The power of one's tone and word choice can help his/her argument greatly. When one is speaking to a group of people and uses a specific set of word choices, he/she has enough power to change another's ideas. Animal Farm is an example of how animals, specifically Napoleon and Squealer, take over using a wide range of tone and rhetorical strategies. Due to the higher ranking animals (Napoleon and Squealer) strict, urgent tone, the animals then become fearful and submit to Napoleon and Squealer which proves how one's tone and word choice can manipulate others.
Squealer's tone when talking to the animals is serious and has a tone of urgency which sparks fear in the animals because they may not understand what Squealer says, but they know they have to listen to Squealer regardless. Squealer uses words that sound serious to the animals in order for the animals to do what Squealer asks. The animals on the farm have come to the point where they "accepted his explanation without further questions" (Orwell 58). Squealer chooses the strict, urgent tone in order for the animals to not act back or do anything that will go against him. When one uses terms that are complicated but sound important, the audience goes with whatever he/she is saying because it seems "necessary" to do so. By Squealer using a serious tone and complicated terms, the animals then become fearful and submit to whatever he asks of them.
Moreover, Squealer and Napoleon's diction comes from choosing specific propaganda that they know the animals will not act against due to their ability of not being able to fight back (due to cowardice). Squealer usually uses the rhetorical question"' surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?'" (Orwell 36). Squealer obviously knows the answer to his own question and uses Mr. Jones, in opposition to humans in general, because Squealer knows what the animal's reaction will be towards Mr. Jones: fear. Squealer uses Mr. Jones in opposing to anything else because Mr. Jones is someone who the animals still consider a relevant enemy. Squealer implying that the animals agree with him is Squealer bandwagoning the animals into what he is saying. When one continuously brings up something against another person, he/she has the advantage of manipulating the person to do whatever he/she pleases.
Squealer uses rhetorical questions which is then easier on him because the questions he is asking makes the animals think twice about their actions as well as not questioning his own actions.
Throughout the book, Napoleon and Squealer continuously have the ability to make the animals on the farm believe that they are less intelligent than what they already are and do so by changing up the laws subtly. Orwell presents how Squealer uses "some means of propaganda to help him promote his cruel purposes" (Abadi 12). Throughout the novel, Squealer and Napoleon make up the commandments (laws that are put out for every animal on the farm), but t...
