Abuse Of Power In Animal Farm

At first glance Animal Farm, written by George Orwell, appears to be a simple story about animals overthrowing humans and managing themselves. However, this story represents something much deeper. The novel explores the idea of power leading to corruption and the use of propaganda as a way of maintaining that power. An instance of this would be Napoleon using his dogs to intimidate the other animals, and keep them from voicing their disagreements. The corruption of power is significant to the story as it causes the pigs to make ethical shortcuts. The pigs force animals who disagree with or cause problems for them to falsely confess to treason so they can seem "reasonable" when they execute them. This sends a message to the other animals to

Squealer, a pig, takes time to explain to Boxer how Snowball was a traitor from the start, even saying that Napoleon had documentation of it, thus convincing Boxer of the theory, because as Boxer says, "Napoleon is always right," (Orwell, 82). The evidence is showing that Squealer takes his time talking to Boxer to explain different subjects because he has a lot of influence over the rest of the animals even though he doesn't know it. If Squealer can convince Boxer of the re-written history, then the rest of the animals will believe the lies because they look up to him. Boxer might've even come up with more of the mottos he was so well known for. Speaking of mottos, after Boxer's death Napoleon gives a speech to honor Boxer, encouraging the rest of the animals to adopt his mottos of, "I will work harder" and "Napoleon is always right," as their own (Orwell, 126). This point is important because Boxer was always loyal to Napoleon, and by asking the animals to follow Boxer's mottos, he's likely ensuring that the animals stay loyal to him. Boxer's motto about Napoleon doesn't allow room for critical thinking or criticism, which will allow for the spread of propaganda. As a result, it is evident that public figures that are looked up to, have a major influence and can affect the maintenance of

Yet, a careful analysis of the details reveals that had the educated animals resisted or challenged the pigs on their ideas, the propaganda they were trying to spread would've been stopped. Such an example would be Benjamin, he knows how to read but when Clover asks him to read a commandment for her, he refuses (Orwell, 91). It's confirmed that Benjamin is just as smart as any pig, he can read just as well and he was able to pick up on what was happening long before anyone else did. However, he refused to say anything about it, he just allowed the pigs to brainwash the rest of the animals. In order to stop the abuse of power or spreading of propaganda, educated people, in this case Benjamin, must call them out and challenge them from the very beginning. Had he helped the rest of the animals understand that they were being manipulated, perhaps the deaths that occured could've been prevented. It's up to these types of individuals, those who know and understand when a group is being manipulated, to stand up for the vulnerable. Benjamin didn't express any opinions about the rebellion, he didn't change in the slightest from when Jones ran the farm, and he just stood to the side, not doing more than he had to (Orwell, 30). Benjamin didn't care for the politics on the farm, or for being further