Animal Farm

by

George Orwell

Squealer Character Analysis

A fat pig who’s a skilled orator. Squealer works closely with Snowball and Napoleon at first—and later, just Napoleon—to interpret or distill what the pigs’ plan is for the other animals. Squealer is purportedly able to convince animals of anything, and he’s very effective in his job. Sometimes he’s effective because of the way he’s able to manipulate language; other times, Squealer is effective because the attack dogs accompany him. He benefits from Napoleon’s rule, as Squealer is often tasked with addressing the animals during Sunday meetings and gets the same extensive rations as the rest of the pigs. At the end of the novel, Squealer learns to walk on two legs and teaches the sheep the new maxim “Four legs good, two legs better!” He’s present at the meeting between the pigs and the farmers. Squealer represents the Soviet press, which Stalin controlled throughout his rule.

Squealer Quotes in Animal Farm

The Animal Farm quotes below are all either spoken by Squealer or refer to Squealer. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Totalitarianism Theme Icon
).
Chapter 3 Quotes

“Comrades!” he cried. “You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. 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. The whole management and organization of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples.”

Related Characters: Squealer (speaker), Napoleon, Snowball
Page Number: 35-36
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

“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?”

Related Characters: Squealer (speaker), Napoleon
Page Number: 55
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

If a window was broken or a drain was blocked up, someone was certain to say that Snowball had come in the night and done it, and when the key of the store-shed was lost, the whole farm was convinced that Snowball had thrown it down the well. Curiously enough, they went on believing this even after the mislaid key was found under a sack of meal.

Related Characters: Snowball, Squealer
Page Number: 78
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

At the foot of the end wall of the big barn, where the Seven Commandments were written, there lay a ladder broken in two pieces. Squealer, temporarily stunned, was sprawling beside it, and near at hand there lay a lantern, a paint-brush, and an overturned pot of white paint. [...] None of the animals could form any idea as to what this meant, except old Benjamin, who nodded his muzzle with a knowing air, and seemed to understand, but would say nothing.

Related Characters: Benjamin, Squealer
Page Number: 108-109
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

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.

Related Characters: Squealer, Mr. Jones
Page Number: 113
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer—except, of course, for the pigs and the dogs.

Related Characters: Napoleon, Squealer, The Dogs, Minimus
Page Number: 129
Explanation and Analysis:

“Four legs good, two legs better!”

Related Characters: The Sheep (speaker), Squealer
Page Number: 134
Explanation and Analysis:

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.

Related Characters: Napoleon, Benjamin, Squealer, Clover
Page Number: 134
Explanation and Analysis:

The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

Related Characters: Napoleon, Squealer, Clover, Mr. Pilkington
Page Number: 141
Explanation and Analysis:
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Squealer Quotes in Animal Farm

The Animal Farm quotes below are all either spoken by Squealer or refer to Squealer. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Totalitarianism Theme Icon
).
Chapter 3 Quotes

“Comrades!” he cried. “You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. 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. The whole management and organization of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples.”

Related Characters: Squealer (speaker), Napoleon, Snowball
Page Number: 35-36
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

“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?”

Related Characters: Squealer (speaker), Napoleon
Page Number: 55
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

If a window was broken or a drain was blocked up, someone was certain to say that Snowball had come in the night and done it, and when the key of the store-shed was lost, the whole farm was convinced that Snowball had thrown it down the well. Curiously enough, they went on believing this even after the mislaid key was found under a sack of meal.

Related Characters: Snowball, Squealer
Page Number: 78
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

At the foot of the end wall of the big barn, where the Seven Commandments were written, there lay a ladder broken in two pieces. Squealer, temporarily stunned, was sprawling beside it, and near at hand there lay a lantern, a paint-brush, and an overturned pot of white paint. [...] None of the animals could form any idea as to what this meant, except old Benjamin, who nodded his muzzle with a knowing air, and seemed to understand, but would say nothing.

Related Characters: Benjamin, Squealer
Page Number: 108-109
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

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.

Related Characters: Squealer, Mr. Jones
Page Number: 113
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer—except, of course, for the pigs and the dogs.

Related Characters: Napoleon, Squealer, The Dogs, Minimus
Page Number: 129
Explanation and Analysis:

“Four legs good, two legs better!”

Related Characters: The Sheep (speaker), Squealer
Page Number: 134
Explanation and Analysis:

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.

Related Characters: Napoleon, Benjamin, Squealer, Clover
Page Number: 134
Explanation and Analysis:

The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

Related Characters: Napoleon, Squealer, Clover, Mr. Pilkington
Page Number: 141
Explanation and Analysis: