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The theme of power and corruption in animal farm by George Orwell
The theme of power and corruption in animal farm by George Orwell
The roles of Napoleon in animal farm
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In the novels, the crucible and animal farm, the leaders of society hold lots of power and can easily influence people's/animal's decisions and how they think. Leaders in the stories believe they are more intelligent than people in their societies. In animal farm, Napoleon the pig was a deceitful, power-hungry, manipulative, and self-centered leader of the farm. He manipulated the animals into believing stolen ideas were his, convinced them to believe lies, and told them that he would be a great leader and animals didn't have to work for long excruciating hours every day for years. In all actuality, He was taking advantage of the animal's intelligence.
Once Jack knew his words were absolute, his true human nature was exposed, and this hunger for power caused destruction and evil. The trait of hunger for power is not only seen in Lord of the Flies, but also seen in Animal Farm. Napoleon is a great example of this because of his lack of care for what he does as long as he gets power. While Napoleon has lots of rules, a rule that shows his true hunger for power is his rule that “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others” (Orwell 40). This demonstrates Napoleon's twist on the original rules of Animalism to consolidate his own power.
This blatant selfish act shows humanity’s evilness and the internal belief to look out for yourself, even at the cost of others. When discussing the revision of the animals’ constitution, Napoleon says, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” (Orwell 134). At Animal Farm, the pigs consistently change things to benefit them. By changing this amendment to the animals' constitution, they place themselves on a higher social level, which solely benefits them.
Had the animals questioned Napoleon, the same way that they questioned their human masters, the farm animals would have remained equal in all walks of life. Instead, the rules slowly became twisted to benefit Napoleon and his followers. Animal farm isn’t the only literary example which illustrates why one must question authority. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is another work of fiction which paints the picture of a not-so-far-off dystopian society governed by a totalitarian government which makes corrupt decisions for what they believe to be the better of all people. The government authorizes book burning, brainwashing, and the killing of innocent people.
Don’t be the enemy. Now that Napoleon is in charge life is getting a whole lot worse because is has complete power of Animal Farm. Napoleon from Animal Farm written by Orwell maintains control by using ideology, propaganda, and fear. Napoleon uses ideology of Animalism to give him more control over the animals.
In Animal Farm, George Orwell warns how power will often lead to corruption. Napoleon was placed in a position of power after Major died, and he slowly starts to lavish in his power and become addicted to the lush life of a dictator. When Napoleon first becomes a leader, he expresses how everyone will work equally, but as his reign goes on, he shortens the work hours. At the very end of the novel, the observing animals even start to see that pig and man had become the same. The irony present in the above example, illuminates how regardless of how much a ruler promises to maintain equality and fairness, the position of power that they hold, will corrupt them.
In the beginning equality and the opinions of others were heavily emphasised but slowly those basic fundamental ideas originally put in place to prevent another corrupt owner were dismissed by Napoleon and his gang of pigs. He strategically took away the rights of others and in place of those rights he put in place fear and blind obedience all in a scheme to rule Animal Farm by himself. His conformity can not be seen at face value but when you analyze his behavior you start to notice and understand he in fact mimics the exact behavior of the owner prior to his rule. He takes over the farm using violence and manipulation and contributes nothing to the
In George Orwell's Animal Farm, Napoleon, a pig leader that represents Stalin from the Russian Revolution plays a big role in the book as the pig leaders are a superior group among the population of Animal Farm. In the story Napoleon is representing Stalin in Animal Farm as the main leader after Mr.Jones is ran out of the farm and Old Major died, resembling how Stalin took over rising to power in Russia. Napoleon started as a seemingly good leader but that soon changed… Napoleon, just like Stalin started to have problems with citizens of their own community and tried to hurt people and take things away. Both leaders can be shown using their superiority and power to their advantage to get everything they wanted and felt was necessary.
Only puppies and pigs can live in the house, sleep in the bed, eat apples and cookies and have all of the best things. As the history is developing, Napoleon is getting more and more like a dicator. He slowly begin to being superior but did not act like a dictator. Moreover, he broke some rules, he’s in contact with humans, and he had hours of works, and he killed aniamsl, and change the only commandment for “4 legs good, 2 legs better”. He also think that “Every animals are equal, but some are more equal then others.”
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”.
The animals start recognizing Napoleon for any good achievement done that day. For example, one of the hens recognizes Napoleon for just one stroke of good fortune. “Under the leadership of our Leader Comrade Napoleon, I have laid five eggs in six days…”(78). These poor animals are tricked into thinking that everything good that happens is due to “Comrade Napoleon's Leadership”. Every quote we see is a deeper level of corruption in Napoleon, and now, his influence on the farm is tearing what the revolution was all about.
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.
In a essence Napoleon the pig becomes the persona of “Someone to believe in,” for the animals. After Snowball was chased out, Napoleon most importantly and the pigs become the guidance for the animals lives. “Napoleon is always right”(Orwell 70), said by Boxer the horse, expresses his strong belief in his intelligence and guidance. The more and more, the story progresses, the more religion takes the role of keeping the animals organized and in harmony of the pig’s leadership and system. Although, “The Seven Commandments” start to change, the animals chose to keep following them.
This theme is demonstrated by the animals, they have different thoughts about Napoleon from when he was murdering the animals just for having different ideas about him and other things. The theme “Not everybody is equal; some people believe that they are more superior than others” is shown throughout the book, but in different ways. In the beginning of the book after the animals rebelled they created a version of the seven commandments to fit their needs. On page forty-three the seventh commandment states, “ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL” but by the end of the book on page one hundred thirty-three the seven commandments are now one commandment, “ALL
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.
