Power Corrupts In Animal Farm

Power corrupts those who possess it. One who has power can lose the sense of right and wrong, so that morals do not matter. Absolute power corrupts those who possess it. This can be seen throughout history, such as during in World War II how Adolf Hitler’s power corrupted him, and proven by the actions of Napoleon in the allegory Animal Farm by George Orwell. Orwell shows the idea, power corrupts whose who possess it, in the novel through the characters of Farmer Jones, Napoleon, and Snowball. Farmer Jones was corrupted because of his power. He made the animals do all the work. He never fed them, nor took care of the animals. He was an alcoholic also. Orwell writes that, “....... Mr. Jones got back and immediately went to sleep, when evening came, the animals were still unfed”

The pigs didn’t do any work, they slept in the bed and manipulated other animals, “The pigs didn’t actually work” (27). Since the other animals weren’t smart and didn’t know how to read and write, the pigs told them they know how to read and write, they can supervise them. The pigs always gave the other animals wrong information about things, even about other pigs and animals. In the book the pigs tell the other animals “It’s for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples” (36). They didn’t share the milk and apple and told them it’s for the pigs’ good health which was a lie in my opinion. It was a lie because if the milk and apple important for the pig’s health, then what about the other animal’s heath who do harder work than the pigs? Basically, the pigs used clever propaganda to fool the other animals In all, one of Animal Farm’s themes is that those who possess their power are corrupted by it. There were many examples shown in the novel through some of the characters. Farmer Jones, Napoleon, and the pigs are some very good examples. Basically, you should never possess the power you have because it will corrupt