The animals believed he could turn black into white.
Squealer, Napoleon’s perpetually persuasive right-hand pig in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, is the master propagandist.
With nimble movements and a shrill voice, Squealer wields language not for truth, but for control. He justifies the pigs’ privileges, rewrites history to suit Napoleon’s narrative, and quashes dissent with clever rhetoric and fear-mongering.
We’ve collected 23 essential quotes with page numbers showcasing Squealer’s manipulative tactics. Organized by his core methods, these selections reveal Orwell’s sharp critique of how language can be distorted to uphold tyranny and suppress dissent.
Heads up! Page numbers reference the Signet edition noted below.
Squealer Justifying Pig Privilege
From the beginning, Squealer uses clever arguments, pseudo-science, and appeals to necessity to explain why the pigs deserve special treatment and resources denied to the other hardworking animals.
“The best known among them was a small fat pig named Squealer, with very round cheeks, twinkling eyes, nimble movements, and a shrill voice. He was a brilliant talker… The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white.”
(Speaker: Narrator about Squealer, Chapter 2, Page 16)
This crucial introduction establishes Squealer’s defining characteristics: his persuasive physical mannerisms and his notorious ability to twist reality through language, the essential toolkit of a propagandist.
“Squealer was sent to make the necessary explanations to the others.”
(Speaker: Narrator about Squealer, Chapter 3, Page 35)
The narrator highlights Squealer’s designated role early on – he is the official mouthpiece tasked with smoothing over the pigs’ controversial actions and controlling the narrative.
“Comrades!’ he cried. ‘You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege?… Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are brainworkers.”
(Speaker: Squealer, Chapter 3, Pages 35-36)
Squealer employs pseudo-science (“proved by Science”) and appeals to the pigs’ supposed intellectual importance (“brainworkers”) to justify hoarding resources, setting a pattern for future manipulation. Explore more themes of power: analyze Animal Farm’s hierarchy and control.
“Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for YOUR sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples.”
(Speaker: Squealer, Chapter 3, Page 36)
He masterfully reframes the pigs’ self-interest as a selfless act performed solely for the benefit and protection of the other animals, demanding gratitude for their indulgence.
“No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?”
(Speaker: Squealer about Napoleon, Chapter 5, Page 55)
Squealer defends Napoleon’s abolition of democratic meetings by invoking equality while simultaneously undermining the animals’ competence, justifying dictatorship as protection. See how Napoleon described his own actions: examine Napoleon’s manipulative words and deeds.
“Do not imagine, comrades, that leadership is a pleasure!”
(Speaker: Squealer, Chapter 5, Page 55)
By portraying leadership as a heavy burden rather than a position of power and privilege, Squealer aims to deflect resentment and garner sympathy for the ruling class.
“You have heard then, comrades,” he said, “that we pigs now sleep in the beds of the farmhouse? And why not?… The rule was against sheets, which are a human invention…You would not rob us of our repose, would you, comrades?”
(Speaker: Squealer, Chapter 6, Page 67)
Squealer justifies the pigs’ moving into the farmhouse by narrowly reinterpreting the commandment against beds, focusing on “sheets” to obscure the violation of the rule’s original intent and spirit.
“It was absolutely necessary, he said, that the pigs, who were the brains of the farm, should have a quiet place to work in.”
(Speaker: Narrator reporting Squealer’s words), Chapter 6, Page 66)
Again, Squealer emphasizes the pigs’ vital role as “brains,” positioning their need for comfort (the farmhouse) as essential for the farm’s operational success.
“And Squealer, who happened to be passing at this moment, attended by two or three dogs, was able to put the whole matter in its proper perspective.”
(Speaker: Narrator about Squealer), Chapter 6, Page 67)
The casual mention of the dogs accompanying Squealer subtly underscores the ever-present threat of force backing up his persuasive, often misleading, words.
“…as Squealer was never tired of explaining, endless work in the supervision and organisation of the farm… Squealer told them that the pigs had to expend enormous labours every day upon mysterious things called “files,” “reports,” “minutes,” and “memoranda.” …This was of the highest importance for the welfare of the farm, Squealer said.”
(Speaker: Narrator about Squealer, Chapter 10, Pages 129-130)
Squealer justifies the pigs’ lack of physical contribution by inventing bureaucratic tasks, using jargon (“files,” “reports”) to create an illusion of vital, complex labor, insisting it’s crucial for the farm’s welfare.
Squealer consistently uses sophisticated rhetoric, appeals to false logic, and redefines terms to rationalize the pigs’ growing power and privilege.
Rewriting History & Scapegoating Snowball
A crucial part of Squealer’s role involves altering the animals’ collective memory, consistently vilifying the exiled Snowball and twisting past events to glorify Napoleon and legitimize the current regime.
“Bravery is not enough,” said Squealer. “Loyalty and obedience are more important. And as to the Battle of the Cowshed, I believe the time will come when we shall find that Snowball’s part in it was much exaggerated.”
(Speaker: Squealer, Chapter 5, Page 55)
Here, Squealer lays the groundwork for diminishing Snowball’s documented heroism, prioritizing loyalty to the current regime (Napoleon) over past actions.
“This, said Squealer, was something called tactics.”
(Speaker: Squealer, Chapter 5, Page 58)
By labeling Napoleon’s reversal on the windmill as clever “tactics,” Squealer dismisses any apparent hypocrisy and reframes Napoleon’s opportunism as strategic brilliance.
“He assured them that the resolution against engaging in trade and using money had never been passed… It was pure imagination, probably traceable in the beginning to lies circulated by Snowball.”
(Speaker: Narrator reporting Squealer’s words), Chapter 6, Page 64)
When Napoleon breaks a fundamental rule, Squealer denies the rule ever existed and blames the animals’ accurate memory on Snowball’s alleged misinformation, a classic gaslighting technique.
“Now when Squealer described the scene so graphically, it seemed to the animals that they did remember it. At any rate, they remembered that at the critical moment of the battle Snowball had turned to flee.”
(Speaker: Narrator about Squealer’s effect), Chapter 7, Page 81)
Orwell highlights Squealer’s effectiveness: his vivid (though false) narrative successfully implants a false memory of Snowball’s cowardice, overwriting the actual events.
“Our Leader, Comrade Napoleon,” announced Squealer… “has stated categorically-categorically, comrade-that Snowball was Jones’s agent from the very beginning…”
(Speaker: Squealer), Chapter 7, Page 81)
Squealer appeals to Napoleon’s absolute authority (“stated categorically”) to solidify the ultimate slander against Snowball, demanding belief over evidence or memory. Contrast this with Snowball’s actual heroism: read about Snowball’s true role.
“Reading out the figures in a shrill, rapid voice, he proved to them in detail that they had more oats, more hay, more turnips than they had had in Jones’s day…”
(Speaker: Narrator about Squealer), Chapter 9, Page 113)
Despite the animals’ clear suffering, Squealer wields statistics (likely fabricated) as irrefutable “proof” of progress, demonstrating how quantitative data can be used to obscure qualitative reality.
“Besides, in those days they had been slaves and now they were free, and that made all the difference, as Squealer did not fail to point out.”
(Speaker: Narrator about Squealer), Chapter 9, Page 113)
Squealer cleverly uses the abstract concept of “freedom”—however abstract it has become—to minimize current suffering and maintain ideological control.
“It was the most affecting sight I have ever seen!” said Squealer… ‘Forward, comrades!’ he whispered… ‘Long live Comrade Napoleon! Napoleon is always right.’ Those were his very last words, comrades.”
(Speaker: Squealer about Boxer), Chapter 9, Page 125)
Squealer delivers a fabricated, sentimental account of Boxer’s death, cynically twisting the loyal worker’s final moments into propaganda supporting Napoleon. Want to understand Boxer’s true fate? Analyze Boxer’s defining moments.
Squealer’s ability to reshape the past and present narrative is key to maintaining the pigs’ control and justifying their escalating tyranny.
Enforcing Loyalty & Silencing Dissent
Squealer actively suppresses dissent through rhetorical tricks, appeals to fear, and the implied threat of violence, ensuring the animals remain compliant and loyal to Napoleon.
“Surely, comrades,” cried Squealer almost pleadingly, skipping from side to side and whisking his tail, “surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?”
(Speaker: Squealer), Chapter 3, Page 36)
This becomes Squealer’s trump card, deployed whenever logic fails, leveraging the animals’ greatest fear to shut down any questioning of the pigs’ authority.
“The animals were not certain what the word meant, but Squealer spoke so persuasively, and the three dogs who happened to be with him growled so threateningly, that they accepted his explanation without further questions.”
(Speaker: Narrator about Squealer), Chapter 5, Page 58)
This moment clearly illustrates Squealer’s methods: confusing rhetoric combined with the overt threat of violence from Napoleon’s dogs ensures acceptance.
“A few animals still felt faintly doubtful, but Squealer asked them shrewdly, ‘Are you certain that this is not something that you have dreamed, comrades? Have you any record of such a resolution? Is it written down anywhere?’”
(Speaker: Squealer and Narrator), Chapter 6, Page 64)
Squealer shifts the burden of proof, exploiting the animals’ illiteracy and fading memories to cast doubt on their understanding of past agreements.
“They had just finished singing it for the third time when Squealer, attended by two dogs, approached them… He announced that, by a special decree of Comrade Napoleon, Beasts of England had been abolished… ‘It’s no longer needed, comrade,’ said Squealer stiffly.”
(Speaker: Narrator and Squealer), Chapter 7, Pages 87-88)
Flanked by force, Squealer coldly enforces Napoleon’s decree banning the anthem of the Rebellion, demonstrating the regime’s power to erase even the most potent symbols of their original ideals.
“At the foot of the end wall… lay a ladder broken in two pieces. Squealer, temporarily stunned, was sprawling beside it… near at hand there lay a lantern, a paint-brush, and an overturned pot of white paint.”
(Speaker: Narrator about Squealer), Chapter 8, Pages 108-109)
This scene catches Squealer red-handed, providing undeniable proof (to the observant Benjamin) of his physical alteration of the Commandments. Explore Benjamin’s silent understanding: Benjamin Animal Farm Quotes and Page Numbers.
Squealer is indispensable to Napoleon’s regime, using rhetoric, gaslighting, and the threat of force to maintain order and ensure the animals accept their worsening reality.
Conclusion: Propaganda Personified
Squealer represents the terrifying efficiency of propaganda when wielded by a totalitarian state. His “brilliant” talking and persuasive mannerisms are not used for enlightenment but for manipulation, justifying the pigs’ increasing tyranny and systematically distorting the animals’ perception of reality.
He embodies the amoral intellectual serving power, adept at rewriting history, demonizing opponents, and rationalizing oppression.
Orwell uses Squealer to illustrate how language becomes a potent instrument of control, capable of turning “black into white” and convincing a populace to accept blatant contradictions and injustices.
Squealer’s success highlights the crucial importance of critical thinking, access to information, and the courage to question the narratives presented by those in power, lessons profoundly relevant in any era where information is contested.
Explore All Animal Farm Analysis
A Note on Page Numbers & Edition:
Just as Squealer could twist black into white, page numbers for George Orwell’s Animal Farm can shift and change between editions! These 23 quotes reference the widely used Signet 50th Anniversary paperback edition (April 6, 2004), ISBN-13: 978-0451526342. Always double-check against your specific copy when citing for academic work—ensure your evidence hasn’t been turned from black to white!
Jeremy Mortis, founder of Ageless Investing, applies a rigorous analytical approach (the AAM framework) to distill timeless wisdom and contextualized quotes from classic literature, saving you time while deepening understanding. Learn more about Jeremy’s unique background and methodology on his author bio page.