Pigs, Propaganda and Power: How the Pigs Control the Farm (Animal Farm Book Analysis)

The pigs gain and maintain power by brainwashing the animals with propaganda to make them think they have better lives than before. It was a bitter winter and food production on the farm is low, because of the cold weather and snow storms.The pigs stint and reduce the animals rations, not giving the animals enough energy to work long hours on the farm to have more for themselves. “They were always cold, and usually hungry as well. Only Boxer and Clover never lost heart. Squealer made excellent speeches on the joy of service and the dignity of labour” (Orwell 29). This shows how the pigs gain and maintain power by brainwashing the animals. Squealer lies about their work helping the farm and that once the windmill is built they will be free , also telling the animals a different future for the farm when Napoleon is planning another future. Because of  the winter and low production of food the pigs reduced their rations of corn and took away lanterns but the pigs took it all for themselves and had no intent in preserving the food. Of course this is not the only way that pigs gain and maintain power by brainwashing the animals to make them think they have better lives than they do. The animals who are working hard on the windmill after the terror had calmed down from Napoleon and his dogs killing the “traitors”.Some of the animals remembered that the sixth commandment was that no animal shall kill another animals but the commandment had changed to no animals shall kill another animal with no cause.  “ On Sunday mornings Squealer … would read out to them lists of figures proving that the production of every class of foodstuff had increased by two hundred per cent, three hundred per cent, or five hundred per cent, as the case might be. The animals saw no reason to disbelieve him, especially as they could no longer remember very clearly what the conditions had been like before the rebellion" (Orwell 35). This shows how the pigs gain and maintain power using lies and propaganda.The pigs have Squealer give excellent speeches to the animals in hope that the animals will work even harder for the pigs. 

The pigs gain and maintain power by reducing rations from the other animals on the farm so they will be motivated to make more food. The animals who have just defeated Jones are starting their journey to creating an animal farm. All the animals are hard at work or learning to speak or help build tools and create  committees for the other animals. Suddenly an argument had broken out between the pigs and the animals about who should get the apples and milk.”We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organisation of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples.”(Orwell 14) This is how the pigs convince the animals to let them have other rations. The pigs tell the animals that they are the brainworkers which is true but then tell the animals that they are watching over their welfare which is false. The pigs are in fact not watching over the animals welfare and instead just saying that so the animals will look up to them. The pigs say that if they are not healthy and watching over and protecting the farm then jones will come back,of course the animals who did not like jones trusted them. The winter was as cold as the last one and food was even shorter, rations have been reduced for the animals except for the pigs and the dogs. “Squealer tries to tell the animals that this reduction of food is just a readjustment and the animals believed him”“Rations reduced in December, were reduced again in February, and lanterns in the stalls were forbidden to save oil. But the pigs seemed comfortable enough and in fact were putting on weight if anything.”(Orwell 41).