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TammyTran
Mrs.Housepian/Mrs.Howell
English2HPeriod2
20May2016
PowerBrutality
ItalianartistLeonardoDaVincioncestated,Nothingstrengthensauthorityso
muchassilence.Aleadercanonlyachieveabsolutepowerwithobedientandquiet
supporters.Throughoutthe1930s,tensionbetweentheAxispowersandtheAllied
Powersincreased,asaresultofthedissatisfactionoftheoutcomeofWorldWarI.The
AxispowersJapan,Italy,andGermanytookassertiveactionswhichleadEuropeinto
war.AlongwithquotesfromMaoZedongandAdolfHitlerandSovietUnionposters,
leaderswithabsolutepowerscanbeseenasNapoleon,themaincharacterofAnimal
Farmandintheshortstory,ThePoisonousMushroom.Powerfulleadersutilize
rhetoricalstrategieseffectivelytomanipulatedefenselesscitizens,gainsupport,and
risetopower.
Manipulativeleadersemploypropagandainordertotakecontrolofdefenseless
citizens.Duringtheearly1930smostofSovietagriculturalfarmsenteredcollective
farmingasapartofaFiveYearplanmadebyJosephStalin.TheSovietUnionposterof
afemalefarmerworkingonthecollectivefarmsincludesthethephraseGivefirst
prioritytogatheringtheSovietharvest.(Voron).Theimageexhibitedastronginfluence
onlargecollectivefarmingandindicatedanidealcharacterofadisciplinedworker.The
posterurgedthecitizenstobelievethatcollectivefarmingwouldincreaseequalityby

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showingbothmenandwomenworkinginthebackground,whichadvocatedthe
citizenstosupporttheleadersdecision.F
urthermore,intheshortstory,ThePoisonous
Mushroom,themotherandsondiscussthesimilaritiesbetweenJewsanda
mushroom.Thetextstates,Franzslapshischestinpride:OfcourseIknow,mother!
TheyaretheJews!Ourteacherhasoftentoldusaboutthem....Themotherpraisesher
sonforhisintelligence,andgoesontoexplainthedifferentkindsofpoisonous
Jews(Hiemer).FranzispraisedforunderstandingthatJewsareseenaspoisonous
mushroomsintheirsociety.Throughthebiasedteachingsofthegovernment,German
citizens,likeFranzandhismother,arebrainwashedtobelieveHitlersideology,which
causedcitizenstosupporthim.Likewisetheuseofoversimplificationcanalsobe
manipulatedbyleaderstogainsupporters.
Throughtheuseofoversimplification,leadershavetheabilitytogainsupporters.
In1966,thecommunistLeader,MaoZedong,initiatedtheCulturalRevolution,a
revolutionbetweentheChineseNationalistandtheChineseCommunist,inorderto
ensurehissovereigntyintheChinesegovernment.M
aoZedongoncestated,All
politicalpowercomesfromthebarrelofagun.TheCommunistPartymustcommandall
theguns,thatway,nogunscaneverbeusedtocommandtheparty.(Zedong).Mao
Zedonginfluencedtheideaofobtainingabsolutecontrolofagovernmentandtheidea
ofacommunistparty.Heoversimplifiestheideaofensuringthegovernmentabsolute
controlanddoesntstatehowitwouldbenefithiscitizens,makingtheeffectcompletely
openended.M
oreover,inAnimalFarm,theanimalssufferedstarvationandhardlabor
underthecontrolofMr.Jones,whichledOldMajortoconductaspeechaboutrebellion:

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RemoveManfromthescene,andtherootcauseofhungerandoverworkisabolished
forever.(Orwell87).InAnimalFarm,OldMajor,theleaderpriortoNapoleon,affirms
Manastheenemyandisthecoretoalloftheirproblems.Heoversimplifiesthefactthat
theabolishmentwillbetheironlysolutiontoabetterlifewithoutexactlystatinghowit
would.Eventually,theanimalsareforcedtobelievethatsimplyeliminatingManfromthe
farm,thenalloftheirproblemswillbesolved.Ultimately,leadersalsoemploythe
appealofignorancetoruleeffectively.
Powerfulleadersignorantlyappealtothecitizensinordertoruleeffectivelyand
risetopower.G
ermanywasingreatdevastationafterWorldWarI,whichprovokesthe
Germancitizenspraiseanyonestrongtogetthemoutoftheirsituation,andHitlerjust
happenedtobethatperson.Hitlerstated,Howluckyforthoseinpowerthatpeople
dontthink.(AdolfHitler).Heemphasizesthefactthatthecitizensareignorantdueto
thelackofknowledgeabouttheirgovernment.Duetothecitizenslackofknowledge,
Hitlerorleadersingeneralareabletoprovetheirideasandconvincesupporterstheir
argumentsareright.Inaddition,asmanyanimalsconfesstheirrelationswithSnowball,
Squealerappealstotheirignorantlogic:SnowballwasinleaguewithJonesfromthe
verystart!HewasJonesssecretagentallthetime.Ithasallbeenprovedby
documentswehaveonlyjustdiscoveredwhichheleftbehind(Orwell89).S
quealer
wasabletotakeadvantageoftheanimals,duetotheirilliteracy.Theanimalsare
deceivedbythepigstobelievethattheenemiesareJonesandSnowball.Itcausesthe
animalstobelievethattheyareworkingasateam,whichallowedNapoleontoriseto
power.SquealerutilizestheanimalslackofknowledgetoblameSnowball,although

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therearenosolidevidence.Asaresult,theappealofignorancehelpedleadersto
efficientlyruleandgainabsolute.
Throughoutaneraofapowerfulleaderofhistoryorliterature,heorsheutilizes
rhetoricalstrategieseffectivelyinordertomanipulatecitizens,gainsupport,and
ultimatelyrisetopower.Theverificationoftheusageofrhetoricalstrategiescanbe
seenwithOldMajor,theleaderpriortoNapoleonwhoservesasasourceofinspiration
fortherebellion,AdolfHitlerandMaoZedongwhodegradedtheircitizens,andtheboy
whoservesasasourceofpropagandainPoisonousMushroom.Relatively,inmodern
society,socialmediausersandcitizensarebrainwashedbysuccessfulcorporations
andthegovernmentthroughtheuseofrhetoricalstrategies.

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WorksCited
AdolfHitler.XploreInc,2016.11May2016.
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/adolfhitle109950.html
Hiemer,Ernst.D
erGiftpilz.Nuremberg,Strmerverlag,1938.
Orwell,George.AnimalFarm.NewYork:HoughtonMifflinHarcourt,1945.Print.
Voron,Maria.ShockbrigadeReapingforaBolshevikHarvest(1934).Persuasive
Images:PostersofWarandRevolutionfromtheHooverInstitutionArchives.
PrincetonNJ:PrincetonUniversityPress.1992.Print.
Zedong,Mao.ProblemsofWarandStrategy.Peking:ForeignLanguages,1966.224.
Print