Devon Wolf

Claim: As Napoleon rules over Animal Farm, Squealer is the voice of Napoleons lies and deceit.
Robb, Paul H. "Animal Farm: Overview." Reference Guide to English Literature. Ed. D. L. Kirkpatrick. 2nd ed.
Chicago: St. James Press, 1991. Literature Resource Center. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.
No Page: Very soon comes the discrediting of co-leader Snowball. Snowball is the idealist, constantly wanting
to consider the welfare of all the animals while Napoleon is the pragmatist, ready to be brutal to achieve his
purposes. So the technique of the ``big lie'' and contrived evidence results in Snowball's being driven out of
Animal Farm, leaving Napoleon in sole command. And the discredited Snowball is blamed whenever problems
arise. Orwell is paralleling the conflict in Russia between Trotsky and Stalin with Stalin the winner.
Glover, Beaird. "Animal Farm." Masterplots, Fourth Edition (2010): 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 23
Feb. 2016.
No Page: To get necessary supplies, Napoleon begins dealing with people. The other animals feel uneasy about
it but can do nothing as Napoleon seems above reproach and his guard dogs assure his position completely. The
pigs move into Joness house and begin sleeping in the beds. This is in direct opposition to one of the seven
commandments, so the pigs begin changing the commandments in order to fit their increasing status as masters
of the farm. The windmill becomes the top priority, and whenever problems arise, they are always blamed on
Snowball, who is supposedly lurking near the farm and causing every problem that exists. Food grows scarce.
Napoleon tells the animals that he will begin selling eggs to humans again, and the hens are required to lay eggs
for this purpose. The hens believe this is murder of their chicks and refuse, but Napoleon stops their food rations
until they comply with his demands. Soon after the hens attempted refusal to comply with Napoleon, there is a
mass murder, in which Napoleons dogs kill every animal that ever spoke against him. Squealer upholds the
actions of Napoleon and convinces all the remaining animals that their lives are much better than they ever have
Franks, Carol. "Animal Farm." MagillS Survey Of World Literature, Revised Edition (2009): 1-2. Literary
Reference Center. Web. 23 Feb. 2016
No Page: Napoleon, now the totalitarian ruler of Animal Farm, rewrites history, convincing the other animals
that Snowball was really the cause of all their problems and that he, Napoleon, is the solution to them. Under
Napoleons rule, Animal Farm declines steadily. As the pigs break the commandments, they rewrite them to
conform to the new order. The sheep bleat foolish slogans on Napoleons behalf. Napoleons emissary, Squealer,
a persuasive political speaker, convinces the increasingly oppressed animals that nothing has changed, that the
commandments are as they always were, that history remains as it always was, that they are not doing more
work and reaping fewer benefits. Squealer, in his distortion of history and his abuse of language for political
purposes, is a precursor of Winston Smith and the other employees in the Ministry of Truth in Nineteen EightyFour who spend their days rewriting history and stripping the English language of its meaning. Ironically, all
the animals pour their energy into creating a system that leads to their oppression.

May, Charles E. "Animal Farm." Masterplots II: British & Commonwealth Fiction Series (1987): 1-3. Literary
Reference Center. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.

No Page: The most insidious part of Napoleons campaign for gaining complete power is his manipulation of
the past. With the help of the rhetoric of Squealer and the fierceness of the dogs, he convinces the animals that
past events are not as they remember them for example, that Snowballs part in the Battle of the Cowshed

was exaggerated, that Napoleon had never really opposed the windmill, and that in fact Snowball was a traitor.
Furthermore, under Napoleons regime, the original Seven Commandments are gradually altered and reduced to
suit the specific desires of the ruling pigs.
Soon Napoleon enters into agreements with humans for trade on the farm; works the animals endlessly to build
the windmill; engages in the same kinds of vices, such as drinking and greed, of which Mr. Jones was guilty;
and in general rules the animals even more harshly than did their oppressor before the revolution. Snowball,
even though he is never seen again, is used as a scapegoat who is responsible for all animal hardships.

No Page: What is most demoniacally human about the pigs is their use of language not only to manipulate the
immediate behavior of the animals through propaganda, emotive language, and meaningless doubletalk but also
to manipulate history, and thus challenge the nature of actuality itself. This manipulation, however, is only one
primary means of the pigs control; another, equally important, is the threat of brute force as manifested by
Napoleons pack of vicious trained dogs. In the final image of the allegory, the realization is that humans prove
to be no better than animals, and animals prove to be no better than humans.
Brockington, Jr., William S. "Animal Farm." Masterplots II: Juvenile & Young Adult Fiction Series (1991): 12. Literary Reference Center. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
No Page: Under Napoleon, the commune is no longer permitted to discuss or to debate; it must simply follow
orders. Squealer, the propagandist, constantly rewrites history to reflect new realities. The dogs enforce the
orders of the pig ruling class, which increasingly takes on the characteristics of the humans whom the animals
have overthrown.
Byrne, Katharine. "Not all books are created equal: Orwell & his animals at fifty." Commonweal123.10 (1996):
14+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
No Page: Lies and terror now rule "Animal Farm." In the ultimate reversal of Old Major's words, "all animals
are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others." One form of repression has been replaced by
another. In the end, the wretched animals are looking in the window at an economic summit between Men and
Pigs, "Looking from pig to man, and from man to pig they observe that there is no difference between them."