The Many Squeals of Squealer

No matter how unbelievable a lie is, a person need only repeat it often enough and others
will regard it as the truth. Unfortunately, this idea has been proven true many times
throughout our history, such as the 2th century. !aving lived during the age of
"ommunism and predicted the "old #ar, $eorge %rwell gives us an insight in his boo&
'nimal (arm of the idea of people wanting to believe in propaganda. )n the novel,
Squealer, a pig, is Napoleon*s agent for his propaganda, and in the novella, he is a parallel
to Stalin*s use of lies to maintain his power and influence the common people. 't first,
Squealer*s stories sound believable and even convincing, but as the story progresses it
becomes increasingly apparent that his lies are used as coverups for the pigs* true
motives, and yet the other animals on the farm seem oblivious to this fact. )nstead, there
are three reasons why the animals believe or want to believe Squealer*s stories+ because
most of the animals possess a lac& of intelligence, because they envision a bright future,
and because they fear that they will be &illed if they spea& out.
Many of the other animals believe Squealer*s untruths because, quite fran&ly, they
are too dim,witted to even understand his lies. Some of the animals are so stupid to the
point that they -were unable to learn the Seven "ommandments by heart,., which is the
center of animalism /pg. 001. 'nimals li&e the cows and the sheep need a shortened
mantra to be drilled into their heads, allowing for someone to easily manipulate them and
turn them into animals who spread propaganda. "lover, 2o3er, and Mollie are able to
read better than most animals, but they are still too illiterate to comprehend what the pigs
have written. $ullible, loyal, and hardwor&ing, these animals give %rwell a chance to
s&etch how situations of oppression arise not only from the motives and tactics of the
oppressors but also from the na4vet5 of the oppressed, who are not necessarily in a
position to be better educated or informed. The animals who are not educated and do not
have the mental capability to represent a type of the wor&ing class+ the type that is
e3tremely uneducated and simply lives to wor&. 2ecause these wor&ing,class equivalent
animals simply do not possess the brainpower to thin& for themselves, they must ta&e
what is said for granted, which ma&es them very easy targets for manipulation. 'nimal
(arm demonstrates how the inability or unwillingness to question authority condemns the
wor&ing class to suffer the full e3tent of the ruling class*s oppression.
Some of the animals want to believe in Squealer*s propaganda because they hope for
a future where all is perfect. They believe that their hard wor& will eventually pay off,
and Squealer*s lies convince the animals even further that all is well. Many of the animals
aspire to see a utopia6 2o3er is an e3ample of one of these idealists. !e wor&s so hard to
the point where he sacrifices his own health in hopes to see his dream come true, as -he
had only one ambition left,, to see the windmill well underway before he reached the age
for retirement,. /pg. 7771. 2y filling his words with positive notes and warnings that
8ones will come bac&, Squealer*s lies fill 2o3er and the other animals with hope, and also
&eeps them in line by mentioning their greatest fear+ the return of a monarchy. Squealer
manages to convince everyone with his -we are better off than we were before. idea, and
because 8ones is a shared enemy, no one dares to challenge him. 's the years pass by, the
other animals are still filled with hope, having -...never lost9 their sense of honor and
privilege in being members of 'nimal (arm,. /pg. 7071. Squealer*s untruths are seen to
unleash their greatest influence yet, as shown when the animals are finally convinced that
they are living in a true 'nimal (arm, even though they are shown to be no better off than
they were before the :ebellion. This group of animals represent a second type of the
wor&ing class+ the type that, in addition to wor&ing hard, also has plans for the future.
Simply put, the animals in this group do not care whether the propaganda is true or not,
but only believe in it to e3perience some success from their labor.
(inally, some animals believe in Squealer*s propaganda not because they actually
thin& that it is true, but out of fear that they will be &illed if they say otherwise. 'n animal
that fits in this category is Muriel, who is a &nowledgeable goat that is later often called
upon by "lover to read out the "ommandments. Muriel is smart enough to read
-...somewhat better than the dogs., and is shown to be able to remember events very
clearly, yet for some reason when she reads the corrected "ommandments she shows no
sign of recognition that the pigs are manipulating their own laws to better suit them
/pg.001. ' highly probable reason for her actions may be not because she cannot
remember the old "ommandments, but because she wants to spare her own life, and does
so by not spea&ing out against the pigs. 2en;amin also could not be spea&ing out of fear,
although this may have to do more with his personality. Muriel represents a third type of
proletariat+ the wor&ing class people who are educated enough to decide things for
themselves and find critical and hypocritical problems with their leaders. Unfortunately,
Muriel is not inspired enough to ta&e action and oppose Napoleon and his pigs, nor is she
charismatic enough to convince the other animals that Squealer*s propaganda is false.
Muriel dies before she can see what the pigs have become after being e3posed to ultimate
power, possibly regretting the fact that she never spo&e out. 's a result Napoleon*s and
Stalin*s assertion of power finally reaches its clima3 when it is shown to have done its ;ob
by eradicating all forms of opposition, and has forced all to obey.
's can be seen, the animals believe Squealer*s lies, even as they get more and more
outrageous, because some cannot understand his propaganda, because some want to live
in a utopian world, and because some fear for their own safety. Unfortunately, in our
modern world, the idea of propaganda being used to brainwash people is not unheard of,
and leads to disastrous events occurring, such as the !olocaust and the :wandan
$enocides, and it is this that will eventually be one of the causes of humanity*s downfall.
The message that the spreading of lies has profound effects should serve as a wa&e,up
call to us that all is not well in our modern society. 's duly noted, if thought corrupts
language, language can also corrupt thought.