Manipulation In George Orwell's Animal Farm

It is very easy to manipulate somebody if you try. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, it can be argued that the build up of power is a result of the manipulation and exaggeration of language used by the animals. Through this, the removal of Mr. Jones develops because of the dictatorship of Napoleon. The rhetoric delivered by the pigs and their skilled manipulation of language helps them in any situation they are put in, and this determines the fate of the farm. From beginning to end, the novel establishes the illusion of honesty through public speaking and it shows that the animals cannot realize the real meaning of what is going on. This is done by making the animals manipulated, confused and vulnerable.
After the rebellion on Manor Farm and the removal of Mr.

Jones, the animals set up seven instructions in ways to conduct themselves, known as the “Commandments”. Every animal on the farm must help to come up with ways to engrave these commandments on the side of the barn for everyone to see. To start, the animals break the first commandment “Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy” (15). This starts by Napoleon, who is manipulating the animals. “Napoleon announced that he had decided upon a new policy. From now onwards Animal Farm would engage in trade with the neighbouring farms: not, of course, for any commercial purpose, but simply in order to obtain certain materials which were urgently necessary” (42).

In the beginning, the animals agreed that they would not communicate with anything with two legs, mostly human beings. The animals start to trade with other farms to gain more materials to build a windmill and gather revenue for themselves by selling eggs, to such a degree, breaking the 1st commandment. This is inconsistent with what the animals applied to themselves, but the pigs brainwash them to think it was necessary. Next in order is the animals changing the fourth commandment: “No animals shall sleep In a bed” (15). They do this because they want to sleep in Mr. Jones’ bed. When other animals ask why this is happening, the pigs clarify the commandments “actual” meaning. “You have heard, then comrades, that we pigs now sleep in the beds of the farmhouse? And why not? You did not suppose, surely, that there was ever a ruling against beds? A bed merely means a place to sleep in. A pile of straw in a stall is a bed, properly regarded. The rule was against sheets, which are a human invention.” (45-46). Through the manipulation of language, Squealer convinces the other animals that a human bed is no different than an animal bed. Over and over, the animals are assimilating to

what they are being told. Once and for all, the language is being manipulated and exaggerated by the pigs who want to rewrite the sixth commandment: “No animal shall kill any other animal.” (15). “Muriel read the Commandment for her. It ran: ‘No animal shall kill any other animal without cause.’ Somehow or other the last two words had slipped out of the animals’ memory. But they saw now that the Commandment had not been violated; for clearly there was good reason for killing the traitors who had leagued themselves with Snowball.” (61). Once again the pigs have manipulated the other animals, making them believe that the words “without cause” were there in the first place. These animals are being manipulated.
Succeeding the rebellion, all of the primary decision making was passed on to the most knowledgeable animals on the farm. These are the pigs, which their leaders are Napoleon and Snowball. These two characters generally disagree on countless issues concerning the farm. This was until Napoleon expelled Snowball from the farm by using the guard dogs and he took control over the citizens. Despite the disappearance of Snowball, the pigs still find multiple ways to blame him for any inconvenience the farm may come across. First, the pigs blame Snowball for destroying the windmill the animals worked so hard on. “Comrades, do you know who is responsible for this? Do you know the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown our windmill? SNOWBALL! He suddenly roared in a voice of thunder” (47). Snowball was not the one to destroy the windmill, it was a terrible storm the night before. After all, the pigs were able to persuade the animals that Snowball is the culprit. Secondly, the pigs persuade the other animals that their dreadful crop season is due to Snowball. “The wheat crop was full of weeds, and Squealer had somehow discovered that on one of his nocturnal visits Snowball has mixed weed seeds with the corn” (65). Without a doubt, this is not the case. The animals are suffering from disorganization, and the pigs collecting the profits for alcohol are due to the weed seeds being in the crops. The pigs do not feel the need to explain this truly to the other animals, but rather they convince them that their perfect harvest was being destroyed by Snowball. The pigs mislead the other animals with detailed public speeches to avoid another rebellion from within. Lastly, after the Battle of the Cowshed, the pigs degrade Snowball from his medals, Animal Hero and First Class. He earned these medals for fighting without fear in battle. “The animals now also learned that Snowball had never - as many of them believed hitherto - received the order of ‘Animal Hero, First Class’ (65). Before Snowball received his expulsion expelled, the animals saw him as a teacher and a gentleman and they were getting suspicious about the terrible accusations which were coming his way. The pigs made the other animals think that Snowball had never received any awards. The pigs successfully removed any ties between Snowball and the word “hero”. The use of clever language shows that the animals are confused.
From the start of the novel, the animals are running into multiple problems when trying to run their own farm. The pigs often find ways for themselves to benefit from the danger of the other animals. First, the pigs brainwash the animals into thinking that Napoleon’s authoritative ways is necessary for the well-being of the farm. “Comrades, I trust that every animal here appreciates the sacrifice that Comrade Napoleon has made in taking this extra labour upon himself. Do not imagine, comrades, that leadership is a pleasure! On the contrary, it is a deep and heavy responsibility” (37). Napoleon is trying to convince the animals that his dictatorship is not something he wanted. Next in order, the pigs manipulate others about their ties to Boxer’s murder. “It had come to his knowledge, that a foolish and wicked rumour had been circulated at the time of Boxer’s removal. Some of the animals had noticed that the van which took Boxer away was marked ‘Horse Slaughterer’… Surely, whisking his tail and skipping from side to side, surely they knew their beloved Leader, Comrade, Napoleon, better than that!” (84). The pigs could care less about the fallen comrade, and they do care less because Squealer’s intelligent speech left the animals in shock over Napoleon’s heroic actions. Finally, the pigs claim that the selfish collection of the extra apple and milk rations are essential for the farm to prosper. “Comrades!, 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. Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health. Milk and apples (this has been proven by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-bing of a pig”. (23). The pigs hoarding the milk and apples show the selfishness and corruption from the start of the novel. The pigs’ successful use of language makes it seem like they are doing this for the good of the farm, but it reality it is destroying it.The pigs gained tremendous power by their use of the manipulation and the exaggeration of language. The vulnerability of these animals is become develops more and more throughout the novel.
To conclude, George Orwell’s Animal Farm shows that in this case, it is very easy to become brainwashed if you listen to somebody’s creative use of words. The novel shows that you can camouflage who you genuinely are by the use of clever language in public speaking to make anybody believe what you believe. The animals in this novel were confused, manipulated and vulnerable.