Abuse Of Power In Animal Farm By George Orwell

Recently, I read Animal Farm by George Orwell. Orwell is a well-known American author who includes many themes, morals, and symbolism throughout his novels to portray a message. This book is well-known because it illustrates the struggles during Soviet Russia as seen through the animals on the farm. Throughout the book, Orwell uses a variety of different themes; one important theme that I noted was abuse of power. Because of the abuse of power on the farm, Napoleon is able to control and manipulate the other animals, which creates an environment of mistrust that eventually leads to the downfall of the farm. At the start of the novel, the reader learns that the animals abide by a moral code known as The Seven Commandments. These commandments,

The purpose of this idea was to make sure the animals have their own identity and would never be similar in any way to humans. Napoleon discreetly disobeys this rule. An example of this is when the sheep come out bleating a surprising message. Orwell writes: “He carried a whip in his trotter. There was a deadly silence. Amazed, terrified, huddling together, the animals watched the long line of pigs march slowly round the yard. It was as though the world had turned upside-down.” (Orwell 133) This is just one example of Napoleon abusing his power. He is forcing the animals to walk around on two legs. This is an act that they swore never to do. The unstated rule, never act similar to a human, was a central starting point of the farm. By disobeying this rule, Napoleon is separating himself from the other animals, creating a “me” and “them” environment. Napoleon takes advantage of the animals’ ignorance and blind faith in him in order to do this. As one learns in the book, this eventually leads to severed trust between the animals and the eventual fall of the

Napoleon has made himself the dictator of the farm, he even has his own security dogs. It became evident that Napoleon was the leader of the animals as soon as he slaughtered the animals at the yard of the farm house, the reason being: communication with Snowball. The killing of animals shows another abuse of power by Napoleon and directly violates Commandment #6 which states that “no animal shall kill any other animal.” (Orwell 25) Napoleon violated this rule to instill fear and maintain power over the other animals. This signaled to the other animals that they should not cross Napoleon or disobey