they then drop their arguments, but they will take up a different train of thought
entirely:
‘It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples.’
Now, as well as not being able to continue arguing, the animals will also have the new
sense of gratification towards the pigs for their protection, thus making them less
likely to argue in the future.
Squealer is extremely clever, and so can exploit any of the animals’
weaknesses. One of these is their fear of the return of Jones who for them symbolises
all the oppression that they were under in the past. By threatening the return of Jones,
Squealer can make the animals more passive in their attitudes because in their minds
Jones is the ultimate symbol of oppression and fear:
‘surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?’
Now if there was one thing that the animals were completely certain of,
it was that they did not want Jones back.
Looking at their situation in such a light, the animals can romanticise that whatever is
happening in their lives now, it can’t be as bad as when they had no ‘equality’ under
Jones:
But they were happy in their work; they grudged no effort or sacrifice,
well aware that everything that they did was for the benefit of themselves
False logic and facts are techniques that Squealer can use when talking to
support what he is saying, but only because the animals are not educated. For
example, he uses ‘facts’ from subjects that they would clearly know nothing about
because they cannot read. The animals have acknowledged the pig’s intelligence over
them, so they are prone to believe that the pigs know what they are talking about when
in fact they do not, but are bluffing:
‘Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain
substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are
brain-workers.’
Of course the animals have no basis or education to argue with ‘Science’, and so now
in their minds, ‘The importance of keeping the pigs in good health was all too
obvious.’
The false logic that Squealer uses is often preposterous to the reader, as we can
see where it breaks down and becomes sheer nonsense:
A too rigid equality in rations, Squealer explained, would have been
contrary to the principles of Animalism.
However the animals are not able to make the same judgement because they have not
developed completely logical thought yet. Often they need time to be able to gather
their thoughts, which Squealer does not give them by making his speeches long and
conclusive.
What makes Squealer such a good propagandist is his ability to control the
animals’ thoughts by what he is saying. Nervous little skips from side to side, giving
the appearance of anxiousness, is part of his act when he wants the animals to sense
importance. In a way he acts as a bridge between the pigs and the animals, as he is
pretending to be on their own level, while really just acting. He can make them
believe this by calling them ‘Comrades’. He instils the trust in them, and then can
exploit their belief in his truthfulness:
Reading out the figures in a shrill, rapid voice, he proved to them in
detail………………The animals believed every word of it.
Whatever else is happening, and no matter how much the other pigs are distancing
themselves, the animals will always trust Squealer to be giving them honest
information.
Napoleon uses the sheep to cause confusion and disrupt the animals’ train of
thought. This is centred around their ability to be taught something and then repeat it
for as long as desired. Because of a complete lack of intelligence on their part, they do
not actually have their own opinions on any matter, and even to teach them simple
phrases takes its time. They are very useful though in quashing any signs of rebellion
on the part of the animals, because they simply do not allow anyone to have any form
of say by the sheer amount of noise they create:
Frightened though they were, some of the animals might possibly have
protested, but at this moment the sheep set up their usual bleating of
‘Four legs good, two legs bad’, which put an end to the discussion.
The use of the sheep is here timed to perfection so that the animals have no way of
protesting against what the pigs are doing. This routine is thoroughly well planned by
Napoleon so that he can do whatever he wishes without having to use Squealer or
force (or in fact when he can’t use Squealer, as when the pigs begin to walk on their
hind legs- because they are now acting above the animals, Squealer is no longer a
bridge).
The sheep use simple slogans such as ‘Four legs good, two legs bad’, which
are easy to remember and can be repeated over and over ad infinitum. In this way they
usurp the animal’s right to free speech by denying them the opportunity to speak out.
The timing of their bleating is co-ordinated by the pigs via secret signals and
therefore disguised as coincidence.
It was noticed that they were especially liable to break into ‘Four legs
good, two legs bad’ at the crucial moments in Snowball’s speeches.
The animals never realise that the pigs are controlling the sheep, it seems to them like
chance whether the sheep will start bleating or not. They become accustomed to the
sheep breaking in to calm any tensions:
Then, as usual, the sheep broke into ‘Four legs good, two legs bad!’ and
the momentary awkwardness was smoothed over.
This is the reason that the sheep are so successful in disruption; the animals are not
aware that their timing has been orchestrated, and so do not realise that they will start
their bleating at crucial moments. If they did they might be able to keep their key
arguments in mind and then take up the issue at another time.
The other group of animals without any opinion is the dogs, who were taken
away at birth by Napoleon to be secretly trained to respond to his command. They are
very vicious, and seen by the other animals as being ‘creatures’ who are completely
unknown and alien.
They quickly become the enforcement of order by brutal means, often killing,
and so the animals quickly become afraid of them just as they are of humans. They
attend the pigs wherever they go and prevent any form of argument with the threat of
violence:
But suddenly the dogs sitting round Napoleon let out deep, menacing
growls, and the pigs fell silent and sat down again.
Here the animals with the most chance of formulating an effective protest, some
young pigs, are stopped in their protests at not being able to debate the running of the
farm any more (the removal of free will from the animals) by the threat of force from
the dogs. These same pigs are later targeted when the dogs serve a new purpose in
executing animals who are apparently traitors to Animal Farm.
The dogs’ influence quickly grows until they are on a par with the pigs in
terms of importance and stature:
Once again all rations were reduced, except those of the pigs and dogs.
The dogs are needed in full health by Napoleon so that they can be a guarding escort
for the important pigs, but they are more than that because they are Napoleon’s
personal protection elite as well, and so hold more weight than a normal guard force
would. They also start to help supervise the running of the farm, highlighting their
difference to the other animals (they are not just being used):
The dogs saw to it that these orders were carried out.
The dogs are shown to be devoid of any personality, which contributes to the
animal’s fear of them as it enforces their alien nature; they are thoughtless beings that
exhibit no signs of compassion. When they kill, the animals are firstly horrified, but
come to realise that they are easily capable of such things, and so a threat.
Napoleon uses the dogs as a threatening force, a protection service and to get
rid of potential troublemakers. These troublemakers are dispatched with intention,
however there are also random killings that cause the animals much fear and distress.
These random executions that begin are just a way of making all the animals live in
fear of stepping out of line and of the dogs (their ruthlessness in killing their own kind
is shocking to the animals). This fear means that they never dare to do anything other
than go along with the pigs, because they know it will probably result in death for
being a ‘traitor’.
All in all, the pigs use many methods with which to subvert the principles of
Animalism. The use of fear is key to controlling the animals, and is used by both the
dogs and Squealer, but in different ways; Squealer uses words to scare the animals
into submission, while the dogs actually hold a force which they demonstrate
regularly. Another method is that which is employed by the sheep, which is on the
whole very different, yet very effective. By means of creating noise in the form of a
repeated slogan, the sheep confuse the animals thoughts, and remove the opportunity
for debate or argument.
All of this goes towards making the animals passive in preparation for the final
subversion of Animalism; the final great shift where the pigs make the transition from
the animal to the human, the very same force that the animals strived to defeat and
against whom they gained their independance in the first place (this shift meaning that
all that the animals have done is worth nothing, as they are back where they started,
perhaps with even less, as now they have no hope with which to console themselves;
everything has been removed form them).
The cruel methods the pigs use reflects their cruel goal, and ultimately their
likeness to humans in every way.