How Did Napoleon Abuse His Power

Essay 2 How Does Napoleon Stay in Power? Amid the power void at Manor Farm following shortly after the expulsion of Mr. Jones, it is filled by a brutal and tyrannical pig named Napoleon. After several years, the farm starts to flounder under Napoleon after the discharge of Snowball who acts as a counterbalance to Napoleon. Throughout this period of time animals start to question Napoleon's authority over them.

Animal Farm- Lies and Deceit The book Animal Farm by George Orwell portrays the theme of how someone can lie and deceive others to get what they want just like how the two pigs Napoleon and Squealer used lies and deceit to gain power over Animal Farm. Napoleon lied to other animals, Squealer lied to other animals and they both deceived the other animals, but the sad part is that neither of them lied for the better of the other animals. They both lied to get what they want- power over the animals and the farm.

What is the definition of power? Power means the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others. Animal Farm, by George Orwell, is an allegory illustrating how easily power can fall into the wrong hands. The book starts on a farm where animals are being mistreated by Mr. Jones, the owner. Old Major, an old boar, teaches the animals about the Rebellion, a plan to overthrow Jones and take control.

George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm, depicts life on Animal Farm, where its inhabitants live under the false sense of leadership when a tyrannical leader is oppressing them. Initially, Manor Farm is run by a drunkard farmer named Mr. Jones, but the animals revolt to have a better way of life only to end up just where they started. Animal Farm allows for Napoleon to seize complete control of the farm through propaganda, the desire for power, and animals’ complacency; life on Animal Farm gets exponentially worse for most and better for a select few. Propaganda also played a huge role in sustaining and obtaining the pig's dictatorial government.

“The creatures outside looked from creature to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” (Orwell 141) This quote represents Benito Mussolini (Dictator of Italy 1925-1945) toward the end of his ruling. Both Napoleon and Mussolini rose to power the same way, treated the people they ruled over terribly, and separated themselves from the rest.

Animal Farm is mostly a political fable based on political issues presented in real life. This fable concentrates on power that can be used for doing good or bad, but basically it is used for bad. At the beginning of the story power was used to stop the mistreatment the animals on the farm were facing from humans, but then it started going all the way around, things were getting unusually. It all started after the rebellion, an attack planned by the animals on the farm to take control and eliminate the human authority once and for all at Manor Farm and get to make all animals work together as a team, but this situation led to the wrong use of power. Power, corruption did not end with Mr.Jones as it was supposed to, it continued with Snowball, but the most corrupted was Napoleon.

When somebody receives incredible power, they also receive a large burden of responsibility. Some people, such as Napoleon, disregard these responsibilities and become corrupt. In reality, we have seen this in leaders such as Stalin, who became corrupt once into power. In “Animal Farm”, Napoleon, a totalitarian pig, is a great example of how too much power is equal to corruption.

When thinking about Animal Farm, one of the most prominent and main characters of the story is Napoleon. Napoleon is a pig and in their society, pigs are the most intelligent and are basically at the top of the ladder and the other animals often depended on their cleverness. As the story goes, “Sometimes the work was hard; the implements had been designed for human beings and not for animals, and it was a great drawback that no animal was able to use any tool that involved standing on his hind legs. But the pigs were so clever that they could think of a way round every difficulty” (Orwell 45). Out of all the pigs, Napoleon is particularly clever and opportunistic.

In this tragic novel. The power of love and comfort outweighs all moral principles and the willingness of the animals to follow blindly even when those they follow are corrupt. Napoleon, Squealer, the pigs and the dogs exert power and the other animals such as Boxer, Clover, Benjamin, Muriel, and the sheep are willing to follow blindly. The pigs had decided that the apples and the milk will be set aside for them.

Both Napoleon and Snowball have distinct intentions when in front of the other animals. Snowball behaves in a way in which is beneficial towards the community of animal farm. Furthermore, during the meeting in the big barn, Snowball was full of “plans for innovations”, in an altruistic tone conveying his yearning to ameliorate animal living standards. Snowball demonstrates diligence to in order to improve the Farm’s infrastructure. Moreover, Snowball busied himself with organising the other animals into what he called “Animal Committees”, a refined visual image that consists of reading and writing classes to boost animal education in the farm.