Propaganda
Propaganda is a memorable idea in the text because it shows strength and weaknesses in the people and the animals characteristics. In the book Animal Farm by George Orwell there are many ideas that suggest propaganda. These ideas are represented by showing that when you are trusted, that can lead you to power and manipulating people to regain trust is an easy way to obtain leadership, you can also scare anyone with lies if they aren’t doing what you want, and by hiding truth with false facts you can make someone or something sound great.
When Napoleon obtained trust from the other animals he started using that to his advantage to get what he wanted. This is a memorable idea because without the trust that the animals provided, the story would have lead a very different path. Napoleon gave the animals hope and promises when he first came to power such as more food, less work and a better quality of life. Most of the animals couldn’t have wanted anything more, and to them these promises were a dream come true. When the animals began to trust Napoleon as their leader it increased all commitment from the animals to Napoleon’s goals. Because the other farm animals became more trusting of napoleon they became more willing to go with his ideas in hopes it would improve their lives in the long run. This idea is very significant because it shows that if the animals were to question Napoleon the animals would have realized that they were being fooled. Quickly, these promises got less and less likely to happen and further and further out of focus. This relates back to the theme of propaganda because if you trust someone enough they can lie to you and you’d never know.
Napoleon lied to the animals when he changed the commandments. The animals, who had trusted Napoleon throughout the book, didn’t really pay much attention to the changes and just agreed that those commandments were the way that they had always been. Orwell makes this theme memorable because there are constant chapters where the characters doubt napoleon but are quickly brought to the realization that Napoleon could never lie to them, and it is Squealer that enforces this idea. If George Orwell had not made the animals trust Napoleon or Squealer the truth would have been uncovered and the story would’ve taken a very different direction. Joseph stalin ( who is represented as Napoleon) often focused on trying to boost and glorify the soviet union. The reason most people didn’t question all of the posters and forms of art being put up everywhere is because they had some form of trust in Joseph Stalin. Napoleon creating trust between the animals really helped him get what he wanted.
Napoleon scaring the other characters in the story with lies was a very memorable key idea in the text. This is because it represents falsehood and untruthfulness. George makes this a very important and significant concept. Napoleon doesn’t actually tell the lies though. Sneakily, he uses Squealer to do most of the lying for him. This will mean that if someone was to find out Squealer was lying then Napoleon could say that he never told Squealer that.
Napoleon also does this so the animals don’t think of him badly. People often do this because they may be too scared to speak up.
It’s a very common way of using propaganda. This is because someone is much more likely to do what you say if the supposed consequences of not doing it are much worse. This also means there is a much lower chance of people not liking you. George Orwell is trying to show that being scared may make someone not think straight and jump to conclusions, in this instance just agreeing with the person that’s making you frightened. Many people feared Joseph Stalin. If someone did not do what he wanted, Joseph would have them exiled. This caused much panic among many of the people, but because everyone was to scared to stand up for themselves Joseph continued to lead ruthlessly. Napoleon scaring the other animals was a very important idea as it showed he was very ruthless.
There are many examples of Napoleon lying to the other animals to make himself look good.
It is very important because it relates to the real world and makes you think about what our leaders and rulers may be doing behind the scenes. Orwell likes to make this point stand out for multiple reasons. The first one being that Napoleon lying to the animals to make himself look good shows that he is not a good leader in the first place. It shows that the only way for him to gain trust and respect from the other animals is to lie to them. This is very important because it means that some of the leaders we think may be great on the outside may also be a really bad person and have bad plans on the inside. It shows that he really isn’t a good leader and has done very little to make himself look like a good leader without lying. Another point George Orwell wants to get across is that Napoleon must be hiding schemes and plans if he has to lie about him being great all the time. Napoleon lies when Boxer got taken away. Because Boxer was such a respected character Napoleon knew he had to make himself look good; so he lied. He lied about the fact that he had taken Boxer away to die. If he had told the animals this there would have been much retaliation against him.
George is trying to show that just because someone is nice doesn’t mean that that is the real them. People can get you tangled up in their lies. Many leaders around the world often lie to their people to get them to be on their side. Leaders want their people to stick with them because you can’t lead when there is no one with you. Napoleon constantly lied to make himself look good and it worked.
Animal Farm by George Orwell shows propaganda all throughout the book. It uses propaganda and makes it a very memorable key idea in the text. It is shown when you are trusted you can manipulate people, you can scare anyone with lies to get them to do what you want, and by hiding truth with false facts you can make yourself sound very capable. Propaganda is a very relevant piece of context in relation to the book Animal Farm.
Hi Daisy,
Good idea to focus on propaganda and how it can be used.
I suggest that you read your writing out loud. There are some sentences that need to be reworked. The point you are trying to make is getting lost because it is hard to understand your sentences. There are times when they are too long and in need of punctuation.
Be careful of your capitalisation. Proper nouns such as names require a capital letter. It is minor issue but it happens frequently in your writing.
Avoid retelling me what happens in the novel. This question is asking you to explain why propaganda is such a memorable part of the novel. What does Orwell do to make it stand out. Are there writing techniques that he uses?
Don’t forget to use the SEXY structure. Start with a simple Statement saying what that paragraph will be about. Explain what you mean by your statement (be specific). Provide your eXample from the novel that backs up what you’re saying. Detail Your opinion by referring to the author’s purpose (what Orwell wanted to say/show), make connections outside the novel and then link it back to your original statement.
Good work so far Daisy. Keep it up!