Wednesday, May 1, 2013

In Chapter Seven of Animal Farm, how does Squealer attempt to rewrite history?

One way that Squealer rewrites history is to declare that Snowball, who has become Public Enemy Number One on the farm, was responsible for a series of acts of vandalism. Indeed, Squealer tells the animals, he had never been a true revolutionary--he had been in league with Jones the whole time. He claims that Snowball had turned on the animals at the Battle of the Cowshed, a confusing interpretation of events for many of that...

One way that Squealer rewrites history is to declare that Snowball, who has become Public Enemy Number One on the farm, was responsible for a series of acts of vandalism. Indeed, Squealer tells the animals, he had never been a true revolutionary--he had been in league with Jones the whole time. He claims that Snowball had turned on the animals at the Battle of the Cowshed, a confusing interpretation of events for many of that battle's veterans:



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.



Boxer even protests that Squealer's account is wrong, and Squealer responds that all of Snowball's apparently valiant contributions at the battle were in fact part of a big hoax. After some persuasion, Boxer and the other animals are convinced when Squealer tells them that Napoleon has "stated categorically" that Snowball was always a traitor. Accepting Napoleon's words as truth, the animals go about their business. Later, Boxer's skepticism is punished when Napoleon sends his dogs after him. Boxer successfully fends them off (unlike several unfortunate pigs, hens, geese, and sheep who confess to be traitors in league with Snowball) but the message is sent. Boxer, for one, responds to these purges with a promise to himself to work harder.

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