Manipulation

Manipulation

1. Napoleon

   • "Never mind the milk, comrades!" cried Napoleon, placing himself in front of the buckets. "That will be attended to.
   • So the animals trooped down to the hayfield to begin the harvest, and when they came back in the evening it was noticed that the milk had disappeared.
   • 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 had become usual to give Napoleon the credit for every successful achievement and every stroke of good fortune.

2. Pigs

   • These three had elaborated old Major's teachings into a complete system of thought, to which they gave the name of Animalism.
   • Even the stupidest of them had already picked up the tune and a few of the words, and as for the clever ones, such as the pigs and dogs, they had the entire song by heart within a few minutes.
   • But the pigs were so clever that they could think of a way round every difficulty.
   • . The pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others. With their superior knowledge it was natural that they should assume the leadership.
   • . So it was agreed without further argument that the milk and the windfall apples (and also the main crop of apples when they ripened) should be reserved for the pigs alone
   • It had come to be accepted that the pigs, who were manifestly cleverer than the other animals, should decide all questions of farm policy, though their decisions had to be ratified by a majority vote.

3. Squealer

   • . The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white.
   • Do not imagine, comrades, that leadership is a pleasure! On the contrary, it is a deep and heavy responsibility.
   • . We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organisation 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.
   • Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty? Jones would come back! Yes, Jones would come back! Surely, comrades, surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?"
   • He repeated a number of times, "Tactics, comrades, tactics!" skipping round and whisking his tail with a merry laugh.
   • Surely you remember THAT, comrades?" exclaimed Squealer, frisking from side to side
   • 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 proportion of their young ones survived infancy, and that they had more straw in their stalls and suffered less from fleas.
   • Besides, in those days they had been slaves and now they were free, and that made all the difference, as Squealer did not fail to point out.
   • There was, as Squealer was never tired of explaining, endless work in the supervision and organisation of the farm. Much of this work was of a kind that the other animals were too ignorant to understand. For example, Squealer told them that the pigs had to expend enormous labours every day upon mysterious things called "files," "reports," "minutes," and "memoranda."
   • They could not remember. There was nothing with which they could compare their present lives: they had nothing to go upon except Squealer's lists of figures, which invariably demonstrated that everything was getting better and better.

4. Snowball

   • After much thought Snowball declared that the Seven Commandments could in effect be reduced to a single maxim, namely: "Four legs good, two legs bad."
   • This, he said, contained the essential principle of Animalism. Whoever had thoroughly grasped it would be safe from human influences.
   • He was especially successful with the sheep. Of late the sheep had taken to bleating "Four legs good, two legs bad" both in and out of season, and they often interrupted the Meeting with this. It was noticed that they were especially liable to break into "Four legs good, two legs bad" at crucial moments in Snowball's speeches
   • "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

5. Animals

   • The sheep were the greatest devotees of the Spontaneous Demonstration, and if anyone complained the sheep were sure to silence him with a tremendous bleating of "Four legs good, two legs bad!"
   • Somehow or other, the last two words had slipped out of the animals' memory.
   • "Ah, that is different!" said Boxer. "If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right."
   • His two slogans, "I will work harder" and "Napoleon is always right," seemed to him a sufficient answer to all problems.
   • The animals believed every word of it.
   • Now when Squealer described the scene so graphically, it seemed to the animals that they did remember it.
   • Once again some of the animals heard this with a certain bewilderment, but Squealer was soon able to convince them that their memories had been at fault.
   • The animals were not certain what the word meant, but Squealer spoke so persuasively, and the three dogs who happened to be with him growled so threateningly, that they accepted his explanation without further questions.
   • The birds did not understand Snowball's long words, but they accepted his explanation, and all the humbler animals set to work to learn the new maxim by heart.
   • 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.