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symbolism in the animal farm by george orwell
The themes of Animal farm
how napoleon corrupted in animal farm
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In the satiric novel entitled Animal Farm by George Orwell the character Napoleon represents a group of corrupted leaders who gradually lose sight of what they were working for. The group of pigs, including Napoleon himself, rebelled and fought for freedom against Farmer Jones. However, the utopia that they fought for was forgotten, and the pigs manipulate the other animals. As a result, Animal Farm ends up exactly where it had originally started. Napoleon is deceitful, corrupt, and cunning, and if Napoleon and the other pigs had never appointed themselves the ultimate leaders, Animal Farm would have never failed, and would have been much more successful. Napoleon is a master of deceit and lying his way through situations to get what he wants. …show more content…
And example of this is “By seeming friendly to with Pilkington, he had forced Frederick to raise his price by twelve pounds. But the superior quality of Napoleon’s mind, said Squealer, was shown in the fact that he trusted nobody, not even Frederick. Frederick had wanted to pay for the timber with something called a cheque, which it seems, was a piece of paper with a promise to pay written upon it. But Napoleon was too clever for him,” (31). This is just one example of Napoleon’s cunning ways to get what he wants, and this was not directed towards the animals. This also illustrates that if Napoleon can be this sly and cunning such a simple situation, his effect is much bigger and greater when he is involved in a complicated and larger situation. Stated in the story, “Someone said it was the smell of barley. The animals sniffed the air hungrily and wondered whether a warm mash was being prepared for their supper… no warm mash appeared, and on the following Sunday it was announced that from now onward, all barley would be reserved for the pigs...And the news soon leaked out that every pig was now receiving a ration of a pint of beer daily, with half a gallon for Napoleon himself…” (36). Although this example is not very significant, it easily shows Napoleon’s potential to menacingly manipulate the animals. In another time in the story, the patch of land reserved for retired animals is
George Orwell uses power corrupts as a theme for Animal Farm. Orwell defines “power corrupts” as a distortion of ideals and practices to legitimize the power of a particular group or person. Orwell uses the pigs, and specifically Napoleon, to show how power is gained and then corrupted. “By the time he (Snowball) had finished speaking, there was no doubt as to which way the vote would go… Napoleon stood up… uttered a high-pitched whimper… and nine enormous dogs wearing brass-studded collars came bounding into the barn.” (52,53) George Orwell’s message that power corrupts is shown through pigs rise to power, Napoleon’s takeover, and Napoleon’s dictatorship.
..., wearing clothes, drinking alcohol, and engaging in trade. He even resorts to tyrannizing and killing his own kind. When Napoleon distorts the constitution he uses trickery and propaganda to persuade the other animals of its importance, and when this fails he uses fear. In the end, the animals become weak and Napoleon dominates them with his strength using fear and trickery as his tools.
Napoleon is an extremely deceitful character in numerous ways. For example, Napoleon tricks the animals into thinking concepts that are not true. “Throughout the whole period of his seeming friendship with Pilkington, Napoleon had really been in a secret agreement with Frederick,” (31). This shows that Napoleon lied to the animals about which farm he was going to sell wood to. Furthermore, this also illustrates that the animals might not trust Napoleon if he continues to lie to them. Additionally, Napoleon is an untruthful menace who will do nothing to help the farm or the animals. “Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for YOUR sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples,” (12). This shows that Napoleon is trying to
When the time comes to vote for either Napoleon or Snowball, Napoleon uses Snowball to gain power by blaming everything that goes wrong on him to make the animal’s thing negatively about him and his future plans for the farm. George Orwell could make his point about the Russian revolution clearer and easier for the readers by using the animal. Napoleon is breaking the commandment number six which is no animal shall kill any other animal. After the rebellion the animals create the seven commandments. Propaganda plays a big part in the maintenance of power. Most of the animals represent characters in the Russian revolution such as : Napoleon represents Josef Stalin, however, Old Major represents Karl Marx or Vladimir Llyich Lenin, Snowball is like Leon Trotsky and Mr. Jones is like Nicholas the second. The pigs reveal that they have taught themselves to read and write, this is important because it makes them have an advantage over the other animals and it could come in handy at important times when they are trying to fool the animals into believing something. This is made so that the s...
In George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm a fable is told of one pig who is there to conquer and stay. Napoleon is a young slightly intelligent pig who has found himself in the heart of Manor Farm looked upon by others, but in order to gain his people's’ respect, animals’ respect, he must use tactics to conquer Manor Farm some of his different tactics include using the power of trust and betrayal, manipulation of words and pasts, and fear. Through these three tactics he withholds the power of corruption, we see different examples in the novel of his valor and his ruthlessness used in order to achieve what he wants.
Like a snake, Napoleon cheated his way through words and overthrew Snowball, only to find out he would steal his justifying ideas after he attained enough authority. Consequently, Napoleon’s corrupt power is evident when the author asserts, “Throughout the spring and summer they worked a sixty-hour week, and in August Napoleon announced that there would be work on Sunday afternoon as well. This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half” (Orwell 29). This is captivating for it exemplifies Napoleon’s tarnished power for he was voluntarily forcing his comrades to work for food on their plate. By withholding food rations, Napoleon has control over all of the animals as food is crucial resource to survival. He promises more food, yet he abused the animals’ inability to remember as a mean of regulating distribution. Subsequently, Napoleon wasn’t barring there, “In April, Animal Farm was proclaimed a Republic, and it became necessary to elect a President. There was only one candidate, Napoleon, who was elected unanimously” (Orwell 54). How fortunate must’ve Napoleon been to inherit full authorization on Animal Farm. Once Napoleon orders the execution of the pigs and the hens, there is an immediate descent into supplementary betrayal, which leads to Boxer’s passing and
In the beginning, Napoleon seemed that he wanted to help out the animals in this revolution when it first started. The first thing that stood out to me that Napoleon did wrong was that he started to make trade with humans when he wasn’t suppose to. The next thing that Napoleon did wrong was that he made the pigs and himself superior from the other animals when everyone is suppose to be equal. Once he had accomplish that, he just turned himself in a complete human being. With these changes made, it made the farm go worst than it was before the revolution. Whenever you want to be a leader of something, you’re expected to make your group better. Many of the animals were believing that Napoleon was going to make their farm the best. When Napoleon first wanted to become leader, was he really trying to do of what he had said or was he just faking it so he could have more power than the other
Next, Orwell uses hyperboles to demonstrate why the animals submitted to Napoleon, even when the animals were abused by him; thus, mimicking the followers of Stalin during the Soviet Union. The animals of Animal Farm were exceedingly obscured, believing that their leader, a boar named “Napoleon is always right” without strictly observing Napoleon’s actions (Orwell 70). As if it were hypnotism, the animals on Animal Farm willingly believed that every demand or law made by Napoleon was a perfect decision; thus, Napoleon looked as if he was some sort of government guru. However, if the pigs had not muddied the waters as much, the animals would have been able to look through Napoleon’s deceptions. They would have been able to see that Napoleon
In order to secure a life of luxury for he and his fellow pigs, Napoleon, along with Squealer as his spokesman, uses language that intimidates, language that distorts the truth, and language that appeals to the emotions of the others to manipulate the gullible animals of Animal Farm. Napoleon's life of luxury included the milk, human beds, alcohol, money, a par education, and the surrounding of his fellow pigs to emotionally and physically stabilize him. However it tampered with a more crucial goal, which was the goal for the equivalent animals lesser than him to prosper equally with him as well. His abuse of his absolute power by ordering his guard dogs to drive his adversary out of competition, and his tactics to silence the animals from rebelling again made his leadership corrupt, and the entire existence of the post-rebellion corrupt as well.
When they went to double check their recent findings, they found that it had been changed to, "No animal shall kill another animal without cause,"(65). This is not the first time Napoleon has done this either. He has also changed two other commandments in order to fulfill his and the other superior pigs needs. He is quite sly with his ways and tries his best in order to not be caught. This is easier to do because he has gotten rid of the only animal that has ever disobeyed, second-guessed, or challenged him, Snowball. Above all else, Napoleon is manipulative. He knew that,"...Boxer and Clover...had great difficulty in thinking anything out for themselves…," so they," accepted the pigs as their teachers,"(14). With this previous knowledge, Napoleon could teach them practically anything, and that will become their sense of reality. They will flaunt their new knowledge around the farm, which is very helpful to the pigs. It will help spread their messages faster, as everyone looked up to Boxer and wanted to be like him. Clover is a mother, so they trusted her and her words as if she was their mother. He manipulates the entire farm by just two box-cart horses and his ‘teachings’. Napoleon is a cruel, dishonest, and manipulative leader, or how some may call it, a
Although Napoleon was not a strong public speaker he was very manipulative and used propaganda to persuade others to listen to him. The most obvious example of Napoleon's manipulation and use of propaganda would be through the sheep. Whenever someone questioned Napoleon the sheep on the farm would burst into a cry of “four legs good two legs bad” and everyone would forget about their speculations ( ). Since Napoleon was not a great speaker he used Squealer as his public voice. When the animals wondered where the apples and milk went Squealer was sent to give the other animals an explanation ( ). Squealer would also change the commandments whenever the pigs would break them ( ). If Napoleon got into a tough situation he would either say “you wouldn’t want Jones back,” or he would use Snowball as a scapegoat.
First of all, Napoleon is a huge Berkshire boar and he clearly is the most powerful of all the animals. He was able to take complete leadership of the farm because he secretly trained the dogs to attack Snowball. George Orwell writes, “ ‘Never mind the milk, comrades!’ cried Napoleon, placing himself in front of the buckets. ‘That will be attended to, the harvest is more important’ (817). Napoleon is quite demanding none of the animal’s even question his authority because they know that he has more control than any other animal. Throughout the novel Orwell has many quotes that describe Napoleon as a leader, “ ‘long live Comrade Napoleon’ ” (846). All the animals on the farm (no matter what Napoleon did to them) would treat him as a powerful leader and whatever he said they would do. Often Orwell stirs up controversy about the rebellion, “ ‘forward in the name of the rebellion. ‘Long live Animal farm!’ ‘Long live Comrade Napoleon!’ ‘Napoleon is always right.’ Those were his very last words, comrades’ ” (849). Squealer’s letting everyone know that no matter what happens to Animal Farm, just remember that Napoleon was an outstanding leader most of the time. Napoleon was an outstanding leader and contributor to Animal Farm without his power the farm would have collapsed earlier.
Napoleon, a pig, does not participate that much in the revolution. It is after the revolution that Napoleon starts taking power into his own hands. He operates through cruelty and betrayal. Take his little private army for example. When Napoleon takes nine puppies from their parents and begins raising them himself, no one knows why until the dogs suddenly appear, fully grown, to chase Snowball off the farm. What happens is, Napoleon demands that various animals make false, public confessions about how they are traitors or how they used to be in league with Jones. As these confessions went on, Napoleon order the dogs to kill them. The dogs rip the animals' throats out and drag them onto a pile of corpse. When jones was the owner of the farm, there has been no incident like this. Napoleon's cruelty leads him to power but also leads him to killing more animals than the humans. The revolution did not make life better for the animals except for the pigs. If anything, it made life more worst and depressing having to see friends and family killed for a false
Napoleon became my least favorite character in the book, Animal Farm, because he is a controlling, cold-blooded, murdering hypocrite. One way that shows Napoleon is controlling is when he uses his guard dogs to intimidate the animals into agreeing, or at least not object out loud with what he says. A quotation that shows this is “Four young porkers in the front row uttered shrill squeals of disapproval. . . the dogs sitting round Napoleon let out deep, menacing growls, and the pigs fell silent and sat down again” (Orwell 54). When Napoleon ended Sunday morning Meetings and debates, four pigs questioned and protested, but instead of listening to their thoughts, Napoleon used his guard dogs to scare them into keeping quiet. This portrays him
In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, a main theme is that power corrupts those who possess it. A definition of corruption is,“dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery.” Orwell develops this idea through the character Napoleon in various ways. Looking back in the book, the animal’s rebellion quickly turned political and revolved around, “Leader, Comrade Napoleon (Orwell 81)”. The power Napoleon possed was executed through lies and selfishness, aided by the lack of intellectual ability in the other animals. The corruption of Napoleon’s power is displayed when he favors himself, along with the other pigs, and eventually the dogs, who all get better rations of food compared to the other animals. Another main demonstration of how power corrupts Napoleon is how he separates himself from the other animals on the farm, displaying his feelings if superiority to the other animals. A ceremonial nature develops towards Napoleon. The last way power corrupts Napoleon is how he acts recklessly; killing other animals and lying about