Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Symbolism in animal farm by george orwell
The character of napoleon and his role in animals farm
How does orwell use napoleon to explore ideas about power and control in animal farm
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Symbolism in animal farm by george orwell
Throughout Animal Farm, Napoleon is shown as an antagonist who imposes inhumane treatment on the other animals of the farm. He is described as a selfish, vicious and cunning pig who isn’t afraid to eliminate opposition against his beliefs and ideas. His actions have taken away the animals hard fought independence from the humans. In the end, he has turned out to be even worse than Mr. Jones, the original owner of the farm who had been evicted by the animals earlier. But in reality, despite his actions, Napoleon is actually a very good and effective leader who brought Animal Farm into a full fledging farm, than just a dream. Napoleon has demonstrated qualities that show him as a good leader because he is persuasive, brings motivation and he …show more content…
When Napoleon discovered the alcohol, he had no idea of its negative effects and decided to drink the lot of it and resulted in him having a hangover. The other pigs, did not have the medical knowledge to perceive that the hangover is only temporary and immediately came to the thought that he was going to die. But then the whole farm broke in “tears in their eyes” (107) because they cannot imagine a life without him. They have come to respect him so much that they know without him, they cannot function as he is the one who knows how to plan the work, and sets the relations with the outside and the animals are dependent on him for his guidance. Napoleon’s main goal is to profit the farm, so that they can improve the animals’ lives more, and this earns him the respect because others see him as a saviour who can bring the farm glory. He is the one behind the daily operating tasks of each individual animal to maximize the product and is the connection between humans. The hens believe that their egg product was the cause of Napoleon’s leadership and he brought in Whymper because he realized the potential income that they could receive if they operate with humans. He is the one who takes “600 [eggs] a week” (114) and “a stump of hay and part of the potato crop” (114) for the human contract. With it, Napoleon can use it to build “another windmill” (129) with dynamos so that there could be electricity and easier labour on the farm. Napoleon is always there to protect the animals from various threats as he eliminated the negative influence. There were alleged cases where Snowball supported the animals in an uprising as he would come here at night and convince the animals to rebel against and to vandalize the farm. Napoleon, in fear of the safety of the farm, decided to investigate and find the cause of these problems. Soon, under his supervision, many
Earlier in the book, Old Major, a boar who died in his sleep, had a speech in which he complained about the humans focusing on the cruelty of egg selling. After that day, they stopped the selling of eggs until now. The hens thought that Napoleon was not following the rules of a leader, so they rebelled. When they were to lay eggs, they laid them in the rafters in order to smash the eggs on the floor. Napoleon made a rule that said if any animal were to be seen feeding the hens, they would be killed. As a result, nine hens died and the five day strike came to an end. This event is an allegory to when Stalin asked farmers for some crops because they were running out of it. The farmers declined, and Stalin did the same as Napoleon and told everyone to not feed them. Nine farmers died during the protest, and soon enough, the strike ended. In this allegory, the hens were being deceived because Napoleon took their eggs, and the farmers were being deceived because Stalin was taking their crops. Although this seemed as if this was the last animal killing event on the farm, the animals did not know what hit them after many
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
In chapter 5 it says “At first no one had been able to imagine where these creatures came from.” The fact is these creatures chased Snowball off the farm, but the animals have had signs of Napoleon training the dogs for this but they chose to ignore it. Ths semi helped them as they did not get hurt but Snowball definitely was. Sometimes the messenger is so much the
Napoleon, a main character in George Orwell's Animal Farm, was very cruel. so why does everyone consider him such an effective leader? In Animal Farm Orwell gives Napoleon, the dictator of the farm, many characteristics that make him an effective leader. Throughout the book Napoleon had a manipulative attitude, a strong support system, and he used scare tactics to intimidate and gain control of the other animals on the farm.
He was unselfish, was a great planner and a resolver, and he was friendly, smart and sociable. Snowball was proven to be a great planner and resolver when he took over the planning for the farm and led them to the best year of harvest that they had ever had, even with Jones as a leader. Overall, Snowball was a good leader, but he did have some faults in his leadership style too. His style of leading was poor in the way that he was a quitter in the way that he didn’t come back to the farm to help the other animals from Napoleon's dictating leadership. Also in the ways that he was a lier in the way he promised that he/they would never be like the humans, and he shot the gun as a remembrance of the Battle of Cowshed and gave brass metals, and how he did put the pigs in front of all the other animals on the farm. Snowball was ultimately exiled due to Napoleon and his power struggle. They didn’t see eye to eye on much at all, so Napoleon had him kicked off the farm for good since he isn't okay with his teachings and ideas. Napoleon becomes a dictator of the farm when Snowball is
Under the pigs supervision, animals change the name of the farm to “Animal Farm” and adopt “Animalism” along with “Seven Commandments of Animalism” which are painted on the wall. At first Rebellion seemed to be a success, they harvest and even try to build a windmill, but then the animals realize that as they received less and less food, pigs got fatter and fatter. Napoleon’s leadership becomes a dictatorship. Pigs break the Seven Commandments by their will. For example, one night pigs become drunk and the Commandment, "No animals shall drink alcohol" is changed to, "No animal shall drink
When the time comes to vote for either Napoleon or Snowball, Napoleon uses Snowball to gain power by blaming everything that goes wrong on him to make the animal’s thing negatively about him and his future plans for the farm. George Orwell could make his point about the Russian revolution clearer and easier for the readers by using the animal. Napoleon is breaking the commandment number six which is no animal shall kill any other animal. After the rebellion the animals create the seven commandments. Propaganda plays a big part in the maintenance of power. Most of the animals represent characters in the Russian revolution such as : Napoleon represents Josef Stalin, however, Old Major represents Karl Marx or Vladimir Llyich Lenin, Snowball is like Leon Trotsky and Mr. Jones is like Nicholas the second. The pigs reveal that they have taught themselves to read and write, this is important because it makes them have an advantage over the other animals and it could come in handy at important times when they are trying to fool the animals into believing something. This is made so that the s...
Squealer and Napoleon had immediately turned to the conclusion that Snowball was the cause for this disaster and Snowball had quickly become the scapegoat between all of the animals problems, Snowball quickly became despised by the animals and they’d never wanted him back on the farm. Napoleon used this tactic of manipulation to have the animals believe that Napoleon was kind-hearted and all who raised a threat against him were despicable. During the animal's first revolutionary battle Snowball had been rewarded with “Animal Hero First Class” one of the most honorary badges given for bravery in battle, but after a while Napoleon quickly took advantage of the animals poor memory and began to manipulate the past. “ ‘Snowball was in league with Jones from the very start!
Two specific quotes support the opinion that Napoleon is the most negative behaved animal in Animal Farm. “...Napoleon stood up and... uttered a high-pitched whimper... and nine enormous dogs... came bounding into the barn. They dashed straight for Snowball”(52,53). This quote tells just a little bit about how dangerous Napoleon can be. He raised the dogs from birth saying that he would be responsible for their “education”, when truly he was training them to help him take over the farm. He had them attack Snowball because he was the only one standing in the way of him taking over the farm. “When they 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”(84). In this quote Napoleon had animals killed in a terrible way. They had their throats torn out for something they didn’t do. They confessed only because of the stress, everyone would believe their leader Napoleon over the animals that confessed. When Old Major first started the revolution he said that no animal should ever kill another. Even when Napoleon and Snowball thought up the Seven Commandments they came up with “No animal shall kill any other animal” for the sixth commandment. There is no further evidence needed to confirm the fact that Napoleon is the most negative animal in Animal
Napoleon imbues the animals with his subjective ideologies and indoctrinates them in order to cloud their thoughts and dominate their lives. Napoleon persuades the animals to act in accordance with his ideas and to surrender to his will by constantly bombarding them with persuasive messages of propaganda. Such devious efforts are highlighted by the cows in their statement, “’Thanks to the leadership of Comrade Napoleon, how excellent this water tastes!’” (page 62). In the cows’ words it is clear that Napoleon strives to control the animals by using the influence of reciprocation as conveyed through propaganda. The cows’ testimonial gives the animals the impression that Napoleon is working to help them and in turn the animals feel an obligation to surrender to Napoleon’s will in order to reciprocate the favor. Thus, Napoleon uses propaganda to apply the rule of reciprocity and gain control of the animals. Additionally, Napoleon wields charisma as a tool for indoctrinating the animals a...
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
Napoleon had a lust for power and getting his own way. When Old Major, the original leader of the barn died, Napoleon and Snowball took control over Manor Farm which they renamed Animal Farm. After that battle, Napoleon used propaganda and brought terror over the farm. Claiming that extra milk was necessary for a pig’s nutrition, he steals the cows milk. Because Snowball challenged Napoleon’s leadership, Napoleon strategized and succeeded at
What's worse, Napoleon came to constantly use Snowball to shift the blame on every small mishap on the farm. For example, when the windmill was first destroyed by the tornado, Napoleon blamed it on Snowball. Also, Snowball was blame for destroying farm property, mixing foods with weeds, and secretly conspiring with human, which was strictly prohibited by animal law. However, the accusations were never proven true, as Snowball was never heard from again since his expulsion.
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
Following the expulsion of Jones, Napoleon gets his rabid dogs to chase Snowball off, giving himself full control of the farm. Napoleon continues to abuse his power and the animals. The animals do not fully realize how unfairly they’ve been treated until one night they see Napoleon, along with the other pigs, fraternizing with a human. The animals see that this is not what they had in mind when they first heard Majors plan for animals having control of the farm. They understand that all animals are not equal in the eyes of the pigs.