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Power and control in animal farms
Power and control in animal farms
Power and control in animal farms
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At the start of this novel, the early signs of corruption are beginning to be formed when the pigs discuss the matter of milk and apples : "You do not imagine, i hope, that we pigs are doing in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. I dislike them myself. Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health" (pg 38 ch 3). This is an example of how open to manipulation some animals are when they do not have the power of education. The pigs make efforts to influence the animals by justifying their actions and almost trying to convince them that it was necessary for them to have the milk and apples to stay healthy and fit leaders, otherwise, "Jones would come back". By projecting this fear, the animals are, in a sense, being scared into giving the milk and apples to the pigs because the very last thing they would hope for would be for Jones to return to the farm. …show more content…
They also use intimidation to force the animals into obeying their orders and using fear to blindly scare them into silence, they protrude the idea of the rebellion collapsing if there was no educated leader like Napoleon and the pigs who could apparently, "already read and write perfectly" whereas, the other animals couldn't get "further than the letter A".
By educating themselves early on, they would have an advantage above all the other animals and would have the skills to belittle and unknowingly manipulate them into loyalty to Napoleon. Both Snowball and Napoleon were eager for power over the farm, but both having very different
intentions.
By the end of the story, the pigs act upon their gained trust by bossing the animals around to do more work while they lie on their backs and drink because the animals are too stupid to realize that they are being treated unfairly. Because the pigs have advantages when it comes to being smart, they take advantage of the fact that the animals have no idea whats actually going on. Though the pigs rarely do anything, they get more portions of food. Towards the end of the book, the animals see that while they are working very hard for the farm, the pigs are inside drinking and talking with humans. Though they may not realise it, they are not treated equally.
...he beginning the pigs start out as animals who have no more power than any other animal on the farm, and they all have the same ideas. The animals create order and freedom, and then happiness is no longer enough. Shortly after, Napoleon takes the spot light and takes charge along with the other pigs. He argues that dishonesty becomes present within the environment and their ideas and their views are all different. In this story the animals send away the unkind humans out of the farm, and change the name of their home from Manor Farm to Animal Farm. George Orwell embodies the Russian corruption of communism into the pigs upon the farm. Mr. Jones was irresponsible to his animals by letting them starve, and very cruel by beating them with whips. He was compared to Czar Nicholas II who was a poor leader compared to the western kings, and also a cruel man who was brutal to his opponents. The pig who was named Old Major taught animalism which was compared to Karl Marx beliefs in communism. All animals were equal in Animalism, they had no owners, they were not rich nor were they poor and workers received a better life. In Communism all people were equal, the government owned everything and the people owned the government. Napoleon is the pig on the farm that wants all the power after the humans are kicked out. He was not a good speaker; he killed his opponents and used certain animals to control other animals on the farm.
The actions of the pigs express this theme by starting with good intentions, but slowly becoming more and more like what they were trying to avoid. In the beginning of the story Old Major gives a speech to the animals on the farm, and in this speech he mentions how cruel the humans are. During his speech Old Major uses Boxer the horse as an example when he says “You, Boxer, the very day that those great muscles of yours lose their power, Jones will sell you to the knacker, who will cut your throat and boil you down for the foxhounds.” (Orwell 11). He then proceeds to tell the animals that once they revolt the cruelty will end, and at first it does, but soon the pigs begin to act more like humans. The pi...
The statement, “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely”, simply means that the more power one has – the more control one has over people – then the more corrupt it is possible for that person to become. This statement is certainly correct if the person with the power has certain proclivities towards corruption. There are many examples in the book, “Animal Farm”, by George Orwell, of power corrupting those in charge because they had these tendencies. In the story, the most powerful animals are the two pigs, Napoleon and, to a lesser degree, Snowball. During the course of the story these pigs used their power to get more power, and in the process their inclinations towards corruption triumphed. When Old Major, the boar who came up with the idea of all animals uniting against humans, died, Napoleon and Snowball saw an opportunity where they could take control and took it. Napoleon used force to get rid of Snowball and take all the power for himself, and he used fear to keep the other animals from revolting. He used scapegoats so that he could not be blamed for anything that went wrong, and propaganda to brainwash the animals into loyal slaves. Napoleon changed and broke the commandments of Animal Farm to benefit himself, and he lacked empathy for all those who worked hard for him, executing those that might cause him trouble.
...ll return. By cleverly inducing fear into the animals, the pigs are able to convince them to agree with and support anything they suggest.
Throughout the story, the animals begin the trust the pigs more and more, allowing themselves to be told what to do and be taken in with blind devotion. The pigs act on their newly gained trust and by the end of the story are able to lie back on their laurels and run the farm from the comfort of Mr. Jones’ armchair.
At the start of the book the pigs have ideas of equality and fairness. As at the start of the book Old Major describes his vision of a perfect future without man. He teaches them a song called, ‘Beasts of England’ this helps create the satire of nationalism as the animals sing the song but they don’t truly know the meaning of it. By singing it many times it starts up a revolution and the animals no longer being the rule of Mr Jones. Techniques of imagery are used to show the brightness of the near future, ‘the...
After the Animal Revolution the pigs take the initiative and place themselves in charge because of their claim of having higher intelligence. Over time this power begins to distort the basis of their revolt by recreating the same social situation they were previously in. “When the pigs takeover they claim that their goal is to preside a farm of equal animals, all working together to support one another, yet power quickly proves too much for a pig.” Though the animals originally took over the farm to increase the animal’s independence as a whole, because of the pig’s superiority they soon take the place of the humans further limiting their independence.
Snowball and Napoleon held a great deal of contrast between the way they each ruled over “Animal Farm/Manor Farm.” The only thing he did lack, was the ability of pursuasion to the other animals. Snowball had all the right ideas, all to better the whole farm. Napoleon, on the other hand, had a knack for stealing other animals’ ideas, then telling the rest it was his and getting credit for it. His ideas only seemed to benefit the pigs and not the animals. It was this, that led to the crumbling of the farm. Napoleons obsession with becoming the ruler is what got Snowball nearly killed by the dogs...in a plot made by Napoleon. Which then produced a whole new rebellion not of the animals to the humans, but of the animals to the pigs. So for these reasons, Snowball showed better qualities for leadership than Napoleon because he wasn’t selfish and thought about the future of “Animal Farm.” First, the dominated farm animals viewed Napoleon and Snowball differently at different times throughout the book. The way the animals reacted to each leader brought upon new problems of the farm. The animals respected Snowball, and believed that his teachings were all true and had a good cause. Although Snowball and Napoleon had superior qualities leadership, it was clearly Snowball who had the better qualities for running a farm. Under Snowballs’ rule, the animals were generally content with what was going on and were all for it if it was to better the farm. It was obvious that Napoleon had the better half of getting his own way on the farm. However, the animals had some problems with Napoleon but they didn’t know haw to express their feelings and show him that they didn’t like the way he ran things. It was the animals’ ignorance that helped keep Napoleon in rule for as long as it was. The responses were so different between the animals that it must have been a drastic change between Snowball and Napoleon.
Throughout the book we see tales of manipulation by the pigs to the farm animals, without the animals the pigs would have never risen to power yet they let their power go to their head and lied and mistreated the animals to get what they wanted. The beasts had several chances to revolt against the pigs, yet for some reason they turned their heads to the injustice an ignored their senses of both reason and logic, maybe they feared having to be in charge, maybe they were just too naive to see it, or perhaps they truly believed the lies. Whatever their reasoning we see the same things in human society, and George Orwell does a good job of displaying to us how willing society is to turn its head to injustice and consents to being exploited by a higher power.
Education is not as prominent in the book as during the Russian Revolution. In the book, education is mentioned when Snowball finds old spelling books, once belonging to Mr. Jones. He begins to teach himself, followed by the other pigs, and finally he helps the other animals to read and write. Some of the not so intelligent animals find this quite taxing, whereas the pigs– being the most intelligent, learn the fastest. Snowball is the most interested in educating the animals, and the well being of the other animals on the farm. Just as Trotsky was intent in educating the Russian people, and their well being during the Revolution. “Napoleon took no interest in Snowball’s committees. He said that education of the young was more important than anything that could be done for those who were already grown up.” This shows Snowball’s commitment to the animals compared to the uninterested Napoleon.
Old Major chose a poor time to launch a rebellion. The dogs showed little care for the outcome of their pups’ upbringing. The hens’ independence could be seen as a bad action to the taking over of the farm. If the sheep were genetically smarter the story’s course could have been changed. Boxer’s tolerance of the pigs could have been a factor leading to his death. Benjamin’s negligence could have been the downfall of the farm. Lastly the remaining pigs selfishness is a contribution leading to the worse then average life of the farm animals. All these animals were responsible for the pigs’ dictatorship.
The pigs break all seven commandments, some without notice, simply because power is addictive, and they constantly want more of it. It is never enough. These
The disappearance of the milk grew questioning in the animals on the farm, but Napoleon sent Squealer to explain, “Milk and apples contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of the pig (Orwell 36).” They took advantage of the animal’s knowledge by saying it was for the animals sake that they consume the apples and milk to keep the farm running, and threatens the return of Mr. Jones. Napoleon often uses the image of Jones as a scare tactic in order to get the other animals to agree with him. When the scarcity of food increases it is explained as a “readjustment (Orwell 112),” not as a reduction. The animals minds are being manipulated about reality by Napoleon and his growth of power. Throughout Animal Farm’s struggle, Napoleon still receives a fair amount of food, along with the other pigs, as well as the
The means to get this was by Napoleon and Snowball taking charge and organizing the events in the other animals’ lives