Disguised Propaganda in Animal Farm Essay Example

📌Category: Animal Farm, Books, Literature, Orwell
📌Words: 831
📌Pages: 4
📌Published: 13 June 2021

“All news is lies, and all propaganda is disguised as news," was said by Willi Munzenburg. When an idea is pushed to the point that people take it as a fact, then you have effective propaganda, which we clearly see in Animal Farms because many animals have not realized the ideas that have been forced upon them.  Napoleon’s attempts to manipulate the thoughts of other animals are successful, and by doing this he elevates his own character. He’s got them so controlled and brainwashed that for some time they truly believe that humans are the scum of the earth. The phrase “Four legs good two legs bad” which is said by the sheep is essentially just a method Napoleon uses to engrave the minds of the animals with that thought. Animal Farm by George Orwell has many quintessential examples of propaganda that try to push the narrative that Napoleon is a good animal, one of these moments is when Napoleon re-writes one of the commandments and makes the animals believe that there's nothing wrong with it.

Napoleon’s propaganda proved effective, he successfully tricked the animals into following and admiring him. “I will work harder” (Orwell 26) is the motto of Boxer, an animal who fell victim to Napoleon’s tactics. One of the first ideas planted by Napoleon in his philosophy called “animalism’’ is that through the rebellion all the animals would get better living conditions. This, of course, was an empty promise that Boxer believed in which ultimately lead to his death. He overworked himself constantly, to the point where he was working whilst injured. The only thing that pushed him to continue working was the idea of living better, which goes to show just how effective Napoleon is at brainwashing. Shortly after we can see how Napoleon didn’t even care about him, even lying to the other animals about where they were taking Boxer. Napoleon takes advantage of animals that don’t really have a mind of their own, he manipulates them into doing acts for his benefit. When these don’t land well with the animals he uses Squealer to convince the animals otherwise. In reality, he just cares about his own well-being, he plays them like pawns on a chessboard moving and pushing them to believe this unrealizable dream.  

One of the many tactics that are also used in propaganda is instilling fear. “All animals are equal”, (Orwell 22) is one of the seven commandments the animals swore to follow. However, when it was changed later on to “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others” (Orwell 108) some animals didn’t really like that. This is when terrorizing and instilling fear happens. When the animals see that those who question the commandment are severely hurt by the dogs they automatically start associating questioning Napoleon and his motives to getting hurt. This is why they say nothing and stay quiet. Another factor of propaganda is “normalization”, overtime the animals start thinking that this new commandment, which essentially is just saying that Napoleon is above all of them, is normal. They adapt to this change subconsciously and start thinking about how this commandment affects them, less and less as time goes by. The idea has been rammed down these animal’s throats, and that’s why they start believing it. 

North Korea is looked as one of the worst, most manipulative countries in the world. That is, to the rest of the world. North Korea’s own citizens are blind to the idea North Korea isn’t the best country on earth. Why do they think this? The answer is simple, propaganda. Just like in animal farm, the North Koreans have been manipulated through propaganda into believing things the government wants them to believe. “Beyond harsh media censorship, North Korea also engages in a constant rewriting of history, dictated by the Kim family and executed by government officials” (Anderson). This quote shows that many of the tactics used by Napoleon are also used by the North Korean government. Much like when the commandments were re-written, North Korea re-writes history to make them seem like the good guys. We can see through real-world examples such as North Korea why Napoleon’s ideas don’t work, manipulation and propaganda only lead to bad things. In the case of Animal Farm, these ideas cost the animals their lives, hopes, and dreams. 

The ending to “Animal Farm” by George Orwell, is a tragic, yet revealing ending from which a lot can be extracted. Throughout the book, we can slowly see as ideas are planted into the animal’s minds. These ideas sprout and get permanently implanted into their minds, making the animals work themselves to death and believe that Napoleon cares for them. As we saw with North Korea, these ideas can be dangerous and harmful to its citizens. You shouldn’t have to drill an idea into someone’s mind in order for them to believe it. Propaganda is everywhere, whether we’re conscious of it or not. If Animal Farm taught us anything it's that society should be more aware of the ideas getting pushed towards them. If we’re not aware of what we are being made to believe then we might just end up like Boxer. 

Works Cited

Anderson, Elizabeth. “The World Mind.” The World Mind, 26 Apr. 2019, www.theworldmind.org/home/2019/4/26/fake-news-in-north-korea-censorship-propaganda-and-the-rewriting-of-history.

CNN. “North Korea’s Propaganda Machine.” YouTube, 5 Apr. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3F6ScecrM0.

Shmoop. “Animal Farm 1.10: Obey Propaganda.” Www.youtube.com, 22 July 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV6-IqSHv8Q.

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