Power Corrupts In George Orwell's Animal Farm

George Orwell uses power corrupts as a theme for Animal Farm. Orwell defines “power corrupts” as a distortion of ideals and practices to legitimize the power of a particular group or person. Orwell uses the pigs, and specifically Napoleon, to show how power is gained and then corrupted. “By the time he (Snowball) had finished speaking, there was no doubt as to which way the vote would go… Napoleon stood up… uttered a high-pitched whimper… and nine enormous dogs wearing brass-studded collars came bounding into the barn.” (52,53) George Orwell’s message that power corrupts is shown through pigs rise to power, Napoleon’s takeover, and Napoleon’s dictatorship.

After the death of Major, the pigs rise to power because they are the cleverest

animals on Animal Farm. In Major’s speech he tells the animals that they are all equal, but as soon as he dies, the pigs take over, thus corrupting Major’s words. They take the liberty of gathering all the animals to discuss the overthrow of Mr. Jones.
After the pigs rise to power, Napoleon takes over as leader of the animals of Animal Farm.

Napoleon takes nine puppies to a secret location to teach them. He uses them in his plan to overthrow Snowball. After Snowball’s speech the animals cheer loudly, thus making Napoleon realize his loss of power. After this, Napoleon uses his dogs to drive Snowball off Animal Farm. Napoleon has corrupted these dogs in some way and is now using them for corrupt actions.

When Napoleon finally takes over as leader, he uses fear, twisted words, and a good reputation to gain support and power. Napoleon uses his nine dogs as a means of execution and terror. He demands that anyone who has had contact with Snowball come forward. Many animals do and Napoleon tells his dogs to kill them on the spot. By doing so, he disposes of everyone who could get in the way of his power. He wants the animals to realize that if they are his enemy, they will be killed. If they are afraid of this, they will do whatever Napoleon asks of them.

Napoleon adds extra words to the seven commandments which then corrupts the meaning of the commandments. One commandment that was written was “no animal shall kill any other animal”. The revised commandment is “no animal shall kill any other animal without cause”. This revised commandment is used to justify his action of killing Snowball’s supporters and to create an example of

them.
Napoleon uses Squealer to help build up his reputation as a good leader. Squealer uses propaganda to get the animals to believe that Napoleon is doing better as a leader than he really is. He tells the animals false statistics about the farm’s success. If the animals start to doubt Napoleon’s leadership, Squealer jumps in and tells the animals how good he is doing. One thing he usually reminds them of is when Mr. Jones was their leader. He continually asks them if they want Mr. Jones to come back.
When the animals see him from then on, he is surrounded by fierce looking dogs.
The main theme of Animal Farm is power corrupts. At first, the animals live by seven commandments. As the story progresses, Napoleon uses his dogs to gain power and create fear. At the end of the story, Napoleon joins the neighboring farm owners and as the animals watch them, they can’t tell who is human and who is an animal.