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  • Essay / Rhetorical Devices in Animal Farm by George Orwell

    Rhetoric is the art of persuasive speaking techniques. Examples of rhetoric are: ethos (credibility), pathos (emotion), and logos (logic). In George Orwell's Animal Farm, the pigs rose to power through their use of rhetoric. They used ethos, pathos and logos to control other animals. There are parallels to this that we see today. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The use of rhetoric is central to the novel Animal Farm, as the pigs, primarily the Squealers, use rhetoric to persuading the animals that they live a much better life under Napoleon's command rather than that of Farmer Jones. They persuaded the other animals to believe that the rebellion was an exceptional idea and a great success. Yet later the animals were led into a much worse situation with the pigs in charge rather than Farmer Jones. Orwell uses rhetoric to demonstrate what he is capable of and how powerful he can be. Rhetoric is used throughout Napoleon's rise to power. It is used to prevent animals (excluding pigs) from realizing what is happening and what they want to happen. This is why they are quite obedient to Napoleon. Napoleon uses Squealer to spread his propaganda. Squealer can easily make farm animals believe and follow Napoleon's unusual rules. They don't realize how unhappy their lives become by doing this. Pigs used ethos to control the ideas of other animals. We see the effect of Napoleon's forced leadership on the animals when Squealer and Boxer argue over Snowball's role in the Battle of the Stable. In Chapter 7, Boxer thinks Snowball had good intentions until Squealer says Napoleon disagrees. "Ah, that's different!" Boxer said. “If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be true.” Squealer's rhetoric prevents the other animals from disagreeing by using Napoleon's ethos of power. A modern parallel to the ethos is found in dictatorial countries like North Korea. Their citizens' lives revolve around Kim Jong-un because the government has taught them that everything he says is right. For example, "the channel broadcasts news programs, documentaries and other programs praising Kim Jong-il and his father Kim Il-sung." The country is very effective at this form of rhetoric and brainwashing its citizens into trusting them to make the right decision even though their lives may be difficult. Pigs also used pathos to make animals work harder. Napoleon frightened the other animals by massacring those who did not agree with him. Accordingly, Boxer said: “It must be due to some fault in us. The solution, in my opinion, is to work harder. From now on, I will get up a good hour earlier in the morning. The pigs used rhetoric by scaring other animals into wanting to do the “right” thing and work harder. A modern example of pathos is when presidents use humor to communicate with their audiences. Using this approach is a way to level with the audience and gain their support. For example, President Obama spoke about border security, saying, "They said we need to triple the border patrols, and now they're going to say we need to quadruple the border patrols." Or they will want a taller fence..