Essay Example on Propaganda: Intentional Distortion of Information for Desired Effects

Introduction

Information is a vital resource that is essential in ensuring that communication takes place as scheduled, and the required message gets passed along to the intended audience. However, depending on the intent of the individual passing the information, sometimes the information may be distorted to achieve a particular desired effect. In other terms, propaganda could be described as the intentional distortion of information to inspire action. In the book animal farm, propaganda has been manifested in various occasions where some of the characters distort information intentionally intending to attain some desired emotional effect on the recipients of the information. The use of propaganda is an unethical approach that should not get used as a social mobilization tool, given that it is aimed at mobilizing individuals to act based on falsified, twisted, or distorted information.

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Use of propaganda in the animal farm

In the book, "The animal farm" propaganda is mostly used by the three pigs, Squealer Napoleon and Snowball. The main aim behind the use of propaganda by these characters is in the attempt to influence other animals to agree with their decisions, beliefs, and ideas. One instance of the use of propaganda in the book could be identified when Napoleon and Snowball get into a disagreement on the day before the elections. The two pigs use propaganda to persuade the other animals to vote for them. They two characters apply the use of slogans such as; "Vote for Snowball and the three-day week" and "Vote for Napoleon and full manger," which is pure propaganda (George, 1984).

Another instance of propaganda in the book could be identified where the three pigs inform the other animals that the failure of the pigs would result in the return of Mr. Jones, which was not valid. The animals did not like Mr. Jones, given that his occasional drunkenness often resulted in his failure to take care of the animals, leaving them vulnerable and exposed. Given that the other animals didn't want this to happen, they voted in the pigs based on the propaganda that they spread through the animal kingdom based on deceit and lies.

Effects of propaganda on the animals

The use of propaganda has been identified to have numerous effects on the animals in the book. For instance, publicity led to the installation of the rule of fear upon the animals where lies and deceit replaced a free fair and just leadership. For example, it is possible to say that, through the use of propaganda, the animals were forced into voting for the pigs in fear of the return or Mr. Jones. This, therefore, denied the animals a chance at electing leaders who could represent them in a free and fair manner.

Another effect of propaganda on the animals in the book violates established rules of governance, leading to the practice of various injustices on the animals. For instance, the alteration of the first 7 commandments made by the animals was observed. For example, one of the rules stated, "No animal shall be killed by any other animal" (George, 1984). However, after killing some of the animals who were found to be in opposition to Napoleon, the rule got changed into, "Any other animal shall kill no animal without cause" (George, 1984). This is an incidence of propaganda whereby pre-existent rules are changed in favor of the minority few at the expense of the majority.

Conclusion

The use of propaganda has been identified to have various adverse effects on the leadership system for the animals in the animal farm. With the advent of social media, propaganda has become a common occurrence in society today. The spread of falsified information has been used by individuals with malicious intentions either to destroy the reputation of others or for selfish gains. As a result, the use of propaganda necessitates the people to assess the information passed along for its credibility to prevent instances of acting on misguided information.

Works Cited

Orwell, George. 1984 & Animal Farm. Text Publishing, 2017.