In Animal Farm, George Orwell warns how power will often lead to corruption. Napoleon was placed in a position of power after Major died, and he slowly starts to lavish in his power and become addicted to the lush life of a dictator. When Napoleon first becomes a leader, he expresses how everyone will work equally, but as his reign goes on, he shortens the work hours. At the very end of the novel, the observing animals even start to see that pig and man had become the same. The irony present in the above example, illuminates how regardless of how much a ruler promises to maintain equality and fairness, the position of power that they hold, will corrupt them.
The greed of power will always blind the leader’s judgment. Napoleon was not excluded in this matter as he often takes advantages knowing that the animals cannot read or write. Although there are many examples to support this fact, but one stands out the most, Boxer’s ending. As can be seen throughout the story, Boxer is the one who worked hard for that farm’s welfare from the beginning to the end. His never-failing cry of ‘I will work harder’ often inspired the rest of animals to work hard despite facing failures such as destruction of the windmill for the second time.
Lord Acton, the British historian, once said, “All power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell, the character Napoleon puts himself in charge. But, not only that he allows another pig, Squealer, to do his dirty work. And also uses dogs to chase his enemy, Snowball, away . In which leads to other animals not knowing that the farm is being ran the same way as when under Mr. Jones, the old farmer 's, control.
Napoleon also uses manipulation to gain and maintain a firm control by changing the Commandments for the farm in ways that work to his benefit. Squealer, Napoleon’s propaganda department, Keeps the farm animals believing in Napoleon by describing what they hear and see to make it seem harmless. Using effective tactics of fear, convincing propaganda, and manipulation, Napoleon gains and maintains control of Animal Farm. “Animal Farm” has corruption and equality in a way the animals try to succeed and achieve a goal to make the farm better. Power corrupts in “Animal Farm” because the pigs have a goal which is working together and helping one another.
I agree with this statement “The animals have only themselves to blame for the failure of Animal Farm”. I agree with this statement because Napoleon was an unfair leader. Napoleon did not treat all the animals equally with the same amount of respect. We should not blame all the animals, but just the ones that were left on the farm. Boxer was a strong leader and he died because of Napoleon.
Trying to gain freedom on the farm, the animals obtain a leader, Napoleon, who is much more harsh and stern than the former farm owner, Mr. Jones, has ever been. Symbolizing a ruler from the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, Napoleon brings the farm into a hole, they have a hard time getting out of. Napoleon kills various animals, and has also broken the Seven commandments the animals promise to abide by. In the beginning, the farm was run by Mr. Jones, who is later overpowered by the animals on the farm. To gain power, Napoleon starts to earn their trust by making it seem as if he is a trustworthy comrade.
Animal Farm’s intentions were to be an allegory of the Russian Revolution and both were uses of propaganda in similar ways. In the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks used propaganda to declare their laws and rules to the Russian population and their authority of the Russian Revolution. In Animal Farm, propaganda was mostly used by the pigs. The use of propaganda allowed Napoleon to persuade the animals that Snowball was the reason their hard work of the windmill was wasted and that he was the reason of all the negative aspects of their lives. Also, the use of propaganda also benefited the pigs into having to do less work at times or them gaining the most apples or milk.
We often find that it is simpler to stay hidden in the dark, rather than step out into the light. As citizens it is our responsibility to call out our leaders if they are not taking notice of what we, the people, want or need. The animals, in Animal Farm, overthrew their farmer and attempted to form a fair government, but soon became dictated to, by the pigs. The book records the evolution of tyranny to totalitarianism which became as terrible as their first situation. In Animal Farm, George Orwell illustrates that it is the responsibility of the citizens to stand up against injustice and inequality.
Napoleon ruled animal farm harshly and overworked the animals. Orwell described, “This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half” (Orwell 59). The animal’s are given a choice in the sense that if they wanted to, they could have Sundays off. However, the brutal consequences the animals would face if they did not work forced the animals to listen to the pigs.
The farm fails because of the pigs not being fair to the other animals, plus the animals being too dumb to realize it. The other animals made mistakes, by not speaking up when they thought something was wrong. Animal Farm starts to fail because pigs start to make power grabs that screws the “perfect life” vision the animals have. These reasons, including many more, are why Animal Farm fails. One reason Animal Farm fails, is because of power grabs by animals.
Furthermore, Napoleon gives the other animals the impression he was the sole leader of the rebellion on Animal farm and makes Snowball -a leader who wanted what was best for the animals- seem like an enemy who was in cahoots with Farmer Jones since long before the animals took over the farm. Napoleon and Squealer (another “fat cat” pig.) always put the blame on Snowball whenever something went wrong in the farm to avoid having the blame fall on them. Napoleon is an exemplary example of just how selfish and hypocritical people can be in furthering their own aims because he continued to subtly but purposely change the seven rules put in place as the pillars of animalism. For example, Napoleon and the other pigs move into Farmer Jones’s house and sleep in his bed after commanding “No animal shall sleep in a bed”, so he changes the commandment to read “no animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets”.
One example was when tension arose between Napoleon and Snowball shortly after he came up with the idea of the windmill. Napoleon became envious of Snowballs gain in popularity and ended up executing him from the farm. Another theme played in the novel is revolution and corruption. Animal Farm depicts a revolution in progress. Old Major gives the animals a new perspective on their situation under Mr. Jones, which leads them to envision a better future free of human
In Animal Farm, two themes were shown throughout the book. One theme was “Not everyone is equal; some people believe that they are more superior than others.” another theme was “People deserve to have their own thoughts and ideas. These were shown when Napoleon used his powers for hurt hurt not for the better of the farm. He used his powers to create a farm that is not equal for everyone.
In Animals Farm, there is a pig who’s name Napoleon. This character did not contributed to the society with his actions. In effect, he did not respect the concept of “Animalism” which is the equality of all the animals. He did many actions that broke this conception during the entire story. At the beginning, Napoleon, take the farm with Snowball when the farmer, Mr. Jones, left.
The corrupting effect of power has divided the united farm and drifted the animals far from the ideals of the revolution. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, an ideal utopian society cannot be achieve because there was a lack of equality, cooperation, and the farm’s corrupt leadership. Equality