Squealer (Animal Farm)
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Squealer is a fictional pig from George Orwell's Animal Farm, primarily inspired by Joseph Stalin's aide Vyacheslav Molotov.
[edit] Allegory
In the allegorical form chosen by Orwell for the novella, the pigs are easily identified with the Soviet leaders of the time. Napoleon and Snowball clearly represent Stalin and Trotsky, respectively. However, for those unfamiliar with the Soviet hierarchy in the 1930s and 1940s, Squealer's human counterpart may be obscure.
Some have suggested Squealer represents Karl Marx. This identification is problematic on at least two counts. First, Marx was long in his grave by the time of the Russian revolution, so he was neither a spokesman for nor a contemporary of Stalin. Second, Marx was a German philosopher. Placing a deceased German philosopher as a key player in Stalin's revolutionary regime strains credibility.
Some have suggested Squealer was based on Hitler's chief of propaganda, Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels. Again, it seems unlikely that Orwell would have placed a German in such a critical role.
However, there is merit in the interpretation of Squealer being a representation of propaganda. Squealer certainly was the key spokesperson for the pigs. His command of persuasive language and self-serving re-interpretations of facts illustrates the power of propaganda to control the under- and un-educated masses. Some authors have gone so far as to suggest that Squealer specifically represented the state-run newspaper Pravda. The downfall of this interpretation is that it fails to associate Squealer with a specific figure in Stalin's inner circle.
In contrast, Molotov is a near-perfect fit with Orwell's description of and central role given to Squealer.
Squealer is a close companion and protege of Napoleon; Molotov was a close companion and protege of Stalin. Squealer serves mainly as Napoleon's "propaganda minister"; Molotov was Stalin's Prime Minister (1930-1939) and Foreign Minister (1939-1949) and constant spokesperson. When the animals suspect that the pigs are breaking the laws, Squealer justifies their actions. For instance, when the other animals want to have the milk and apples, Squealer says that milk and apples help the pigs think; so, eating the apples and drinking milk would prevent Mr. Jones from returning. Similarly, Molotov was a constant apologist for Stalin, rationalizing "Comrade Stalin's" tyranny as being in the best interests of the people.
[edit] Squealer's arguments
Throughout the book, Squealer justifies his arguments using his great powers of persuasion, his eloguent words and his charismatic intellect. His foundation for many of his arguments is that the animals do not want Mr. Jones back in power in the farm, so they have to support Napoleon. He devises various other reasons to convince the other animals of the farm to believe him, backing them up with claims of scientific evidence (for example, apples and milk) and using difficult vocabulary words (e.g., manipulation and propulsion), at least difficult to the other animals. Squealer also uses hypnosis to convince the animals: "When he was arguing some difficult point he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail which was somehow very persuasive."
Squealer takes the central role in making announcements to the animals, as Napoleon appears less and less often as the book progresses.
[edit] Breaking of the Seven Commandments
Throughout the book, Napoleon and Squealer break the Seven Commandments, the tenets of which governance of the farm is based. To prevent the animals from suspecting them, Squealer preys on the animals' stupidity and alters the Commandments from time to time as the need arises. Orwell uses Squealer to mainly show how some governments and politicians use propaganda to get their ideas accepted and implemented by the people. In the end, Squealer reduces the Seven Commandments into one commandment, that "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others".
| Animal Farm | |
|---|---|
| By George Orwell | |
| Main Characters | Old Major | Napoleon | Snowball | Squealer |
| Secondary Characters |
Frederick | Pilkington | Jones | Boxer | Benjamin |
| Battles | The Revolution | Battle of the Cowshed | Battle of the Windmill |
| Songs | Beasts of England | Comrade Napoleon |
| Miscellaneous | Animalism | Seven Commandments |
