As Napoleon's protege and a character allusion to the historical Vyacheslav Molotov, who was Stalin's head of Communist propaganda, Squealer is a master of rhetoric and oration. Squealer serves as a figurehead for Animal Farm as Napoleon is seen less and less as corruption begins to thrive in the upper ranks of the farm. Throughout the book, Squealer uses several rhetorical devices to sooth any misgivings the animals may have. Squealer does not possess a great deal of basis for his ethos, but he uses it as an effective tool to convince the animals regardless. For example, when the animals figuratively raise their eyebrows at the idea of the pigs being allowed milk and apples, Squealer insists that it is simply science that pigs should need such foods to sustain their superior intelligence. Furthermore, he claims that certain "documents" that have been left behind prove that Snowball was in league with Jones from the start. While it does add an air of credibility to his argument, a few animals notice that they have no way of verifying that this is true. Squealer's logos primarily consists of gaslighting the animals and using circular reasoning to convince them that what the pigs want is also in their best interest. One example of this is when the pigs plan to open the farm for trade and the animals cite the previous agreement to never do this. Squealer makes a logical argument for the benefit of trade and insists that the animals simply dreamed up this resolution. Squealer is undoubtedly the most rhetorically powerful in terms of pathos. He addresses all of the animals as "comrade," immediately establishing a connection with them and implying that they are equals. He seems to have the ability to cry on cue, adding whirlwinds of emotion to any argument. He paints a picture of the pigs's duty as tiresome and arduous, insisting that they do not enjoy the burden of their leadership. This is the most effective way that squealer hides the true nature of the pigs.
Napoleon's propagandist-in-chief Squealer uses a number of time-honored rhetorical tropes to get the animals to believe what the regime wants them to believe. In one of his speeches to the animals, Squealer uses pathos, an appeal to the emotions:
I trust that every animal here appreciates the sacrifice that Comrade Napoleon has made in taking this extra labour upon himself. Do not imagine, comrades, that leadership is a pleasure! On the contrary, it is a deep and heavy responsibility.
It's tough at the top, and Squealer wants the animals to have sympathy towards Napoleon for the awesome burden of governance that he's placed upon his shoulders.
Squealer also uses ethos, an appeal to the speaker's credibility and moral character. Squealer doesn't have either of these, but gives it his best shot anyhow:
Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health. 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.
Squealer is trying to convince the animals that the pigs are not lazy or greedy (even though they are really). It's just that their superior intelligence means that they need to eat apples and drink milk. They don't want to—Good Lord, no—but they have to if they're going to continue benevolently watching over the animals and looking out for their best interests.
Finally, Squealer uses logos, an appeal to reason, to add credibility to his propaganda. Things are going disastrously wrong on the farm; there are chronic food shortages and nothing seems to work properly. There must be a good reason for this, and there is—Napoleon and the other pigs aren't up to the job—but of course Squealer can't very well admit that, so he needs to find a convenient scapegoat. Enter Snowball. This traitor to the Animalist revolution has been secretly plotting to destroy the farm, and what's more, says Squealer, we have the documents to prove it:
We had thought that Snowball's rebellion was caused simply by his vanity and ambition. But we were wrong, comrades. Do you know what the real reason was? Snowball was in league with Jones from the very start! He was Jones's secret agent all the time. It has all been proved by documents which he left behind him and which we have only just discovered. To my mind this explains a great deal, comrades.
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