Animal Farm Journal
“Propaganda is as powerful as heroin; it surreptitiously dissolves all capacity to think.” (Courtemanche) I think in this quote Gil Courtemanche is stating that propaganda is so powerful that it can easily corrupt people’s minds and change the way they think and their view on things. I agree with Courtemanche’s statement because propaganda can take away people’s ability to think for themselves and can cause people to believe in a distorted truth. For instance, propaganda was huge in manipulating the German people during World War II. The Nazis only allowed certain messages and information to be released to the public, which shaped Hitler’s character as a hero and almost God-like. Hitler’s book, “Mein Kampf” was distributed to schools and used to indoctrinate the youth. Anti-Semitic campaigns were used by the Nazis to corrupt the minds of Germans, making them believe that the Jewish public were to blame for Germany’s social and economic problems. As a result of this, eleven million innocent people were murdered. Germans mindlessly idolized Hitler only because they were repeatedly told what a great man he was. As a result, the German people were not able to think or make their own decisions. They agreed with whatever Hitler said because they were drawn into a false illusion that Hitler was a good man who only wanted the best for Germany. George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm contains numerous examples of the power of propaganda and how it can easily brainwash minds.

Squealer, one of the three pigs who dominate over the rest of the animals uses several clever techniques to persuade the other animals to accept that the pigs can have all the apples and milk. When the animals discover that the pigs have been taking all the apples and milk for themselves, they are filled with outrage. However, Squealer tells the animals that he hopes the other animals don’t think the pigs are doing this “in a spirit of selfishness and privilege” (Orwell 8), implying that if the animals do think this, they are being foolish. Squealer explains to the other animals that most of the pigs don’t even like apples and milk and that he dislikes them himself. He tells the other animals that the pigs solely take the apples and milk to stay healthy for the sake of the other animals as the farm depends on the pigs since they are the brain-workers and do all the management and organization. Squealer also tells the animals that if that if the pigs fail in their duty because of the lack of apples and milk, Mr. Jones may return and take over the farm, frightening the other animals to agreeing to the pigs having all the apples and milk. Squealer spreads lie-filled propaganda among the other animals, allowing the pigs to get what they want and be in control of the other animals. He convinces the other animals into believing that apples and milk contribute to the well-being of a pig and that the pigs only want the apples and milk for the sake of the farm.

The three pigs use propaganda to convince the other animals that all animals with wings and four legs are comrades and humans who only have two legs are enemies. The three pigs try to educate the animals by teaching them how to read and write. By the end of the summer, all the animals achieve some degree of literacy, however, many still have trouble memorizing the Seven Commandments. As a result, Snowball reduces the Seven Commandments into one single maxim: “Four legs good; two legs bad.” (Orwell 18) Although most of the animals do not fully understand the maxim, they all memorize it and chant it mindlessly. The sheep enjoy chanting the slogan and often sit in the field bleating it for hours on end, never growing tired of it. This is an important example in Animal Farm where propaganda is used to brainwash the animals. The sheep and the rest of the animals do not fully comprehend the meaning of the slogan. As the slogan is repeated over and over again, the animals simply get used to the sound and accept the slogan. This maxim ultimately serves as a controlling device that can alter and manipulate the way the animals think.

It is evidently shown in George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm that propaganda can easily control one’s mind and their opinions on things. I agree with Courtemanche’s statement that “propaganda is as powerful as heroin; it surreptitiously dissolves all capacity to think.” It is depicted through the naïve and vulnerable characters in this novel such as the birds and the sheep that propaganda can take away one’s ability to think for themselves and can easily manipulate one into believing a false illusion.