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Ryan Tsang
Whitehead
English 9 Honors
13 December 2012
Equality Good. Supremacy Better!
George Orwell sculpts a totalitarian dictator in the form of the pig Napoleon who uses
propaganda to deceive the masses in the novel Animal Farm. Throughout the novel, Napoleon
and his comrade Squealer use various types of propaganda to convince and control the
uneducated animals of the farm. The use of propaganda is used as bandwagon in Beasts of
England, testimonial and repetition in Boxers two mottos, and transfer when the farms issues
are blamed on Snowball. Orwell, through his story, tries to express that ignorant masses are
fooled by propaganda that governments use. The use of propaganda bring about the themes of
manipulation, and total control.

A major form of propaganda used on the farm in the form of bandwagon is exhibited in their
song, Beasts of England. Napoleon uses this song as a parallel to a national anthem because it
reminds the animals of what they stand for which unifies them. When the animals sing the line
Tyrant man shall be oerthrown,(12) it unites them on the same bandwagon to direct their hate
towards their one enemy, man. Orwell writes this to juxtapose to how totalitarian dictators of his
time put forward a common enemy to hate. This idea of a common enemy is reinforced by Old
Majors statement to only get rid of man.(9) When the author writes that the sheep would all

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start bleating Four legs good, two legs bad!(34) he is showing that bandwagon propaganda is
like a chain reaction, when one person does it, so does everyone else. Napoleon and the pigs use
propaganda in their idea of the golden future time(13) to join the animals and line their minds
in a single direction. This propaganda is duplicated by the idea of building a windmill because
like the animals dream, this unifies them towards a single goal. By putting crosshairs on single
goals, targets, and dreams to rally the animals as one, themes arise of unity and control.

Boxers heroic reputation amongst the animals and his motto Napoleon is always right(61) is a
prime example of testimony and repetition propaganda at work. When Boxer says this, he
influences all the animals promoting Napoleon as a king like figure. The author writes this as a
comparison to how governments, like Boxer use slogans as propaganda to promote themselves or
other people to the masses. Another one of Boxers mottos, I will work harder,(61) augments
the same idea of following by example. As Boxer repeats this propaganda, the animals feel more
encouraged to work hard for Napoleon. When Orwell writes that sheep accept the maxim Four
legs good, two legs bad,(34) he is referring to how the ignorant people in the world simply
accept all propaganda, true or false, put forth by the government. This idea of deception of the
witless masses with propaganda is fortified by when Squealer, holding down a long strip of
paper[reads] the lists of figures [of food](92) every Sunday morning to the belief of all the
animals. Any animal that held suspicion was asked by Squealer repeatedly, none of you [wish]
to see Jones back?(67) Orwell writes this to show how Squealer uses propaganda to induce fear
into the animals to keep them loyal. As the pigs gain more power and control, themes develop of
deception, loyalty, and ignorance.

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Another form of propaganda is exemplified as transfer when Napoleon blames Snowball for the
destruction of the windmill. When Napoleon says [Snowball has] come in the night and
overthrown our windmill,(70) he is transferring the blame from the pigs not thinking of making
the windmill weatherproof, to their enemy Snowball. Another example is when Squealer says
that Snowball has been in league with Jones... [proven] by documents which he left
behind.(79) These examples, again, bolster the tactic to use lies and propaganda to unite people
against a common enemy. After the Cowshed Battle dispute where Squealer describes how
Comrade Napoleon sprang forward with a cry of Death to Humanity! and sank his teeth in
Joness leg,(81) the animals completely forget about the truth and ignorantly adopt the story.
Napoleon puts this false story to transfer the glory and respect from Snowball to him and keep
the animals loyal to him. The author writes this because the governments of his era put false
propaganda to glorify their leaders and history. During the banquet dinner, Orwell writes that
the creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig but already it was
impossible to say which was which(141) because he is explaining that the pigs had veered in the
opposite direction of their destination becoming completely humanized which brings about the
prominent theme of selfishness, greed, and lust for supremacy.

George Orwell reveals the lies and propaganda totalitarian governments use to deceive the
ignorant masses in the novel Animal Farm. These forms of propaganda, which include
bandwagon in Beasts of England, testimonial and repetition such as Boxers maxims, and
transfer of farm issues to Snowball, caused a thirst for supremacy in Napoleon and the pigs

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humanizing them which support the main themes of totalitarianism, lust for absolute command,
and ignorance of people. Animal Farm begins as a young group dreaming of a human free,
animal run farm which transforms into a slave field dictated by humanized pigs who control the
uneducated through various forms of propaganda.