Power In George Orwell's Animal Farm

There are many events in Animal Farm which help to define and further the plot. Because of the allegorical form of the book, the significance of events has more underneath than what it seems. Animal Farm satirizes the breakdown of political ideology and the misuse of power. Through the scenes of Old Major’s speech, milk suddenly going missing, the Battle of the Cowshed, and Napoleon taking over by force, Orwell shows readers how power can lead to corruption and oppression.

In chapter one, Old Major's speech inspires the uprising as he identifies Man as the main cause for the animals' problems. Old Major states “It is summed up in a single word—Man. Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished forever” (Orwell 7). This part of the speech leads the animals to believing life without Mr. Jones, or Man in general, will solve every problem. Also in the speech, Old Major lays the foundation of Animalism just as Carl Marx laid down Communism. Old Major then teaches the animals a song called “Beasts

He also shows how history repeats itself and how man makes the same mistakes repeatedly. None is more showing of these traits as the Battle of the Cowsheds in chapter four. This scene symbolizes the turning point in the animals attempt to control of what was Manor Farm. It is a significant scene as it shows Napoleon does not want to share power with Snowball. Winning gave the animals confidence in the farm and brought up the question of who would be leader. Everyone now looked up to Snowball because of his heroic deeds. This scene later caused the debate of who would rule the farm leading to Snowball being kicked out and Napoleon becoming the ruler of the farm. Napoleon used his power to build a group of dogs to help enforce power at the farm just like Stalin founded the KGB to help him enforce his