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Corruption In George Orwell's Animal Farm

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Power is a delicate thing. Too little, you are weak. Too much, you make others weak. As portrayed in George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm, the main character, Napoleon, demonstrates corruption of his new found power. Napoleon demonstrated many different instances of corruption of his newly found power, and he justifies his terrible actions. Early on in the novel, the reader is introduced to Napoleon. As described by Orwell, “[He] was a large, rather fierce−looking Berkshire boar, the only Berkshire on the farm, not much of a talker, but with a reputation for getting his own way” (Orwell 35). He was a mean pig, and commanded respect from his peers. After Old Major gave his inspirational speech about his visions of Animalism, Napoleon was already starting to conspire. He took every chance he could to manipulate the circumstances, to benefit himself and put others at a disadvantage. The day Old Major died, the pigs already started to plan the revolution, and how they would control the other animals. The pigs naturally take over the farm, and gain support from the animals by telling them …show more content…

Squealer's goal is to trick the animals into thinking that what the pigs are doing for their own benefit, actually benefits the rest of the farm. It works to some extent, but the skeptics of the farm, like Benjamin, never fall for it. For instance, one of the first examples of the pigs making their corrupt actions rational is with the milk and apples. The pigs claim that based on “scientific evidence”, the pigs should consume the sweets, because of their brain-intensive labour. This lie works at first, but it lays the foundation for further skepticism from the other animals. Further on in the novel, the lies go from milk and apples to the death of the farm’s hardest worker. They are ruthless liars, and the pigs don’t care what they do, as long as they cover the story

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