In her critically acclaimed novel One Corpse Too Many, author Ellis Peters wrote, “All of the things of the wild have their proper uses. Only misuse makes them evil.” The possession and usage of power is an especially slippery slope. In George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, a main recurring theme revolves around power and how those who hold it will ultimately fall into corruption. The desire for power stems from greed, but power also fuels greed. Over the course of the novel, three characters possess the power on the farm and each struggles to keep it in their control and to utilize it wisely. In his novel, Animal Farm, George Orwell uses Snowball, Mr. Jones, and Napoleon to demonstrate that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Snowball mainly …show more content…
To achieve this ideal, the ones in high positions must not take advantage of their authority. The leader of a society must remain selfless at all times. Everyone must make sacrifices for the sake of the well-being of all. This is why fulfilling a utopia may be impossible, because all seeds of greed must be removed. The ‘perfect’ society that Animal Farm started out as was not even so. There had been small signs of corruption from the beginning, such as the milk and apples going directly to the pigs, instead of being evenly distributed to all the animals. Snowball possessed nearly all the traits of a good leader, but he also let it get into his head that he was more deserving than the other animals. Jones had no idea what to do with his power and used it to such extremes. Napoleon was the one who grew obsessed with it, so he used fear tactics and spread false information so that he could feel secure in his authority position. All three characters fell to corruption because of their inability to control and use their power wisely. Power can be used effectively for the overall improvement of a society, but ultimate power has almost no limits and very nearly guarantees absolute