Theme: Manipulation in Animal Farm Essay PDF

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Animal farm themes of manipulation including characters, quotes, page numbers, etc....

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Jiyaa Sidhu: Manipulation in Animal Farm An advanced social status allows an elite society to be capable of domination against the inferior. Throughout the novel, Animal Farm by George Orwell, the build-up of power is caused by animal inequality and corruption. The easy control of the less intelligent animals leads the pigs manipulating their way through any situation to showcase their supremacy in order to have absolute power over the farm after their human leader is abolished. Thus, the pigs are able to trick the animals into following their rules of what is acceptable and unacceptable due to the deprived knowledge. In addition, the pigs scare the animals into cooperating with what they want and manage to exploit their fear do so. Finally, the animals use propaganda to persuade the animals to agree with their ideas and decisions. In this novel, the animals on the farm, demonstrate human traits in the form of manipulation through a lack of education, fear brought towards the other animals, and propaganda tactics.

The pigs use their advantage of their level of education and use their superior knowledge to take control of the other animals in order to gain power of the farm. The morning that the hay harvest takes place, the pigs make a statement in which indicates their leading status on the farm. Towards the other animal’s, the pigs “revealed that during the past three months they had taught themselves to read and write” (Orwell, 9). Evidently, the pigs have learned to read and write during the past three months with the intent to gain power and keep it secret to prevent from teaching the other animals in order to hold greater power. Soon, they use this advantage to begin tricking the other animals on the farm. After the concept of the Animal Farm has been established, “The pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others. With their superior knowledge it was natural that they should assume the leadership” (Orwell, 11). By describing that the pigs do not actually work, it showcases that they are able to use their

Jiyaa Sidhu: Manipulation in Animal Farm education as a tool to stay out of work and get the other animals to perform tasks for them. The pigs claim that because they have superior knowledge over the rest and so it is only reasonable that they lead everyone else. If education was distributed amongst all, the leader would be chosen on who could actually do best for the farm. Also, after Napoleon has gotten rid of Snowball to have control domination over the farm decisions, he takes away all chances of other animal reign as well. Napoleon announces: “From now on the Sunday-morning meetings would come to an end... all questions relating to the working of the farm would be settled by a special committee of pigs, presided over by himself. These would meet in private and afterwards communicate their decisions to the others... would be no more debates.” (Orwell, 21) Napoleon’s declaration portrays that the pigs are reducing any other animal influence when making decisions in order to maintain power alone and take advantage of the rest by overruling them. In conclusion, because the pigs have the educational benefit over the other animals, they begin to use it for oppression towards the animals.

One of the most significant propaganda techniques used in Animal Farm is appeal to fear. In Animal Farm, Napoleon uses fear by sharing consequences for those who confess working with Snowball; they will be killed by Napoleon’s “nine enormous dogs" in which "promptly tore their throats out” (Orwell, 62, 39). In relation, fear built up when “comrades torn to pieces after confessing to shocking crimes.” The animals “had come to a time when no one dared speak his mind” from the fear of being killed (Orwell, 64). Napoleon’s “fierce, growling dogs roamed everywhere” causing no animal to ever go against as they were very intimidated and threatened Squealer also uses fear to manipulate the animals. For instance, Squealer explain why Napoleon is to be trusted and why Snowball must never return to the farm Squealer with the use of psychological fear. Squealer states, “One false step and our enemies will be upon us! Surely

Jiyaa Sidhu: Manipulation in Animal Farm comrades, you don’t want Jones back!” (Orwell, 37). Squealer scares the animals’ by making them think of their poor lifestyles when under the control of Jones and threatens for him to return if they do not obey Napoleon. This indicates the pigs’ rule over the others. Overall, the pigs are able to use the power of fear to manipulate the farm animals.

With the proper use of propaganda, the pigs were able to have extensive power on the farm. Within the first two chapters of the book, the animals were brought unified with the thought of getting rid of humans, “All men are enemies. All animals are comrades” (Orwell, 6). Soon after the animals were united from the pride of overthrowing Jones, Napoleon used Snowball as a scapegoat to reason him for the fall of the windmill in order to get the animals to disobey and go against him, saying, “If a window was broken or a drain was blocked up, someone was certain to say that Snowball had come in the night and done it, and when the key of the store-shed was lost, the whole farm was convinced that Snowball had thrown it down the well” (Orwell, 57). This was effective for Napoleon and the pigs, as they could blame Snowball for their own wrongdoings but did not want the other animals to figure out. Thus, Napoleon received full loyalty from each animal. In addition, another technique used in was manipulation with slogans. Boxer’s uses the lines of “I will work harder” and “Napoleon is always right” which was overall beneficial for Napoleon because Boxer was under the influence that this was completely true, and the answer to all of his problems. All in all, propaganda is used in order to hypnotize the animals from their usual beliefs and thinking.

In total, the pigs use many forms of manipulation to easily get their way through all of the animals. They deceive the animals through their higher basis of education, through fear factors, and propaganda theories. The stories basis of animals all being equal slowly develops into the

Jiyaa Sidhu: Manipulation in Animal Farm opposite; the pigs carry the farm by themselves and influence the other animals to only promote them, causing them to benefit and prosper alone. By the means of the pigs gaining, rather than earning, total control by their schemes, Animal Farm revolves around their ways of tricking the animals to only work and them to earn....