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Power and Influence in Animal Farm

            Power is the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events. It can be used to benefit or can unintentionally harm others. In society, humans are often found taking advantage of others to gain absolute control/ power, it is human nature. An example of an abuse of power takes place in George Orwell's fable, Animal Farm. Old Major, a boar that the animals look up to dearly, has a dream of equality through overthrowing man and his characteristics to create a utopian farm community, which quickly fades with his death. The success of the animal's rebellion to kick out their human oppressor, Jones, would instead leave them to be overrun by Napoleon, Squealer and the pigs who over time develop actions indistinguishable from their human enemies, skewing the utopian society into a totalitarian state. .
             Squealer, a "brilliant talker" "(17), has a way of masking the truth with his manipulative propaganda and strong rhetoric in which he could turn "black into white" "(17). In chapter three, Squealer is responsible for persuading the animals to give up their apples and milk to be indulged in only by the pigs, and the benefits towards the farm this decision would instill. Squealer's blatant distortion of the truth using fear, knowledge, and the masking of the pig's actions, hampers the animal's ability to achieve equality and only further separates the pigs in their search for power over everyone else. Squealer twists the pig's intent of their actions to be seen as sacrifices to excuse their greed as to be for the good of the farm. In doing this, he misaligns the common good with the good of the pigs. .
             Squealer identifies the pigs as virtuous leaders using ethos. He twists language to make the pigs come off as if they do a great deal of sacrifice. In the following quotation from chapter three, Squealer shows he deeply cares for the well being of the animals and their feelings to mask the fact that the hoarding of the apples and milk is actually for the personal satisfactory indulgence of the pigs.

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