Animal Farm Rhetorical Analysis

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Manipulation of language can be a weapon of mind control and abuse of power. The story Animal Farm by George Orwell is all about manipulation, and the major way manipulation is used in this novel is by the use of words. The character in this book named Squealer employs ethos, pathos, and logos in order to manipulate the other animals and maintain control. The first rhetorical device that Squealer uses to persuade the other animals is ethos. In the beginning of the novel, Squealer explains why the milk was not being distributed evenly, and why most of it was going to the pigs. Squealer supports this idea by emphasizing the leadership that the pigs play on Animal Farm. Squealer conveys the authority of the pigs by saying “The whole management and organization 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” (Orwell 31). This quote is an example of ethos, because it shows that the pigs are looking out for the other animals. This shows that the pigs have credible reason to have the milk and apples. It is not really true that the pigs need all of the milk to themselves, so Squealer is using his speaking skills to his advantage, so that he and all of the other pigs are able to enjoy all of the milk. This is not fair to the rest of the animals, but the animals trust the pigs to know how to run things on the farm, so they accept this as a viable reason for their greediness. Later in the novel, Squealer claims that Napoleon is a suitable leader for animal farm, and explains that Snowball is a traitor. Squealer supports this idea by comparing Snowball to Napoleon. The animals were confused on why Snowball was chased off the farm. One of the animal... ... middle of paper ... ... to make mistakes. By using logic to make the animals doubt their decisions they may make in the future, Squealer manipulates the animals for power over the farm, using logos effectively. In both of the these examples, Squealer is using false information that is sensible to the animals to convince them to get what he, and the other pigs wanted. By saying all of this, Squealer was using logos effectively. Squealer clearly has effective speaking skills, because he employs ethos, pathos, and logos into his speeches to make them more convincing. By using these rhetorical devices, Squealer is able to gain power over the other animals on the farm, even though his words were used as a weapon to abuse his authority. Squealer proves that using ethos, pathos, and logos in an effective way is they key for success, whether that success is for the good, or not so good of others.

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