Analysing Squealer’s Speech

Squealer’s constant use of the word ‘comrades’ is used to gain the trust of the rest of the animals and direct the attention to them, so they believe that what he is about to say is entitled to all of them. This one word convinces them that they are all a team, and what the pigs are planning is for the best of everyone. He also tried to convince the animals that Napoleon was a good, responsible leader and positively talked about him and the ‘sacrifices’ that he had made for Animal Farm. It was told that Napoleon was a zealous and committed member of the community who ‘took extra labour upon himself’ (page 37) when, in reality, he was corrupt, deceptive and did not do as much hard work as some of the other animals (like Boxer); therefore using distortion to win the appraisal of the animals. Also, Squealer’s constant use of rhetorical questions (i.e. ‘Surely, comrades, you do not want Jones back?’) shows that he knew exactly what the animals wanted/thought, and because of their great fear of Jones’s return, they would listen to anyone or do anything to keep him away. Squealer and Napoleon are using this to their advantage by manipulating them into thinking that if they did not obey their orders, the rebellion would fail. His repetition of this question initiates fear in the animals. He also used propaganda to mislead the animals into thinking that the pigs were ‘always right’ and any opposing actions would not succeed.

What Squealer meant by the word ‘tactics’ was more deceitful than it seemed. He was using his superiority of knowledge and authority to show the others that he was clearly more intelligent, and understood the ways of corruption much better than they did. It seemed much easier to accuse Snowball of all Napoleon’s wrongdoings because it would get him out of the way, and the animals would abide by his rules. What the animals thought of the word ‘tactics’ was that Napoleon had cunningly disapproved of Snowball’s windmill plans, when he was actually trying to get rid of him, because of his deceptive ways. In reality, the pigs were trying to bring power into Napoleon’s hands by framing Snowball for being the ‘villain’, and denouncing him so that all animals turned against him and didn’t listen to him, probably because they saw him as a major threat.

The main point of this speech was to evangelise the malfeasance of Snowball, and to persuade the audience that Napoleon was the proper leader who would lead them to victory, with the rebellion.