Orwell's Animal Farm

Napoleon had already been marked as a prominent pig because he had a reputation of getting things his own way. By being active in the debates, he received much attention and notice from the animals. He also garnered support from those who agreed with his views but were unable to express themselves. Thus, he became a representative of these animals.

Napoleon also used many tools of propaganda to gain power. The sheep perhaps were his most important tools of propaganda throughout the novel. They were, for sure, a deciding factor in Napoleon's rise to power. Snowball, the other pig who shared the position of leadership with him did not agree with him on many counts. However, he was a good speaker and could easily gain the animals support with his speeches alone. So, Napoleon trained the sheep to break into their favorite slogan of ' four legs good, two legs bad' at vital parts of Snowball's speeches making hard to convey his points to them. Because of this, Snowball would not gain much support which was exactly what Napoleon wanted. All Napoleon had to do was to put down the idea to gain support as the animals would have not been convinced by Snowball if they could not have listened to him.

Napoleon gained complete power through the exiling of Snowball. When, despite Napoleon's efforts, Snowball managed to get most of the animals support on the matter of the windmill, Napoleon knew Snowball was a threat to his position. If Napoleon did not do something, Snowball would soon become the unquestionable leader of Animal Farm. So, he got rid of this danger. Using the dogs he had trained in secret, he banished Snowball from the farm. Without Snowball in the picture, Napoleon became the undisputed leader. He then banned the debates and told the animals they would follow orders instead. This was so that the animals would not be able to have a say in the running of the farm and would not be able to disagree on any matters.

He later sent Squealer to justify his actions. Squealer minces the truth with lies to confuse the animals and think Napoleon was right in exiling Snowball. “Do not imagine leadership is a pleasure" and "it is a deep and heavy responsibility" are some of the truths he uses. These make Napoleon seem sacrificial and will gain the animals' sympathy.