Emotional Propaganda and Linguistic Manipulation in Animal Farm: A Parody of the Russian Revolution

Abstract

This paper offers a rhetorical and historical analysis of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, examining how emotional propaganda and linguistic manipulation function as essential mechanisms of totalitarian control within the novel’s allegorical parody of the Russian Revolution. Through close readings and discourse-oriented analysis, the study investigates the pigs’ strategic use of fear appeal, rhetorical questions, linguistic simplification and complication, and the bandwagon effect to influence perception and suppress rebellion. These narrative strategies are implemented in Animal Farm in parallel with documented machinations during the Russian Revolution, including biased political slogans, visual media, and political discourse. The comparison reveals how Orwell mirrors historical techniques of persuasion to illustrate the erosion of memory, critical thinking abilities, and interpretive freedom under authoritarian rule. At the same time, the novel’s satirical and ironic form strengthens this warning by making political manipulation seem both absurd and dangerous. Attention is given to the cumulative power of repetition, emotional charge in media, and ritualized language in slogans, chants, and collective practices, demonstrating the construction and normalization of a distorted reality for the public. By analyzing these mechanisms both individually and in combination, this study argues that Animal Farm serves as a cautionary literary tale of societal vulnerability preceding communicative domination, exposing how sustained rhetorical manipulation across various forms can gradually replace truth with illusory reality.