Nada Es Perfecto

Gerald Franklin
Ms. Smith
English I/Period 3
November 20, 2012 The Power of Propaganda
Animal Farm consists of many different forms of propaganda which is the spreading of ideas, information, or rumors for purpose of helping or injuring someone or something. Because Animal Farm is based on a political system, it easily lends itself to satire. The flaws of animals are showcased in every situation. It is shown a lot through squealer and the animals on the farm, and they lack awareness of what they are doing. Because of the use of propaganda the animals lose their rights and freedoms.
The spreading of information or propaganda can be used in many different forms or techniques. Band wagon is displayed throughout the book by the sheep, which are the animals that represent the common/working class people in a Russian communist system. The propaganda term “bandwagon” is the persuading of the audience to follow the crowd. This device reinforces the desire to be on the winning side, and also plays on feelings of loneliness and isolation to the people who are not part of the group. In the book Animal Farm “bandwagon” is best displayed by the sheep that are the mindless animals that follow anyone who displays the most power. Orwell shows this, stating, “But suddenly the dogs sitting round Napoleon let out deep, menacing growls, and the pigs fell silent and sat down again. Then the sheep broke out into a tremendous bleating of "Four legs good, two legs bad!" which went on for nearly a quarter of an hour and put an end to any chance of discussion”(Orwell 52). This proof from the book shows that the sheep will follow or bandwagon anyone who possesses the most power, which in this case is Napoleon since he has the dogs under his control. This also shows that the sheep are “band wagon” Napoleon out of fear, because as soon as the dogs growled the sheep broke out in a terrified pleads.
Other than “bandwagon” another form of propaganda, which is used to establish a form of friendship is “plain folk”. Plain folk is used to approach the audience that the spokesperson is from humble origins, someone they can trust and who has their interests at heart. The speaker uses ordinary language and mannerisms to reach the audience and identify what their point of view is. In Animal Farm “plain folk” is used by the pigs to make the other animals feel equal. Old Major states, "Comrades, you have heard already about the strange dream that I had last night. But I will come to the dream later. I have something else to say first. I do not think, comrades, that I shall be with you for many months longer, and before I die, I feel it my duty to pass on to you such wisdom as I have acquired.” (Orwell 2). This section from the book shows that Old Major is using “plain folk” by addressing the animals as his comrades, this use of language makes the animals feel equal to that of Old Major and make them think that he considers them his friend. By using plain folk old major was able to spread his message much easier and made him seem like the nice guy rather than a mean and harsh leader. “Plain folk” was also used by former Russian communist leaders to get the people of the system to like and follow them; a great example of one of those leaders is Lenin.
A third form of propaganda used mostly by Boxer, is related and linked to the propaganda term “bandwagon” is testimonial statements. Testimonial is used to associate a respected person or someone with experience to endorse a product or cause by giving it their stamp of approval hoping that the intended audience will follow their example. Testimonial is best used by Boxer because the animals love and admire him due to his hard work on the farm, because of their admiration towards him they agree to most of the things that he approves. For example: “Boxer, who had now had time to think things over, voiced the general feeling by saying: "If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right." From then on he adopted the maxim, "Napoleon is always right," in addition to his private motto of "I will work harder"(Orwell). This section from the book shows that Boxer used his statement napoleon is always right to convince the other animals to agree with Boxer. Because Boxer is so adored by the other animals, Napoleon uses Boxer to spread his message to the animals so they will follow him. This is a great use of testimonial propaganda because Boxer is the respected person that everyone follows, and what he approves by Napoleon the other animals approve or agrees with. One could feel that testimonial and bandwagon are linked because in the book Boxer gets a lot of animals to join Napoleons bandwagon by using testimonial statements in approval to Napoleon’s ideas.
This novella uses propaganda throughout the whole story for the use of spreading information. This is a very vital part of the book because the book is based on a political system, and political systems use wide ranges of propaganda to support or endorse a particular person. Propaganda also provides a sense of humor because the different classes of people in a political system are represented by animals in a farm. Without the different techniques of propaganda Animal Farm would not only lose its sense of humor, but it would lose its sense of what is going on. Lacking propaganda would also make Animal Farm seem like a group of senseless animals fighting for power.
Word Count: 952