Propaganda: Russian Revolution and Animal Farm
Propaganda is when information, ideas, or rumors are deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc. generally sharing techniques with advertisements. There are several different types of propaganda, such as appeal to authority, ad nauseam, ad hominem, appeal to fear, appeal to prejudice, etc.
Throughout the novel Animal Farm, propaganda is a technique which several of the characters use. Some examples of use of propaganda are from Old Major's speech, when he claims the humans are enemies and attempted to gather all the animals together against a common enemy, humans. Another example of propaganda use is the 'Beasts of England' song. This was taught to them by Old Major and was used to inspire and create hope for the animals. 'Four legs good, two legs bad' is also another example of propaganda use. This was the slogan which the animals memorized, which was supposed to mean animals are good, humans are bad, although there are animals with two legs.
In the novel, Old Major was the first character to use propaganda, who represents Karl Marx/ Vladimir Lenin. Old Major used propaganda to give idea's to the animals about the rebellion. Snowball and Napoleon both used propaganda when spreading their ideas to neighboring farms. Snowball represents Leon Trotsky, who helped overthrown the government but was exiled. Napoleon represents Joseph Stalin, who was the brutal dictator that killed his opponents and was power hungry. Squealer was the character in the novel who spread propaganda. The windmill represents Stalins 5 year plan for growth and development, but resulted in starvation and death.
P.O: I think George Orwell put a lot of thought into how he would show propaganda being used, which techniques to use, which character would use them, etc. He managed to successfully link each example of propaganda in his novel, to the Russian Revolution where propaganda was one of the tactics which people used to gain control and power. I like the way he chose to show propaganda in the novel because in some ways it is quite subtle but still links to the Russian Revolution.
Throughout the novel Animal Farm, propaganda is a technique which several of the characters use. Some examples of use of propaganda are from Old Major's speech, when he claims the humans are enemies and attempted to gather all the animals together against a common enemy, humans. Another example of propaganda use is the 'Beasts of England' song. This was taught to them by Old Major and was used to inspire and create hope for the animals. 'Four legs good, two legs bad' is also another example of propaganda use. This was the slogan which the animals memorized, which was supposed to mean animals are good, humans are bad, although there are animals with two legs.
In the novel, Old Major was the first character to use propaganda, who represents Karl Marx/ Vladimir Lenin. Old Major used propaganda to give idea's to the animals about the rebellion. Snowball and Napoleon both used propaganda when spreading their ideas to neighboring farms. Snowball represents Leon Trotsky, who helped overthrown the government but was exiled. Napoleon represents Joseph Stalin, who was the brutal dictator that killed his opponents and was power hungry. Squealer was the character in the novel who spread propaganda. The windmill represents Stalins 5 year plan for growth and development, but resulted in starvation and death.
P.O: I think George Orwell put a lot of thought into how he would show propaganda being used, which techniques to use, which character would use them, etc. He managed to successfully link each example of propaganda in his novel, to the Russian Revolution where propaganda was one of the tactics which people used to gain control and power. I like the way he chose to show propaganda in the novel because in some ways it is quite subtle but still links to the Russian Revolution.