The Abuse Of Authority In George Orwell's Animal Farm

946 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essays on the theme abuse of power in animal farm

The story of Animal Farm is not just one of talking animals living in a farm. Rather, the tale chronicles the historical event of the Russian Revolution and the figures that took part in the creation of the totalitarian regime in Russia, as well as the people that were affected by it. George Orwell, in Animal Farm, compares the stereotypical nature of animals to that of the historical figures to demonstrate the effects of the Russian Revolution and the abuses of authority that were committed by corrupt leaders, such as Joseph Stalin, who is represented by Napoleon, the pig in Animal Farm. Similar to how Stalin rose to power through the use of fear tactics, Napoleon becomes the villain in the novel as he begins to use his intelligence for his …show more content…

Napoleon and his pig followers begin to change the amendments, that they had created for the purpose of bringing equality to all animals, for their own satisfaction. He changes the amendment that was supposed to prevent any animal from drinking so the pigs could drink without any animal being able to realize that they have broken the rules. Although the changed amendment had stated that they were not to drink to an excess, Napoleon still got drunk and even used the money of the farm, which the other animals were making, and the money he got from sending Boxer to the slaughterhouse, to buy cases of whisky. While he gained authority, he also began to become fearful of losing his power, For that reason he pressured many animals to confess any of their “crimes.” Even though most confessions weren’t serious, such as when “... a sheep confessed to having urinated in the drinking pool…” because Snowball, his pig rival, had told him to, he executed them without any mercy. His use of brutality to achieve his own success does not only make him a villain, but a murder as

Show More
Related

  • Power And Corruption In George Orwell's Animal Farm

    832 Words  | 2 Pages

    Abraham Lincoln once said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” ("Abraham Lincoln Quote"). Lord Acton also said, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” (“Lord Acton Quotes”). Both of the quotes show that power is not always a good thing, and can sometimes make good people, do bad things. Animal Farm by George Orwell is a novella about animals rebelling against humans on a farm in England. The novella has been said to be directly related to the Russian Revolution of the early 20th century. Immediately after the animals gained power, the pigs took over as the leaders of the animals. The pigs became corrupt with the power, and may have made conditions worse than they were with humans

    Read More

  • Animal Farm, by George Orwell: An Allegory to the Russian Revolution

    776 Words  | 2 Pages

    In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the pigs take over Manor Farm and dominate the weaker animals by using a combination of strength, fear, and trickery. This book is an allegory to the Russian Revolution, which led to Josef Stalin’s rise to power and the beginning of his dictatorship. In the novel Farmer Jones symbolizes Czar Nicholas II and Napoleon symbolizes Josef Stalin. The animals overthrow their dictator, Farmer Jones, and eventually end up replacing him with another dictator, Napoleon the pig. Napoleon demonstrates how the other farm animals’ weakness can be dominated by strength, fear, and trickery, revealing one of George Orwell’s themes.

    Read More

  • The Connection: A New Historic View of George Orwell’s Animal Farm

    1604 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the middle of the 1930s, Adolf Hitler began his rise to power in Germany, initiating the start of the Second World War and spread fear across Western Europe. During this time period, George Orwell began writing his novella, Animal Farm, which has been said to represent the events of the communist revolution; yet according to an analysis of the new historic lens, no book, no matter the style, can escape the hindrance of social context; proving that the air surrounding the war, impacted the literature written in this time. While it may not be about World War Two, Animal Farm, like all other writings was impacted by its surroundings. An analysis of George Orwell’s Animal Farm reveals that his work, being written in the 1940s, was greatly influenced by the events surrounding World War Two, which took place across all of Europe.

    Read More

  • George Orwell's Animal Farm

    583 Words  | 2 Pages

    I personally thought animal farm was a really good book. It was a simple, easy to read story. The analysis of this book is pretty easy to figure out. Animal farm represents

    Read More

  • Abuse of Power in George Orwell’s Animal Farm

    1350 Words  | 3 Pages

    Often times in a communist society, a leader’s use of language can lead to abuse of power. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the farm leaders, the pigs, use unknown language, invoke scare tactics, and create specific laws, thereby enabling them to control other animals, to suit their greedy desires, and to perform actions outside their realm of power. Because of the pigs’ use of broad language, implementation of scare tactics, and creation and manipulation of laws, they are able to get away with avoiding laws and convincing other animals into believing untrue stories and lies that are beneficial to the pigs.

    Read More

  • Cruelty in animal Farm

    1271 Words  | 3 Pages

    This story Animal Farm by George Orwell is a novel about an animal revolution over an oppressive farmer. The irony in the story comes when the pigs turn into the very thing revolted against. They exhibit the same cruelty by treating the other animals the same or even worse than previous owners. This cycle of cruelty is shown in the Russian revolution by Joseph Stalin who is represented by Napoleon in the story. Cruelty in animal farm is shown by the human’s treatment of the animals, and the animal’s eventual treatment of each other and the ironic characteristics of the two.

    Read More

  • George Orwell's Animal Farm

    584 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is a substantial amount of conflicts that occur in this satirical story. Often these conflicts are between the pigs and the rest of the animals. Only a minute portion of the animals didn’t really have some sort of conflict with Snowball, Napoleon, Squealer, or the rest of the dominating pigs. Overall, Snowball was a better leader than Napoleon, yet the animals reacted differently to Napoleon than to Snowball.

    Read More

  • George Orwell's Animal Farm

    1031 Words  | 3 Pages

    How would you handle being underfed, overworked, naive, unequal and absolutely controlled? Would you feel like all your work was being done for the good of someone else? What if you became trapped by an absolute and supreme leader? The animals of Manor Farm know all these feelings. They want a community for the animals, by the animals, where all are equal and work is done for the good of the animals.

    Read More

  • George Orwell’s Animal Farm

    1395 Words  | 3 Pages

    As soon as Old Major had died Napoleon took his place as the leader of

    Read More

  • George Orwell's Animal Farm

    536 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pigs walking on two feet, horses and sheep talking. This is how George Orwell satirizes human nature in his classic novel Animal Farm. Animal Farm is an allegory of the Russian Revolution of 1917. The title of the book is also the setting for the action in the novel. The animals in the story decide to have a revolution and take control of the farm from the humans. Soon the story shows us how certain groups move from the original ideals of the revolution to a situation where there is domination by one group and submission by all the others. The major idea in this story is the political corruption of what was once a pure political ideal. Orwell uses satire to ridicule human traits in his characters such as Napoleon and Squealer. There are several different characters in the novel utilizing animals as symbols of people in real life during the Russian Revolution. Napoleon is the leader of the pigs that ultimately come to dominate the farm. The characteristics that we associate with pigs , lazy, greedy, and pushy are meant to symbolize the characteristics that the leaders of the Russian Revolution exhibited. Napoleon is admired by all of the animals because he is their leader. All of the animals believe that their leader wants to fulfill all of their needs. They also are convinced that Napoleon’s decisions are made the best interest of the animals. Napoleon’s piglike qualities are shown throughout the story. He exhibited greediness when he sold the dying horse, Boxer to a slaughterhouse for money so that he and the other pigs could purchase whiskey. Orwell ridicules human nature through Napoleon in the sense that he is trying to show how the greedy and power hungry eventually end in corruption.

    Read More

  • Animal Farm: An Allegory of Russian History

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the main characters of Animal Farm is an allegorical parallel of Joseph Stalin. Napoleon is the pig that emerges as the leader of Animal Farm after the Rebellion. He represents the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in Animal Farm, but can easily stand for any of the great dictators in world history. Napoleon seems at first to be a good leader, but he is eventually overcome by greed and becomes power-hungry. Stalin was the same in Russia, leaving the original equality of socialism behind, giving himself all the power and living in luxury while the peasants suffered. While Stalin’s national and international status flourished, the welfare of Russia remained unchanged. In Animal Farm, Orwell writes a similar thing: “Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves richer – except of course the pigs and the dogs.” In the novel, Napoleon openly seizes power for himself by using the dogs he trained to chase Snowball off Animal Farm. He banishes Snowball with no justification and rewrites history in order to further his own ends. Similarly, Stalin forced Trotsky from Russia and seized control of Russia. Stalin used his secret police ...

    Read More

  • Animal Farm Satire Essay

    586 Words  | 2 Pages

    From a political perspective, this intriguing satirical novella greatly uses symbolism by carefully modeling the characterization of the animals to fit its target whilst avoiding stepping on the toes of the intended personage. By modeling each character in their place, you will stumble upon Napoleon, a direct replica of the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Napoleon is the main antagonist of George Orwell's Animal Farm. He is a large fierce-looking Berkshire boar and t...

    Read More

  • Hypocrisy In George Orwell's Animal Farm

    1035 Words  | 3 Pages

    During 1917, Russia underwent one of the most famous revolutions in history; with the sole intention to improve the nation. However, the original plan for the revolution was quickly put aside as the new leaders began to abuse their power; this brought on more than two years of slaughter and economic decrease. Within the text Animal Farm, George Orwell portrays the working class animals as naïve, while also having a lack of personal awareness; the pigs, however, were corrupted and manipulative. The pig’s hypocrisy against their own rules and ideas lead them to become the farms most powerful figure. Nevertheless, none of this would have been possible without the animals constantly turning a blind eye and failing to acknowledge when they were

    Read More

  • George Orwell Use Of Satire In Animal Farm

    893 Words  | 2 Pages

    Later on Napoleon starts to trade with the neighbors and changes The Seven Commandments to his own benefit. At the end of the novel the animals start realizing that their leader Napoleon is starting to act just like Mr. Jone. To show this Napoleon starts drinking alcohol, sleeps on a bed, starts walking on two legs, trades with humans, and shares toasts with Mr. Pilkington. George Orwell wrote this book as an allegory, which means that the novel has a clear secondary meaning beneath its literal sense. Animal Farm is used to represent events and people that took place during the Russian revolution from

    Read More

  • Animal Farm by George Orwell: Research Paper

    1398 Words  | 3 Pages

    Using threats and harsh punishments, he becomes a dictator, just like Stalin. In the novel Animal Farm, George Orwell uses political satires that correlate with the ruling of Stalin in Russia and his inhumane ways of controlling the country. Animal Farm was a metaphor for the Russian Revolution. The animals on the farm overthrew the farmer who treated them unfairly, and they began their own government. As time went on the pigs made themselves rulers, the main pig in charge being Napoleon.

    Read More

More about The Abuse Of Authority In George Orwell's Animal Farm

Open Document