Monday, September 9, 2013

In Animal Farm, what is an example of Squealer's hypocrisy?

Like most of
the pigs,is a hypocrite in his dealings with the other animals. He doesn't want to put in the
same amount of actual labor to serve the common good of the farm, and so he takes steps to
improve his own living situation while leaving the hard work for the other animals. This is
clearly seen (and isfor later events) in the situation with the apple windfalls and milk.
Although the other animals expect that all food will be divided up fairly, it comes out that the
pigs are taking the milk and apples entirely for themselves. To escape negative judgement,
Squealer uses his powers of persuasion:

"You do not
imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of
us actually dislike milk and apples. I dislike them myself... We pigs are brainworkers. The
whole management and organisation of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over
your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those
apples."
(, , msxnet.org)

This is, of
course, rediculous; Squealer and the other pigs are just taking the better food for themselves
while making the other animals work harder. The justification that they "need" extra
and higher quality food in order to organize the farm has no merit, but Squealer understands
that he can scare the other animals into accepting his explanation with the threat of Jones's
return. This also has no merit, but the other animals are not educated enough to understand it,
and so they accept Squealer's explanation without protest.

No comments:

Post a Comment

How is Joe McCarthy related to the play The Crucible?

When we read its important to know about Senator Joseph McCarthy. Even though he is not a character in the play, his role in histor...