Character Analysis Of Napoleon In George Orwell's Animal Farm

The author of the novel Animal Farm, George Orwell, created a character named Napoleon. Napoleon is a fierce-looking Berkshire Boar. A boar who is cruel, dishonest, and manipulative. Napoleon offers any animals who have any guilty consciences, about helping assist Snowball's plan to assassinate Napoleon, to come forward and confess. Instead of rewarding their bravery, he ordered his personal guard dogs to slaughter the confessors. Orwell’s words vividly and explicitly describe the gruesome scene in the farmhouse, he writes "...They were all slain on the spot. And so the tale of confessions and executions went on, until there was a pile of corpses lying before Napoleon’s feet..."(Orwell 61). This act alone proves that Napoleon is one cruel

boar. Not only does he terrorize the other animals on the farm, but this also creates a sense of uncertainty for the animals. This shows that coming forward about your wrong doing to your “leader” will get you killed on the spot, no ifs, ands, or buts. On top of that, Napoleon is very dishonest. He tells the animals one thing and does the other himself, or changes the rules in order to fit his own needs. After the slaughterings, the animals remembered the Seven Commandments, in specific the sixth commandment that states that no animal shall kill another animal.

When they went to double check their recent findings, they found that it had been changed to, "No animal shall kill another animal without cause,"(65). This is not the first time Napoleon has done this either. He has also changed two other commandments in order to fulfill his and the other superior pigs needs. He is quite sly with his ways and tries his best in order to not be caught. This is easier to do because he has gotten rid of the only animal that has ever disobeyed, second-guessed, or challenged him, Snowball. Above all else, Napoleon is manipulative. He knew that,"...Boxer and Clover...had great difficulty in thinking anything out for themselves…," so they," accepted the pigs as their teachers,"(14). With this previous knowledge, Napoleon could teach them practically anything, and that will become their sense of reality. They will flaunt their new knowledge around the farm, which is very helpful to the pigs. It will help spread their messages faster, as everyone looked up to Boxer and wanted to be like him. Clover is a mother, so they trusted her and her words as if she was their mother. He manipulates the entire farm by just two box-cart horses and his ‘teachings’. Napoleon is a cruel, dishonest, and manipulative leader, or how some may call it, a

dictator.