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Absolute Power Corrupted In George Orwell's Animal Farm

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As Lord Acton once said “Absolute power corrupts absolutely”.When one is given the choice of what actions to take with their power, they are more likely to take actions benefiting themselves than others. George Orwell’s Animal Farm is used to define power and the corruption that comes from absolute power. The quote is demonstrated in Animal Farm as the characters show how power can corrupt absolutely. Napoleon, the fierce Berkshire Boar, starts to become corrupt after he fought Snowball for the mastery, gaining full control of the revolution. At that moment, Napoleon made a choice to start to impose his will upon others for the benefit of himself. As Napoleon grows more powerful, he also gradually grows more corrupt. In Animal Farm one way …show more content…

The pigs constantly find ways to blame Snowball for the misfortunes according at the farm even though there is no way he could have done it. To begin, the pigs blame Snowball for destroying the windmill. “Comrades," he said quietly, ‘do you know who is responsible for this? Do you know the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown our windmill? SNOWBALL! He suddenly roared in a voice of thunder" (Orwell 47). He immediately sentences Snowball to death and the title of “Animal Hero, Second Class” to any animal that detains him. The animals blindly belive Napoleon even though the terrible storm could have contributed to the fall of the windmill. Throughout the novel Napoleon consistently starts to use Snowball as a scapegoat. “Whenever anything went wrong, it became usual to attribute it to Snowball”(Orwell 835). Napoleon consistently blames Snowball so the animals do not concentrate on his own faults. By scapegoating Snowball, Napoleon is able to get what he wants done without the questioning of others. Orwell shows how corrupt leaders need an enemy to blame upon hence diverting the people’s attention. In animal farm Napoleon is the almighty dictator whose power corrupts himself. Men like Napoleon are shown throughout history. For an example Adolf Hitler, the leader of Germany, killed thousands of Jews use his charismatic ways and propaganda. Using his authority, Hitler did what

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Snowball was run out of the farm and made seem a horrible and untrustworthy leader to make Napoleon seem better and more “on top”. At times, Napoleon even gave himself more superior titles like “our Leader, Comrade Napoleon, Father of all Animals, Terror of Mankind, Protector of the Sheep-fold, Ducklings’ Friend, and the like…. It had become usual to give Napoleon the credit for every successful achievement and every stroke of good fortune.”. Napoleon made every good thing that happened his fault but any mistake, or bad thing that happened, was at the fault of Snowball, although he was run off of the

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As things take a turn, and SnowBall(Leon Trotsky) no longer has the same ideas as Napoleon(Joseph Stalin), SnowBall’s departure from the Animal Farm is used to add fuel to the fire that is the propaganda that allows Napoleon to hold his position of power. Napoleon convinces the rest of the animals that Snowball had always been against Napoleon’s cause, and did not hold the same “four legs good two legs bad” belief as them, and associated himself with the human farmers. This was outlandish to many of the animals on the farm however shows that even though these were not the intentions of SnowBall’s initial actions, Napoleon was able to twist reality to the less educated civilians, and cause them to automatically believe what he was saying. Even

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Trying to gain freedom on the farm, the animals obtain a leader, Napoleon, who is much more harsh and stern than the former farm owner, Mr. Jones, has ever been. Symbolizing a ruler from the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, Napoleon brings the farm into a hole, they have a hard time getting out of. Napoleon kills various animals, and has also broken the Seven commandments the animals promise to abide by. In the beginning, the farm was run by Mr. Jones, who is later overpowered by the animals on the farm. To gain power, Napoleon starts to earn their trust by making it seem as if he is a trustworthy comrade.

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Imagine you live in a farm and everyone and everything is fair and equal. But, in reality more animals seem more important than others. Before Snowball was chased away he tried making things seem as fair as possible, and he wanted nothing but for the animals to be happy and free upon themselves. At the same time he wanted the animals to work for what they believed they deserved. Snowball the pig leader was accomplishing this until he was rudely driven from the farm by the unfair pig leader Napoleon.

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In Animals Farm, there is a pig who’s name Napoleon. This character did not contributed to the society with his actions. In effect, he did not respect the concept of “Animalism” which is the equality of all the animals. He did many actions that broke this conception during the entire story. At the beginning, Napoleon, take the farm with Snowball when the farmer, Mr. Jones, left.

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The ensuing rebellion under the leadership of the pigs Napoleon and Snowball leads to the animals taking over the farm. Vowing to eliminate the terrible inequities of the farmyard, the renamed Animal Farm is organised to benefit all who walk on four legs. But as time passes, the ideals of the rebellion are corrupt, then forgotten. This is all due to the lust for power that the pigs Napoleon and Snowball have that made them all selfish and corrupted. Animal farm in context to The Russian Revolution in terms of corrupting influence of power : Orwell 's goal was to portray the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the early years of the Soviet Union that resulted in a more oppressive and deadly government than the one it overthrew.

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Furthermore, Napoleon gives the other animals the impression he was the sole leader of the rebellion on Animal farm and makes Snowball -a leader who wanted what was best for the animals- seem like an enemy who was in cahoots with Farmer Jones since long before the animals took over the farm. Napoleon and Squealer (another “fat cat” pig.) always put the blame on Snowball whenever something went wrong in the farm to avoid having the blame fall on them. Napoleon is an exemplary example of just how selfish and hypocritical people can be in furthering their own aims because he continued to subtly but purposely change the seven rules put in place as the pillars of animalism. For example, Napoleon and the other pigs move into Farmer Jones’s house and sleep in his bed after commanding “No animal shall sleep in a bed”, so he changes the commandment to read “no animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets”.

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Juliette Blalock Singh 4/5 Animal Farm In the satiric novel Animal Farm by George Orwell, the character Napoleon represents a dictator in society, who turns a self-governed and unbiased farm into his own. Napoleon initially unifies with the rest of the animal’s, but soon decides to take matters into his own hands and disposes of Snowball and his proposals towards the farm. He takes advantage of the vulnerable animals so he can become in command. Napoleon is clever, brutal, and dictatorial to the animals.

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When somebody receives incredible power, they also receive a large burden of responsibility. Some people, such as Napoleon, disregard these responsibilities and become corrupt. In reality, we have seen this in leaders such as Stalin, who became corrupt once into power. In “Animal Farm”, Napoleon, a totalitarian pig, is a great example of how too much power is equal to corruption.

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They often disagreed on many issues involving the farm until Napoleon expelled Snowball from the farm. However even after the expulsion of Snowball, with the use of persuasive language the pigs still find a way to blame him for any misfortune the farm may encounter. To begin, the pigs blame Snowball for destroying the windmill in which the animals worked soo long to build. “Comrades," he said quietly, ‘do you know who is responsible for this? Do you know the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown our windmill?

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Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Lord Acton) This quote is telling us that when people get into roles of absolute power they tend to become corrupt, as a result of that power. This quote can be applied to Napoleon from the book Animal Farm by George Orwell, because at the beginning of the novel Old Major’s words inspired Napoleon. As a result, he believed that humans were evil for forcing animals to work for them and that animals should be able to live freely, not under anyone’s control; however, as the story progresses his belief changed and the animals did not get to live their utopian dream. At the start Napoleon and the other pigs strongly believed that all animals were equal and had the right to live in a place that took care of their well being.

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Napoleon had all the privileges and rights to amend the rules to fit his needs but there were severe consequences for those who questioned his authority or broke the rules he had established. The four pigs who had protested when Napoleon abolished the Sunday Meetings were singled out to be colluding with Snowball and pressured into confessing their crimes. The dogs “promptly tore their throats out” in front of all the animals. The hens that took part in the rebellion confessed that they were incited by Snowball appearing in their dreams and they were duly slaughtered along with a string of other animals. Along with power, corruption seeps into the farm.

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Back in history, many leaders are overthrown and killed because corruption of power. Due to the fact, power was not distributed properly to the people they often feel uncomfortable and leads to rebellion. Yet, power corruptions are common these days, it is proven that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely by history and in modern days. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Lord Acton’s statement, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” applies to much of the rulers in Animal Farm that show dictatorship and violence.

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Napoleon also uses manipulation to gain and maintain a firm control by changing the Commandments for the farm in ways that work to his benefit. Squealer, Napoleon’s propaganda department, Keeps the farm animals believing in Napoleon by describing what they hear and see to make it seem harmless. Using effective tactics of fear, convincing propaganda, and manipulation, Napoleon gains and maintains control of Animal Farm. “Animal Farm” has corruption and equality in a way the animals try to succeed and achieve a goal to make the farm better. Power corrupts in “Animal Farm” because the pigs have a goal which is working together and helping one another.

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“He was Jones’s secret agent all the time” (79). This explanation means Napoleon betray Snowball for his own benefit, to become the only leader. This is significant to use of accusation because Napoleon uses Snowball to get more support and to gain more power. In the book, it is shown as animals who opposes Napoleon are the real brave

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