Power In Animal Farm

Power is nothing more than authority and strength, which incorporates any arrangement of motive influence, aptitude to act, and the propensity to control. Whether its dealing with animals or humans, supremacy pursues the ambitious and intellectual, resulting in adverse consequences. In the satire, Animal Farm by George Orwell, the author depicts the animals’ ignorance as it contributes to the overall theme of “power corrupts those who possess it.” First and foremost, in the beginning the story, the reader is introduced to Old Major, a wise, and well-respected boar-pig living on the farm. He projected a speech to all of the animals, proposing that they have an uprising against the sluggish, resource-sucking humans, and run the farm themselves.

Old Major used his trust and reasoning and took advantage of his power to persuade the others to pursue the vision in his dream. Over the course of the years, history has sustained that dictatorship is ineffective and disastrous, suitable to the statistic that dominance will lead to corruption in a communism style establishment like the one of Animalism. Animalism is a system of thought that condenses all of Old Major’s teachings that embodies the fundamental principles that all animals are to be treated equally, and no animal shall acquire human qualities or characteristics. Subsequently, the prevailing pigs lack contribution in sustaining Animal Farm. The central message of “power corrupts those who possess it” is additionally conveyed through the pigs’ proud actions when they refuse, “The pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others. With their superior knowledge it was natural that they should assume the leadership” (Orwell 13). This upholds that the pigs are perceived as superior amongst the other animals, for they are the only ones that can read. This relates to the Russian Revolution, for the pigs deliberately think of themselves as inferior, as do the capitalists, which

Like a snake, Napoleon cheated his way through words and overthrew Snowball, only to find out he would steal his justifying ideas after he attained enough authority. Consequently, Napoleon’s corrupt power is evident when the author asserts, “Throughout the spring and summer they worked a sixty-hour week, and in August Napoleon announced that there would be work on Sunday afternoon as well. This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half” (Orwell 29). This is captivating for it exemplifies Napoleon’s tarnished power for he was voluntarily forcing his comrades to work for food on their plate. By withholding food rations, Napoleon has control over all of the animals as food is crucial resource to survival. He promises more food, yet he abused the animals’ inability to remember as a mean of regulating distribution. Subsequently, Napoleon wasn’t barring there, “In April, Animal Farm was proclaimed a Republic, and it became necessary to elect a President. There was only one candidate, Napoleon, who was elected unanimously” (Orwell 54). How fortunate must’ve Napoleon been to inherit full authorization on Animal Farm. Once Napoleon orders the execution of the pigs and the hens, there is an immediate descent into supplementary betrayal, which leads to Boxer’s passing and