Animal Farm Manipulation Essay

In the dystopian novel Animal Farm by George Orwell, Napoleon demonstrated manipulation by ignoring rules and changing history to convince their subjects into believing their rulers. Using different strategies, Napoleon can bend the way his subjects think and control what they do. In doing this, he makes himself relatable to other leaders in history, different leaders who became known for lying and manipulating.
When Napoleon comes to power, he eventually begins to ignore his own rules. He and the other pigs begin to sleep in the Jones’s beds. To the recollection of the other animals, this was against the seven commandments. By the time the animals went to check the commandments, he had changed it to read that an animal can not “sleep in a bed with sheets”(Animal Farm). Napoleon takes advantage of the stupidity of the animals by manipulating them into believing that he was never wrong. This event on the farm is similar to an event during COVID when the mayor of Denver encouraged the people of Denver to stay home for Thanksgiving, but he flew to go see his family (Chicago Tribune). Both of these figures said one thing in the beginning, then did the exact opposite by the end. The only difference was that Napoleon could save his mistake.

This allows Napoleon to teach them things that aren’t necessarily true. They were not exposed to any community other than the other puppies. This creates a very similar story to the Japanese textbook controversies. The textbooks in secondary education in Japan were said to not have an accurate depiction of the countries affected by Imperial Japan in the war (Japanese History). In both instances the individuals were manipulated and taught the wrong thing about the country’s past and how they should view other countries and