But soon after, they were leading their comrades under cruel tyranny. Subsequently, one of the dictating pigs, Napoleon, shoved out his co-existing leader, Snowball, to have full control of the farm. " .. nine enormous dogs wearing brass-studded collars came bounding into the barn. "They dashed straight for Snowball, who only sprang from his place just in time to escape their snapping jaws'' (Orwell).
Snowball was run out of the farm and made seem a horrible and untrustworthy leader to make Napoleon seem better and more “on top”. At times, Napoleon even gave himself more superior titles like “our Leader, Comrade Napoleon, Father of all Animals, Terror of Mankind, Protector of the Sheep-fold, Ducklings’ Friend, and the like…. It had become usual to give Napoleon the credit for every successful achievement and every stroke of good fortune.”. Napoleon made every good thing that happened his fault but any mistake, or bad thing that happened, was at the fault of Snowball, although he was run off of the
These behaviors and attitudes of the animals was a reflection of Snowball’s successful leadership. He involved everyone in the process of change, as well as explaining to them why changes needs to be made and what is the benefit. This was evident when he wanted to build a windmill so they can be electricity and improve their living conditions. Snowball knew the environment of the farm was central to the farms survival, by explaining to the group (animals) what needed to be done, it empowered them to have a choice and a voice concerning what is going on around them. The animals knew it was going to be a challenge due to their limitations, none the less they were motivated to completing the task to their own capacity.
Napoleon could not speak as well nor did he have as much education as Snowball, his competitor. “Napoleon produced no schemes of his own, but said quietly that Snowball’s would come to nothing.” (Orwell 44) The fat communist pig also desired power and killed or scared away his opponents to gain it. “They (the dogs) dashed straight for Snowball, who only sprang from his place just in time to escape their snapping jaws.”
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
Napoleon was so threatened by Snowball that he used his 9 loyal dogs to chase Snowball out of the Farm, and then brainwash everyone into believing that Snowball was the enemy. This is similar to when Joseph Stalin ordered one of his men to go kill Leon Trotsky because he hated everything that Trotsky was about. Stalin banished him from the country and “erased” him from Russian history. Snowball and Leon Trotsky both wanted the best for their country, but had political rivals who wanted nothing more than to see them
By making an example out of these animals; some of whom had apparently associated themselves with Snowball, other members of the working class do not want to speak against Napoleon, or the slain animals’ fate could also become theirs too. In this case, both psychological and physical fear control the animal’s actions and
Furthermore, Napoleon gives the other animals the impression he was the sole leader of the rebellion on Animal farm and makes Snowball -a leader who wanted what was best for the animals- seem like an enemy who was in cahoots with Farmer Jones since long before the animals took over the farm. Napoleon and Squealer (another “fat cat” pig.) always put the blame on Snowball whenever something went wrong in the farm to avoid having the blame fall on them. Napoleon is an exemplary example of just how selfish and hypocritical people can be in furthering their own aims because he continued to subtly but purposely change the seven rules put in place as the pillars of animalism. For example, Napoleon and the other pigs move into Farmer Jones’s house and sleep in his bed after commanding “No animal shall sleep in a bed”, so he changes the commandment to read “no animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets”.
Because society is poorly run, the animals soon face a shortage of food and other necessities. Things go wrong on the farm and instead of taking accountability for these problems, they scapegoat snowball and blame him for all their problems, even though it did not correlate with him. The animals are shown scapegoating Snowball when they say, “Do you know who is responsible for this? Do you know the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown our windmill? SNOWBALL!”
Later in the book you see how he gets his way forcefully. Snowball always put the animals ideas together in order to lead a society with prosperity. Snowball was a great speaker. He wanted what was best for the revolution. He lead the animals into revolution against the humans.
Napoleon’s initial desire to rule the Farm grows into a monstrous greed for power which is what brings destruction to the corrupted society of Animal Farm. His foolish pursuit to obtain more increasingly becomes destructive just as the capacity does to increase. The greed has taken over him and tempts him to lie in order to obtain everything he desires. He drives Snowball out of power to keep the power all to himself, separates himself from the commoners to officialise his high status within the Animal Farm, kills Boxer to acquire money for whiskey, and adapts human idiosyncrasies in order to prove that Napoleon and the pigs are more superior and can control the commoners to obtain anything that they
The animals came to him in an instant, and that shows how much influence a powerful person can have. Snowball was so confident in himself, that he did not make one
They often disagreed on many issues involving the farm until Napoleon expelled Snowball from the farm. However even after the expulsion of Snowball, with the use of persuasive language the pigs still find a way to blame him for any misfortune the farm may encounter. To begin, the pigs blame Snowball for destroying the windmill in which the animals worked soo long to build. “Comrades," he said quietly, ‘do you know who is responsible for this? Do you know the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown our windmill?
Napoleon had all the privileges and rights to amend the rules to fit his needs but there were severe consequences for those who questioned his authority or broke the rules he had established. The four pigs who had protested when Napoleon abolished the Sunday Meetings were singled out to be colluding with Snowball and pressured into confessing their crimes. The dogs “promptly tore their throats out” in front of all the animals. The hens that took part in the rebellion confessed that they were incited by Snowball appearing in their dreams and they were duly slaughtered along with a string of other animals. Along with power, corruption seeps into the farm.
As Napoleon represents Joseph Stalin and Snowball, Leon Trotsky, it is natural that these two pigs have different personalities. Napoleon is a more fierce-looking character than Snowball, who is known to get his own way. Snowball, in the other hand, is more vivacious and talkative than Napoleon. These two pigs have different views over the Seven Commandments and how other animals should be governed and treated. Besides their differences, we can say that both Napoleon and Snowball wanted the rebellion to happen and supported the idea of Animalism and, consequently, the expurgation of humans from the power.
