Squealer (Media / Propaganda) Flashcards
Role
Allegory for propaganda and the media
animals said “he could turn black into white”
METAPHORIC DESCRIPTION- shows the media is a brilliantly persuasive power even able to convince people of unreal things OR shift bad situations to favor leaders()
“Squealer was sent to make the necessary explanations”
Shows that the media is a very necessary tool for corrupt leaders used to deceive people into accepting exploitation
“Milk and apples,”“(THIS HAS BEEN PROVED BY SCIENCE COMRADES)”“contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig”
Fake statistics and facts used to overwhelm the mass uneducated lower classes(animals) and prevent them understanding the truth of their exploitation. Squealer poses his lies as facts and figures.
“It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples”
Media masks exploitation as normal by making corrupt leaders seem deserving of the things they steal and presenting them as heroes who deserve rewards/ to be treated differently and better than others
“If we pigs failed our duty… Jones would come back!”
USE OF FEAR to coerce the animals into submission as they believe that the pigs are heroes who are way better than Jones and so accept whatever the pigs tell them.
“it was AGREED WITHOUT FURTHER ARGUMENT that the milk and windfall apples should be reserved for the pigs alone”
Orwell shows the huge success of media as a propaganda machine in the hands of corrupt leaders among lower classes especially
“he could….
….turn black into white”
“Squealer was…
… sent to make the necessary explanations”
“(THIS HAS BEEN…
…PROVED BY SCIENCE COMRADES)”
“It is for…
…your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples”
“it was…
…AGREED WITHOUT FURTHER ARGUMENT “
“If we pigs…
…failed our duty… Jones would come back!”
Times when Squealer is “sent to make the necessary explanations”—
When the pigs are found to have been eating the apples
When Napoleon uses force to assume absolute leadership by exiling Snowball
When Napoleon announces the Farm will begin trading with humans
How does Squealer re-shape Napoleon’s involvement in the plans for the windmill?
Squealer twists Napoleon’s former views on the windmill and tells the animals Napoleon was actually the one who came up with the idea of the windmill
“spoke so persuasively” and “growled so threateningly”
How Orwell describes Squealer and the dogs as they lie to the animals- Emphasis using the mirroring clauses within the sentence which both have “so” to show that brainwashing and manipulative control is carried out with a combination of violence and propaganda
Convinces the animal that there were never any resolutions about not trading with humans
Orwell is showing the extent of the power of propaganda as Squealer manages to make the animals doubt their own memories
“could turn black into white”
Black has connotations of impurity and darkness and lies yet light has connotations of purity and truth. Orwell uses this description to exaggeratedly show that Squealer can turn even the worst situations around and manipulate light and truth even out of the most dark and sinister lies
“made excellent speeches on the joy of service and the dignity of labour”
Orwell is showing that the media is a MANIPULATIVE TOOL- Squealer’s speeches aimed to draw the animal’s attention away from their suffering for “extravagant human beings” in the form of the pigs and fill them with a manipulated sense of patriotism to continue serving the pigs.
“made excellent…
…speeches on the joy of service and the dignity of labour”
