Examples Of Abuse Of Power In Animal Farm

Ryan Agricola Ms. Best Honors Humanities March 28th, 2024 Abuse of Power in Animal Farm

Oftentimes, when an individual gains power, they will use it and exploit it for their own personal gain. When power falls into the wrong hands, it is often abused and is likely to end up hurting someone else. In George Orwell’s novella, Animal Farm, Napoleon, a pig who is one of the leaders on the farm, misuses his power for his own desires, and hurts other animals in the process. At the start of the novella, power is being abused without hurting others, but, by the end of the story, power is blatantly misused to harm others. When a new leader gains power, they will often use it selfishly, but not yet at the expense of others. At the beginning of Animal Farm, this is seen when the pigs

When Boxer’s lung fails, Napoleon claims he has already made arrangements to send him to the hospital. In reality, Boxer is going to be sent to the horse slaughterer. When the van arrives to take Boxer to the “hospital”, Benjamin, an old donkey, realizes what is happening. Benjamin says, “Do you not understand what that means? They are taking Boxer to the knacker's!" Orwell 122. When Napoleon hears that Boxer is almost certainly never going to be useful again, he sees it as the perfect opportunity to make some quick cash. He tells all of the animals about his tragic death in the hospital, when he was really sold for some whiskey. “the pigs had acquired the money to buy themselves another case of whisky” (Orwell 126). Additionally, in order to fulfill his greed, Napoleon completely changed the original “seven commandments” of Animal Farm. When Clover, a horse, notices that something on the wall has changed, she asks Benjamin to read it to her. The narrator explains, “There is nothing there now except a single commandment. It ran: “ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS” (Orwell