No animal must ever kill any other animal. All animals are equal" (21-22). After the pigs gain control of Animal Farm, these basic principles of Animalism are out the window, especially the idea of equality.

In order to keep the peace and remain in control of the other animals, without raising any red flags about the changes they continued to institute, the pigs offered up many different explanations for why things were the way they were. However, these "explanations" were more correctly propaganda, with Squealer as the mouthpiece for Napoleon.

Once Snowball was run off the farm by Napoleon's trained assassins (the dogs), the animals' society became more of a dictatorship ruled by Napoleon than an experiment in Socialism. Napoleon first appointed "a special committee of pigs, presided over by himself," (58). His first order of business was to cancel the Sunday-morning debates.

This change upset the animals, but they didn't possess the skills necessary to protest, and the few (young porkers) who uttered disapproval were immediately silenced by the dogs: "Suddenly the dogs sitting round Napoleon let out deep, menacing growls, and the pigs fell silent and sat down again," (59). Following this early change, Squealer was dispatched to keep the peace.

His feigned clarification included details about the extra hours Napoleon was putting in and the enormous amount of responsibility he had taken on as leader. He assured the animals that Napoleon still believed all animals were equal before laying down the guilt (propaganda) and scaring the animals into submission. "But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?" he asks (59).

Other examples of the propaganda (lies) spread by Squealer include the declaration that Snowball was a traitor, and that the windmill had been Napoleon's own idea, even though he had seemed opposed to it when Snowball presented it. "Squealer spoke so persuasively, and the three dogs who happened to be with him growled so threateningly, that they accepted his explanation without further questions" (62).

As the commandments gradually changed on the wall of the big barn to allow the pigs to behave in ways that had been prohibited under the original list, some animals took notice. "And Squealer, who happened to be passing at this moment, attended by two or three dogs, was able to put the whole matter in its proper perspective" (69-70).

His simplification of the changes advanced the ideas that the pigs needed their rest, required brain food, were the only ones capable of doing academic things, and held the cohesion of the farm sacred above all other things. None of these things were actually true. Instead, the pigs were merely making themselves more comfortable, staying better fed, pretending to make important decisions, and destroying the unity that once held them all together. And no matter what went wrong on the farm, Snowball was always to blame.

Squealer's persuasive approach was effective because of the way he delivered any news, skipping from side to side and whisking his tail as he did so. His movements held the animals' attention, while his entourage threatened them into believing him, and his perfectly-timed question, "Surely, you don't want Jones to come back?" scared them into fearing that if they didn't take him at his word, they'd be doomed.

Of course, in the end, they are doomed. The final scene illustrates the fact that despite the promises and propaganda spouted by Squealer, power has gone to the pigs' heads. They are indistinguishable from the humans, and ultimately the animals' fate is worse under their leadership than it had ever been under Jones's.

How does "propaganda" relate to Squealer's actions in Animal Farm?

According to dictionary.com:  propaganda is defined as "information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc."

Squealer is propaganda personified.  His entire role is to smooth over the things that the pigs do to the other animals.  He walks around the farm, talking to the "comrades" in the barnyard, justifying the ridiculous new rules or practices of the pigs so that the other animals will not revolt.  He reminds them that the pigs need extra food, for example, or a comfortable place to rest, because they have so much more thinking to do than the other animals do.  He spreads rumors and re-explains new policies so that they will sound more appealing to the other animals.  And if there is ever a question of the pigs' authority, he just reminds everyone that the farmer could return if the pigs weren't in control, and no one would want that.