Propaganda is a form of communication aimed to influence public opinion about a particular cause or point of view. It is often repeated and dispersed over a great array of media in order to create the desired result in audience attitudes.
Animal farm And russian revolution
In Animal Farm, Squealer is the only animal that can make "black look white". He is the propaganda apparatus that spreads information to help Napoleon gain popularity and trust among the animals. He also changes and manipulates the Seven Commandments, to ensure Napoleon's violation of rules are logically justified and can be condoned. Before the animals have any chance to question or react to the changes, Squealer is always there to explain them.
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squealer in Animal farm |
pravda newspaper of the
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On the other hand, during the Russian Revolution, the Pravda Newspaper was one of Joseph Stalin’s means of propaganda. He abused his power on the editorial board, and only published material that would persuade Russian citizens to support his political point of view. He took advantage of this newspaper to gain the hearts and minds of the people.
Interpretation
Narrative style
Through George Orwell’s third person narrative, the reader can gain a deeper understanding of how propaganda works. The author narrates the story from the viewpoint of the animals to reflect their naive perceptions of the revolution. The reader is made to observe the way the animals are deceived, as information about what happens beforehand is given to us. Thus, Orwell does not need to explicitly tell us when and where propaganda is used; we easily recognize it ourselves. However, the animals in turn do not know they are fooled by Squealer. Orwell’s narrative style enables him to evoke empathy from the readers, and to create frustration on our part, as we cannot penetrate into the confused minds of the characters, establishing an ironic distance between the two parties. The author wrote in this point of view to reflect that most of the time people do not realize they are being mistreated or lied to.
The Seven commandments
The revision of the Seven Commandments also demonstrates how the totalitarian and corrupt regime during the Russian Revolution used propaganda to obtain power. Throughout the novel, the pigs gradually twist and distort the rhetoric of socialist revolution to clear them of accusations of law-breaking. As they indulge in human vices, they replace their maxims from“No animal shall drink alcohol” to “No animal shall drink alcohol to excess” [p.73]; from “No animals shall sleep in a bed” to “No animals shall sleep in a bed with sheets” [p.45]. This is an ironic twist to the initial purpose of the Seven Commandments, which were intended to keep order within the Farm by uniting the animals together against the humans. The pigs are becoming more human, and even though they commit exactly what the Commandments tell not to do, they are still able to maintain power.
Orwell successfully uses propaganda in Animal Farm to show how language can be manipulated as an instrument of control. It is a feature of all modern governments, especially prominent in totalitarian regimes, just as Stalin depended on the Pravda Newspaper to maintain his power. From the egalitarian socialist ideologies which everyone had believed in, he transformed it into a brutal dictatorship, built around a cult of personality and enforced by his terror and lies. Orwell’s sophisticated exposure of this abuse of language also demonstrates how simply political dogma, in this case Animalism, can be turned into malleable propaganda. The violations of the Seven Commandments are intended to satirize Stalin’s betrayal of the ideals of Communism. The Russian Revolution had promised equality, comradeship, social and economic justice; however, Stalin curbed and then suppressed all the freedoms. He used the name of Marxism-Leninism to make it seem as if he was solely driven by the theories, but in reality, his only aim was to have absolute control over the people in Russia [Amadon, 2011]. |
Orwell’s narrative style and use of the Seven Commandments successfully illustrate to the reader how propaganda is used to help dictators convince and control their subjects. In Animal Farm, Napoleon claims that the revisions in commandments are for the animals’ good, but in reality, they only benefit him. The author is trying to emphasize how dictators share characteristics in common, namely selfishness and greed. However, through the power and manipulation of propaganda, they are able to disguise their true faces, and convince followers that they have their best interests in mind [jacobt2, 2009].
citations
Amadon, P. (2011) How stalin distorted marxism. Retrieved 4/4/2013 from http://www.politicalaffairs.net/how-stalin-
distorted-marxism-2/
jacobt2. (2009) The satire of animal farm by george orwell. Retrieved 4/1/2013 from http://jacobt2.hubpages.com/hub/A-
Look-Into-the-Satire-of-Animal-Farm-by-George-Orwell
Orwell, G. (2008) Animal farm. London: Penguin Books
pdD Animal Farm. (2010) The pravda newspaper. Retrieved 3/30/2013 from http://pdd-
animalfarm.wikispaces.com/The+Pravda+Newspaper
distorted-marxism-2/
jacobt2. (2009) The satire of animal farm by george orwell. Retrieved 4/1/2013 from http://jacobt2.hubpages.com/hub/A-
Look-Into-the-Satire-of-Animal-Farm-by-George-Orwell
Orwell, G. (2008) Animal farm. London: Penguin Books
pdD Animal Farm. (2010) The pravda newspaper. Retrieved 3/30/2013 from http://pdd-
animalfarm.wikispaces.com/The+Pravda+Newspaper