Throughout the book Animal Farm, by George Orwell, the protagonist Napoleon emerges as an active political member in a utopian communist society after the animal revolution with the intention of benefiting society as a whole. Napoleon eventually turns into a ruthless dictator without any political opposition. Napoleon’s Transition from political activist, to unitary political figure, to ruthless dictator brings a whole new meaning to the statement, “power corrupts”.
Napoleon Starts out as a moral and honest member in the Animal society by trying to benefit society as a whole. “These three (Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer) had elaborated old Major’s teachings into a complete system of thought, to which they gave the name of Animalism. Several
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“When they had finished their confession, the dogs promptly tore their throats out, and in a terrible voice Napoleon demanded whether any other animal had anything to confess. The three hens who had been the ringleaders in the attempted rebellion over the eggs now came forward and stated that snowball had appeared to them in a dream and incited them to disobey Napoleon’s orders. They, too, were slaughtered” (pg 93). Napoleon like other authoritarian dictators throughout history is executing all of his political rivals in order to prevent a revolution or uprising to occur and further cementing his regime in the Animal Farm society. In this passage as he is directly violating one of the laws that Animal Farm created (No animal shall ever kill any other animal). This law was created by the Animal Farm society in order to prevent chaos and corruptness in the Animal Farm government, which in turn means that the abolishment of this law causes corruptness to reach a new height. “the winter was as cold as the last one had been, and food was even shorter. Once again all rations were reduced, except those of the pigs and the dogs. A too rigid equality in rations, Squealer explained, would have been contrary to the principles of Animalism” (115). Napoleon’s regime has reduced rations on all of the citizens of Animal Farm except for the pigs and the dogs thus further amplifying the fact that everyone who isn’t a pig or a dog is a second class citizen who can’t vote, can’t sleep in the barn, and can’t eat as much. As Napoleon reached its most powerful state, it also reached its most corrupt state having inequality as a common recurring theme in the Animal Farm society and enemies of the state being publicly
Napoleon is an extremely deceitful character in numerous ways. For example, Napoleon tricks the animals into thinking concepts that are not true. “Throughout the whole period of his seeming friendship with Pilkington, Napoleon had really been in a secret agreement with Frederick,” (31). This shows that Napoleon lied to the animals about which farm he was going to sell wood to. Furthermore, this also illustrates that the animals might not trust Napoleon if he continues to lie to them. Additionally, Napoleon is an untruthful menace who will do nothing to help the farm or the animals. “Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for YOUR sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples,” (12). This shows that Napoleon is trying to
Power is a privilege that can be abused. In the book “Animal Farm” a pig named napoleon had the privilege given to him from the very prestigious and distinguished leader named Old Major. Power is given to the pigs to lead all the animals in the farm that they overruled their leader. Napoleon was nice at first but the animals soon realize what is yet to come. He stays in power a long time by using animalism, fear by jones and the dogs and propaganda to his advantage.
This evil “...fierce-looking Berkshire boar… with a reputation for getting his own way”(25), abolishes his competition, Snowball, by running him off with viscously educated guard dogs. Instead of letting the people decide who the leader will be, Napoleon gets frightened of his competition and chases him off proving to be the cruel leader he is. Another cruel tactic that Napoleon uses to take control of Animal Farm is the way he kills the animals that confess to contradicting his rule. For example, when four pigs admit to Napoleon that they had been secretly in touch with Snowball, he has “the dogs promptly tear their throats out”(83). Napoleon’s cruelness doesn’t allow anyone to show him up as a leader. One other way in which Napoleon’s cruel nature allows him to take over is amending the commandments to make them in favor of pigs. At first the 7th commandment states, “All animals are equal”(33), but Napoleon secretly changes it to, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”(123). Knowing the ignorance of the other animals, Napoleon takes full advantage knowing that no one would notice what the commandment previously said. This evil boar’s cruel villainous nature allows him to take complete control over a
From the very beginning, Napoleon started breaking the commandment that stated all animals are equal. He had all the milk and apples set aside for the pigs. He put forth the idea that the pigs depended on these things for survival, and that it was in the interest of the entire farm that they be set aside for them. The others were convinced by Squealer’s arguments that
George Orwell’s allegory to the Russian Revolution addresses the question if power corrupts those who possess it. “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” is a quote by British historian, Lord Acton, which supports Orwell’s answer to the question. Lord Acton’s statement means that a person’s sense of morality lessens as his or her power increases. This is directly relevant to Animal Farm because Napoleon is quickly corrupted by power. He begins with good intentions of freeing the farm from the tight restrictions and hardships under Mr. Jones. However, as Napoleon gained more power, his morality lessened. The power became addictive and it soon consumed Napoleon. Orwell also addresses the overall problem of dictators rising
Power corrupts. George Orwell expresses in his novel, Animal Farm, that it does not matter who is in control. Government is always going to be corrupt. Orwell illustrates this with the gradual transformation of the pigs. Following the death of Old Major, the pigs immediately assume leadership. However, the pigs’ gluttonous obsession with power causes them to be indistinguishable from men. Orwell emphasizes the impact of absolute power in the pigs’ rise as totalitarian dictators.
Napoleon, the leader, is very authoritative and selfish. Napoleon is a tyrant. It is very likely Napoleon is conspiring to take over Animal Farm so that he can take advantage of the situation of having many animals at his disposal. He is the one that initiated the violation of established resolutions, and concealed it by altering the resolutions. What satisfies his pleasure the most is what takes precedence over everything-the animals, honesty, commandments, etc. He gives himself the credit for every good thing, without any recognition to the other animals, such as the building of the windmill, which he announces the mill will be named Napoleon Mill, and the victory of the windmill. Snowball, who was chased of the farm by Napoleon's personal bodyguards, portrayed by dogs, is being used as a scapegoat, "Whenever anything went wrong, it became usual to attribute it to Snowball." Napoleon, with the help of his dogs, slaughters anyone who is said to be disloyal. ". . .the tale of confessions and executions went on, until there was a pile of corpses lying before Napoleon's feet and the air was heavy with the smell of blood, which had been unknown there since the expulsion of Jones." To top it off, Napoleon outlaws Beasts of England, which had served as one of the only remaining ties between Animal Farm and Old Major. The animals think that killing is against one of the commandments, but when Muriel reads the writing on the barn wall to Clover, interestingly, the words are, "No animal shall kill any other animal without cause.
Napoleon was a leader who led with an iron fist. A fist he used to secretly abuse his fellow animal. He began by raising several ferocious dogs to aid him in enforcing his rules, laws, and expectations. Using them, he abruptly ended Snowballs reign by using the dogs to exile him from the farm. Shortly after, he halted the construction of the windmill. More often than not he would cleverly work his way around the seven commandments by altering them to his pleasure. For example, 'Now animal shall drink alcohol to excess.'; Or 'No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets.'; Napoleon grounded the rations of each and every animal. The farm slowly fell into a dark abyss with every wretched move Napoleon made.
Napoleon uses dogs to intimidate the animals so they won’t disrespect him, and uses Squealer to make speeches to hide his wrongdoings and deceive the animals into thinking he is doing things for the benefit of everybody. In animal farm by George Orwell demonstrates by using animals demonstrates how power can make people abuse their power to make others respect and fear them. Leaders use their superior knowledge and instill fear to deceive citizens, and abuse power.
In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, a main theme is that power corrupts those who possess it. A definition of corruption is,“dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery.” Orwell develops this idea through the character Napoleon in various ways. Looking back in the book, the animal’s rebellion quickly turned political and revolved around, “Leader, Comrade Napoleon (Orwell 81)”. The power Napoleon possed was executed through lies and selfishness, aided by the lack of intellectual ability in the other animals. The corruption of Napoleon’s power is displayed when he favors himself, along with the other pigs, and eventually the dogs, who all get better rations of food compared to the other animals. Another main demonstration of how power corrupts Napoleon is how he separates himself from the other animals on the farm, displaying his feelings if superiority to the other animals. A ceremonial nature develops towards Napoleon. The last way power corrupts Napoleon is how he acts recklessly; killing other animals and lying about
Can you imagine what life would be like living under the rule of a dictator pig? The animals in Animal Farm by George Orwell unfortunately experience this first hand. In the novel, the farm animals rebel against their owner and drive him out, and thus Manor Farm is renamed Animal Farm and the animals begin to govern themselves. They all agree that the smartest animal should be considered the leader, therefore Snowball and Napoleon, both pigs, are put in charge. However, as the story goes along, Napoleon exiles Snowball and becomes corrupted with power, and despite claiming that everyone is equal, Napoleon lives in luxury while the rest suffer under his rule. In reality, the animals should be the ones blamed for allowing Napoleon to rule over them.
In the novel titled Animal farm by George Orwell, a major theme would be that power has the potential to corrupt leaders, which can be seen by the character development of Napoleon. For example, in chapter 7 Napoleon breaks the commandment “no animal shall ever kill another animal” which is contradicted by the quote “[…] the tale of confessions and executions went on until there was a pile of corpses lying before Napoleon’s feet and the air was heavy with the smell of blood…” (Orwell 24). This demonstrates how Napoleon holds an immense amount of power in which he can break the rules and murder his own kind, yet still be admired and respected by everyone. At the beginning everyone had a say in what actions or paths were going to be taken to
As time had went on, Napoleon started to become very eerie and gave no mercy to anybody who had associated themselves with snowball and his ways. However, it was not until the animals were persuaded, that they thought badly of snowball,“‘I do not believe that Snowball was a traitor at the beginning,’” he said finally… ‘Our Leader, Comrade Napoleon,’ announced Squealer… ‘has stated categorically — categorically, comrade — that Snowball was Jones’s agent from the very beginning — yes, and from long before the Rebellion was ever thought of.’ ‘Ah, that is different!” said Boxer. “If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right’”( Orwell 82). As a result of the respect that the animals had for Napoleon, it was clear that they would follow and support anything he had said. His power and strength allowed him to be seen as an utterly amazing leader, however, not everybody saw this of him. Some animals had thought that Snowball was much better of a pig and leader. This being the case, when in a meeting with the animals Napoleon had decided to kill every animal that had admitted to being on snowballs side or working for him. An example is when it states, “The four pigs waited, trembling, with guilt written on every line of their countenances. Napoleon now called upon them to confess their crimes. They were the same four pigs as had protested when Napoleon
Similarly to Mr. Jones, rather than focusing on getting the farm to its best state, he never waivers to focus on his own personal gains. The entire point of the revolution was to rid Animal Farm of all aspects relating to humans, but with him in power they seem to fall back into the same old habits as when Jones was in charge. For example, following the birth of nine puppies, “Napoleon took them away from their mother, saying that he would make himself responsible for their education...there [he] kept them in such seclusion that the rest of the farm soon forgot their existence” (Orwell 51). Unlike Jones who would “tie a brick around [the dogs’] necks and drown them” (Orwell 30), Napoleon’s actions, were seemingly benevolent as he promises to nurture and see personally to their education. However, months after his abduction of the pups, he sends nine wolf-like creatures to chase a defiant pig off the farm, leaving the rest of the animals “too amazed and frightened to speak” (Orwell 67). These same dogs also “wagged their tails to him in the same way as other dogs had used to do to Jones” (Orwell 68). Curiously, Napoleon utilizes secrecy in educating and nurturing, more so brainwashing, the dogs to behave as they did toward the blatantly corrupt Mr. Jones. He further uses the dogs as a fear factor and a means to remain in control over the rest of the livestock, evidently demonstrating his corrupt
Power has always been difficult to equally share. Humans have struggled for centuries to balance authority evenly and have created complicated systems to try to overcome the problem. The Russian Revolution is amongst many to have tried and failed to raise a fair government. George Orwell’s classic novel Animal Farm portrays this event in history into a smaller scale, making it easier to understand. Having so much power is not always a good thing. Animal Farm proves this to an almost scary extent where the characters are mainly animals, not people. In this novel, power is achieved in many different ways; corruption, physical force and knowledge. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, power and control of the farm shifts from Mr. Jones to Snowball and