Marxist Tactics of Manipulation - "Animal Farm" by George Orwell

Animal Farm

So I just read Animal Farm for the first time since high school. It's a short read, but is packed with many important lessons. Fundamentally, I think one of the main takeaways for me was looking at the book as a reflection on human nature. One of the premises of Communism, and the Marxist worldview in general, is a dialectical materialism, i.e. that there are no eternal essences to things, most especially to human beings. Therefore, all things are malleable and can be socially engineered to take a new form. In so many words, everything is a ball of clay waiting to be remolded into a new shape. 

If only the old forms of society could be destroyed then surely things could be changed into the utopia. Only the past structures stand in the way of the future utopia. If that's the case, then those who "know" what's best for everyone are justified to use any means necessary to accomplish this task. What inevitably happens, though, is that the same flaws of human nature that plagued systems of the past come to plague these very individuals who lead the new revolution. Now, not only have the bad parts of the past just been given new embodiments, but all the good parts of tradition have been destroyed as well, leaving nothing but destruction and chaos. Likewise, the now corrupted leaders desire to keep power over all else, and thus have to resort to manipulation to do so. And a hell-scape ensues. 

Orwell recounts this whole process with masterful expression with the animals on the farm. I'm not going to recount the story, but rather I want to focus on the manipulation tactics which Napoleon and the other pigs use in the manipulation of the other animals as they become corrupt in their leadership. This is mostly from chapters six through nine. 

Tactic 1 - Having a Scapegoat

At a certain point in the revolution two of the leaders, Snowball and Napoleon, have a disagreement. Napoleon banishes Snowball from the farm and chases him away. The fact that Snowball did not die, though, actually worked to Napoleon's advantage going forward. He is then able to attribute every bad things, every "corrupting idea," and every failure to the sabotage of Snowball. A convenient method of getting any negative attention off himself. 

Example 1

"Comrades," he said quietly, '"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. "Snowball has done this thing! In sheer malignity, thinking to set back our plans and avenge himself for his ignominious expulsion, this traitor has crept here under cover of night and destroyed our work of nearly a year. Comrades, here and now I pronounce the death sentence upon Snowball. 'Animal Hero, Second Class,' and half a bushel of apples to any animal who brings him to justice. A full bushel to anyone who captures him alive!" The animals were shocked beyond measure to learn that even Snowball could be guilty of such an action. There was a cry of indignation, and everyone began thinking out ways of catching Snowball if he should ever come back. Almost immediately the footprints of a pig were discovered in the grass at a little distance from the knoll. They could only be traced for a few yards, but appeared to lead to a hole in the hedge. Napoleon snuffed deeply at them and pronounced them to be Snow-ball's. He gave it as his opinion that Snowball had probably come from the direction of Foxwood Farm. "No more delays, comrades!" cried Napoleon when the footprints had been examined. "There is work to be done." (72)

Example 2

"Suddenly, early in the Spring, an alarming thing was discovered. Snowball was secretly frequenting the farm by night! The animals were so disturbed that they could hardly sleep in their stalls. Every night, it was said, he came creeping in under cover of darkness and performed all kinds of mischief. He stole the corn, he upset the milk-pails, he broke the eggs, he trampled the seedbeds, he gnawed the bark off the fruit trees. Whenever anything went wrong it became usual to attribute it to Snowball. If a window was broken or a drain was blocked up, someone was certain to say that Snowball had come in the night and done it, and when the key of the store-shed was lost, the whole farm was convinced that Snowball had thrown it down the well. Curiously enough, they went on believing this even after the mislaid key was found under a sack of meal. The cows declared unanimously that Snowball crept into their stalls and milked them in their sleep. The rats, which had been troublesome that winder, were also said to be in league with Snowball. Napoleon decreed that there should be a full investigation into Snowball's activities. With his dogs in attendance he set out and made a careful tour of inspection of the farm buildings, the other animals following at a respectful distance. At every few steps Napoleon stopped and snuffed the ground for traces of Snowballs' footsteps, which, he said, he could detect by the smell. He snuffed in every corner, in the barn, in the cow-shed, in the hen-houses, in the vegetable garden, and found traces of Snowball almost everywhere. He would put his snout to the ground, give several deep sniffs, and exclaim in a terrible voice, 'Snowball! He has been here!'" (78) 

Tactic 2 - Rewriting the Past 

Another common tactic throughout the book was the notion that the past could be rewritten. There are promises, laws, events, etc. all of which eventually get in the way of the evolving mind of Napoleon. In the secret of night he will have the laws rewritten. He questions the memory of the other animals, getting them to think about past events differently. All in all, if the animals cannot keep the past straight, then it is up for manipulation. 

Example 1

"Afterwards Squealer made a round of the farm and set the animals' minds at rest. He assured them that the resolution against engaging in trade and using money had never been passed, or even suggested. It was pure imagination, probably traceable in the beginning to lies circulated by Snowball. A few animals still felt faintly doubtful, but Squealer asked them shrewdly, 'Are you certain that this is not something that you have dreamed, comrades? Have you any record of such a resolution? Is it written down anywhere?' And since it was certainly true that nothing of the kind existed in writing, the animals were satisfied that they had been mistaken." (67) 

Example 2 

"It was about this time that the pigs suddenly moved into the farmhouse and took up their residence there. Again the animals seemed to remember that a resolution against this had been passed in the early days, and again Squealer was able to convince them that this was not the case. It was absolutely necessary, he said, that the pigs, who were the brains of the farm, should have a quiet place to work in. It was also more suited to the dignity of the Leader (for of late he had taken to speaking of Napoleon under the title of "Leader") to live in a house than in a mere sty. Nevertheless, some of the animals were disturbed when they heard that the pigs not only took their meals in the kitchen and used the drawing-room as a recreation room, but also slept in the beds. Boxer passed it off as usual with "Napoleon is always right!", but Clover, who thought she remembered a definite ruling against beds, went to the end of the barn and tried to puzzle out the Seven Commandments which were inscribed there. Finding herself unable to read more than individual letters, she fetched Muriel. "Muriel," she said, "read me the Fourth Commandment. Does it not say something about never sleeping in a bed?" With some difficulty Muriel spelt it out. "It says, 'No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets, " she announced finally. Curiously enough, Clover had not remembered that the Fourth Commandment mentioned sheets; but as it was there on the wall, it must have done so." (69) 

Example 3

"Comrades!" cried Squealer, making little nervous skips, "a most terrible thing has been discovered. Snowball has sold himself to Frederick of Pinch-field Farm, who is even now plotting to attack us and take our farm away from us! Snowball is to act as his guide when the attack begins. But there is worse than that. We had thought that Snowball's rebellion was caused simply by his vanity and ambition. But we were wrong, comrades. Do you know what the real reason was? Snowball was in league with Jones from the very start! He was Jones's secret agent all the time. It has all been proved by documents which he left behind him and which we have only just discovered. To my mind this explains a great deal, comrades. Did we not see for ourselves how he attempted--fortunately without success--to get us defeated and destroyed at the Battle of the Cowshed?" The animals were stupefied. This was a wickedness far outdoing Snowball's destruction of the windmill. But it was some minutes before they could fully take it in. They all remembered, or thought they remembered, how they had seen Snowball charging ahead of them at the Battle of the Cowshed, how he had rallied and encouraged them at every turn, and how he had not paused for an instant even when the pellets from Jones's gun had wounded his back. At first it was a little difficult to see how this fitted in with his being on Jones's side. Even Boxes, who seldom asked questions, was puzzled. 

He lay down, tucked his fore hoofs beneath him, shut his eyes, and with a hard effort managed to formulate his thoughts. "I do not believe that," he said. "Snowball fought bravely at the Battle of the Cowshed. I saw him myself. Did we not give him 'Animal Hero, First Class,' immediately afterwards?" "That was our mistake, comrade. For we know now-it is all written down in the secret documents that we have found- that in reality he was trying to lure us to our doom." "But he was wounded," said Boxer. "We all saw him running with blood." "That was part of the arrangement!" cried Squealer. "Jones's shot only grazed him. I could show you this in his own writing, if you were able to read it. The plot was for Snowball, at the critical moment, to give the signal for flight and leave the field to the enemy. And he very nearly succeeded- I will even say, comrades, he would have succeeded if it had not been for our heroic Leader, Comrade Napoleon. Do you not remember how, just at the moment when Jones and his men had got inside the yard, Snowball suddenly turned and fled, and many animals followed him? And do you not remember, too, that it was just at that moment, when panic was spreading and all seemed lost, that Comrade Napoleon sprang forward with a cry of 'Death to Humanity!' and sank his teeth in Jones's leg? Surely you remember that, comrades?» exclaimed Squealer, frisking from side to side.

Now when Squealer described the scene so graphically, it seemed to the animals that they did remember it. At any rate, they remembered that at the critical moment of the battle Snowball had turned to flee. But Boxer was still a little uneasy. "I do not believe that Snowball was a traitor at the beginning," he said finally. "What he has done since is different. But I believe that at the Battle of the Cowshed he was a good comrade." "Our Leader, Comrade Napoleon," announced Squealer, speaking very slowly and firmly, "has stated categorically--categorically, comrade--that Snowball was Jones's agent from the very begin-ning--yes, and from long before the Rebellion was ever thought of." "Ah, that is different!" said Boxer. "If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right." "That is the true spirit, comrade!" cried Squealer, but it was noticed he cast a very ugly look at Boxer with his little twinkling eyes." (79-81) 

Tactic 3 - Fake Appearances 

If things are not going well, it is important to actually project that they are going better than ever in order to keep control of the animals, but also to convince the outside observers. Thus creating the appearance of success, wealth, prosperity is necessary for the continuation of the movement. 

Example 1

"In January food fell short. The corn ration was drastically reduced, and it was announced that an extra potato ration would be issued to make up for it. Then it was discovered that the greater part of the potato crop had been frosted in the clamps, which had not been covered thickly enough. The potatoes had become soft and discoloured, and only a few were edible. For days at a time the animals had nothing to eat but chaff and mangels. Starvation seemed to stare them in the face. It was vitally necessary to conceal this fact from the outside world. Emboldened by the collapse of the windmill, the human beings were inventing fresh lies about Animal Farm. Once again it was being put about that all the animals were dying of famine and disease, and that they were continually fighting among themselves and had resorted to cannibalism and infanticide. Napoleon was well aware of the bad results that might follow if the real facts of the food situation were known, and he decided to make use of Mr. Whymper to spread a contrary impression. Hitherto the animals had had little or no contact with Whymper on his weekly visits: now, however, a few selected animals, mostly sheep, were instructed to remark casually in his hearing that rations had been increased. In addition, Napoleon ordered the almost empty bins in the store-shed to be filled nearly to the brim with sand, which was then covered up with what remained of the grain and meal. On some suitable pretext Whymper was led through the store-shed and allowed to catch a glimpse of the bins. He was deceived, and continued to report to the outside world that there was no food shortage on Animal Farm." (75, 76) 

Tactic 4 - Using Lies to Deny the Reality In Front of Your Face

While fake appearances may work to convince outsides that the movement is working, those within may not be convinced. Here it is necessary to use lies, to tell them repeatedly and with "facts" and "proof" that things are actually better, that their own senses and experiences are lying to them. 

Example 1

"A few days later, when the terror caused by the executions had died down, some of the animals remembered - or thought they remembered - that the Sixth Commandment decreed 'No animal shall kill any other animal.' And though no one cared to mention it in the hearing of the pigs or the dogs, it was felt that the killings which had taken place did not square with this. Clover asked Benjamin to read her the Sixth Commandment, and when Benjamin, as usual, said that the refused to meddle in such matters, she fetched Muriel. 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. 

Throughout the year the animals worked even harder than they had worked in the previous year. To rebuild the windmill, with walls twice as think as before, and to finish it by the appointed date, together with the regular work of the farm, was a tremendous labour. There were times when it seemed to the animals that they worked longer hours and fed no better than they had done in Jones' day. On Sunday mornings Squealer, holding down a long strip of paper with his trotter, would read out to them lists of figures proving that the production of every class of foodstuff had increased by two hundred per cent, three hundred per cent, or five hundred per cent, as the case might be. The animals saw no reason to disbelieve him, especially as they could no longer remember the Rebellion. All the same, there were days when they felt that they would sooner have had less figures and more food." (90, 91). 

Example 2

"'Napoleon.' He was always referred to in formal style as 'our Leader, Comrade Napoleon,' and the pigs liked to invent for him such titles as Father of All Animals, Terror of Mankind, Protector of the Sheep-fold, Duckling's Friend, and the like. In his speeches, Squealer would talk with the tears rolling down his cheeks of Napoleon's wisdom, the goodness of his heart, and the deep love he bore to all animals everywhere, even and especially the unhappy animals who still lived in ignorance and slavery on other farms. It has become usual to give Napoleon the credit for every successful achievement and every stroke of good fortune. You would often hear one hen remark to another, 'Under the guidance of our Leader, Comrade Napoleon, I had laid five eggs in six days'; or two cows, enjoying a drink at the pool, would exclaim, 'Thanks to the leadership of Comrade Napoleon, how excellent this water tastes!' The general feelings on the farm was well expressed in a poem entitled Comrade Napoleon ..." (90) 

Example 3

"In any case he had no difficulty in proving to the other animals that they were not in reality short of food, whatever the appearances might be. For the time being, certainly, it had been found necessary to make a readjustment of rations (Squealer always spoke of it as a 'readjustment,' never as a 'reduction'), but in comparison with the days of Jones, the improvement was enormous. Reading out the figures in a shrill, rapid voice, he proved to them in detail that they had more oats, more hay, more turnips, than they had had in Jones's day, that they worked shorter hours, that their drinking water was of better quality, that they lived longer, that a larger portion of their young ones survived infancy, and that they had more straw in their stalls and suffered less from fleas. The animals believed every word of it." (105)

Tactic 5 - Sacrificial Victims to the Movement 

Finally, a fifth tactic taken from the book would be the purging required to keep the movement going. For a revolution which purports to support the weak, underprivileged, and oppressed what happens when those same people become the power in power, success, and privilege themselves? Well, new enemies have to be invented to keep the revolutionary dynamic alive and to keep themselves as the victims. New enemies must be purged from within the midst of the revolution ... And if there are really none, well make them confess to something. Surely they must have done something wrong, even in the smallest regard. 

Example 1

"Presently the tumult died down. The four pigs waited, trembling, with guilt written on every line of their countenances. Napoleon now called upon them to confess their crimes. They were the same four pigs as had protested when Napoleon abolished the Sunday Meetings. Without any further prompting they confessed that they had been secretly in touch with Snowball ever since his expulsion, that they had collaborated with him in destroying the windmill, and that they had entered into an agreement with him to hand over Animal Farm to Mr. Frederick. They added that Snowball had privately admitted to them that the had been Jones' secret agent for years past. When they had finished their confession, the dogs promptly tore their throats out, and in a terrible voice Napoleon demanded whether any other animal had anything to confess. The three hens who had been the ringleaders in the attempted rebellion over the eggs now came forward and stated that Snowball had appeared to them in a dream and incited them to disobey Napoleon's orders. They, too, were slaughtered. Then a goose came forward and confessed to having secreted six ears of corn during last year's harvest and eaten them in the night. Then a sheep confessed to having urinated in the drinking pool - urged to do this, so she said, by Snowball - and two other sheep confessed to having murdered an old ram, an especially devoted follower of Napoleon, by chasing him round and round a bonfire when he was suffering from a cough. They were all slain on the spot. And so the tale of confessions and executions went on, until there was a pile of corpses lying before Napoleon's feet and the air was heavy with the smell of blood, which had been unknown there since the expulsion of Jones." (82, 83) 

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1 - Orwell, George. Animal Farm. (Harcourt, Brace, and Company. New York, 1946).