Depiction of russian revolution propaganda in orwell's animal farm

In the Russian Revolution propaganda was rampant. The media was state controlled. Towards the beginning most of the population was illiterate. This led to easy ability for the state to control the information and it’s context people received. The novel Animal Farm by George Orwell demonstrates the effects it can have on society. Leaders often abuse power to gain control and to limit those under them, often losing the moral high ground

Literacy or lack thereof is key to propaganda’s effectiveness. On the farm most of the animals were not exactly the most brightest in the world. Although some animals such as the pigs and dogs could read near perfectly the common majority of the animals did not understand the full alphabet. If a common majority of a population “ 60%” (Barnett) doesn’t understand something they are forced to rely on those that do. This may result in slight bending of fact to portray a message the believe and ideals of the literate population. In the case of Animal Farm literacy would’ve been key to animals realizing the commandments being changed and taking action to protect their rights. Since Napoleon had ethos as the leader and has been established by Squealer as the smart one the animals seek the information only from him instead of seeking out the information on their own. This demonstrates the role of literacy in curbing power abuse.

Leaders are keen to remove any obstacle that might thwart their rule over their people. During the Russian Revolution a leader by the name of Trotsky was Stalin’s second in command. When Trotsky disagreed with Stalin in the ruling of his regime and in Stalin’s view posed a threat “ Stalin and his supporters launched a propaganda counterattack against Trotsky” (Stalin Banishes Trotsky). Napoleon attempts a similar maneuver when kicking out Snowball due to his idea of a windmill. Which Napoleon views as a threat to his superiority. The other animals are very used to this because “ it had become usual to give Napoleon the credit for every successful achievement and every stroke of good fortune” (Orwell) Later, he even claims the windmill as his own. After kicking out Snowball Napoleon spreads propaganda about him to the other animals in an attempt to secure control for himself. This also happens in modern countries in the middle east in an attempt to secure the vote for their faction. When Well how are you do is this. They would do anything to maintain power even if it means forsaking values that we associate with society. During the Russian Revolution executions were common. By the secret police were quite common as “ over 20 million people were sent to labor camps”(Gracheva), those what executed did not fully agree with the regime I and its conventions. in Animal Farm. due to the propaganda & rhetoric the animals feel like Snowball has been talking in their head altering their mental state and and they make false confessions to Napoleon one by one . Napoleon as a result slaughters all them to maintain control and to raise support This proves that the only values his own life . Most people would demonstrate some form of remorse after killing one person let alone several. Napoleon has become so wrapped in his agenda that he’s lost sight of basic human dignity.