An Ineffective Leader In George Orwell's Animal Farm

In the video, Snowball was a brave pig. In the battle of the cow shed he fought his bravery gave motivation to the animals to help the other animals

Animal Farm is a novel which teaches the failure of rebellion, and it twists it into a satirical tale of animals living in an unjust farm. Orwell shows three main points to support his thoughts and beliefs. He shows the formation of a revolution, the build-up and foreground, and finally the outcome of a revolution. This essay will give a synopsis of the plot of Animal Farm.

I choose to write this short story reflective price, to explore the themes of corrupt leaders and segregation in Animal Farm. I particularly choose themes of corrupt leaders and segregation to highlight the circumstances in which took place in George Orwell's Animal Farm, I choose to write a short story in third person omniscient, so readers could have an inside understanding into each character, such as Coach Grates, who substitutes the personality of Napoleon, and Bobbie who substitutes the personality of Boxer. The intentional audience of my piece are those who have read Animal Farm.

Published in England on August 17th 1945 and written by Eric Arthur Blair (also known as George Orwell) between 1943 and 1944, Animal Farm is a novella that takes place and has the same ideologies of the Russian Revolution on an imaginary farm. Major characters such as Napoleon and Boxer the Horse play important roles concerning freedom and equality. Napoleon, considered by most to be the leader of Animal Farm is manipulative and selfish; does not care about others, and does not like to be bothered when it comes to gaining full control. Boxer the Horse, on the other hand, is the strongest yet most gullible of all the animals. He believes everything Napoleon tells him and never questions whether he is losing his freedom or not. This novella argues how a farm, just like a country, can transform for the worst with leaders who do not know how to govern it. Just like Karl Marx once said “The ruling ideas of each age have ever been the ideas of its ruling class.”

Why did 1917 Russia have flaws with its government and politics so much so that it started a revolution? Within the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell, there are many examples of leadership and corruption such as in the Russian revolution. There are many examples within the novel for this theme like the way the pigs deceive the lower animals with their lies is one example of this. How Napoleon persuades the animals in his decisions by abusing the force of the attack dogs. Banning practices from the animals like the song Beasts of England and at the end Napoleon changes a commandment to say that all animals are equal but some are more equal than others.

George Orwell in his novel Animal Farm explores the reality through the abuse of power using the character Napoleon. In order to gain absolute power, Napoleon eliminates any opposition, uses propaganda, and chances the commandments.

Another way he gains his power is by overthrowing Snowball from

Though the accusations are false they found a way to manipulate the other animals into believing it was true. It was easy for the pigs to change the other animals view and opinions on Snowball because of their knowledge. The pigs use lies to turn the other animals against Snowball: “Comrades, here and now I pronounce the death sentence upon Snowball […] everyone began thinking out ways of catching Snowball if he should ever come back” (47-48). Squealer convinces the animals that Snowball is such a threat that they are willing to kill a leader they once looked up to and sought guidance from. They manipulated the minds of the uneducated animals so much that when anything went wrong on the farm their first instinct was to blame Snowball for it.

The quote states, “Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We are brainworkers.” The quotes states that the pigs need this for their “well-being” because they are brainworkers, but this show that all pigs are corrupted including Snowball since he did not disagree about it. Another quote states, “We have removed the sheets from the farmhouse beds, and sleep between blankets. And very comfortable beds they are too!

Power can have the persuasive action in undoing the moral ethics of one’s character. This can be seen throughout history, such as World War II and proven by the actions of Napoleon in the allegory, Animal Farm, by George Orwell. As Lord Acton said “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In history what was viewed as a villain or wrong doer is never the same as the perception. A leader does not begin wanting to do wrong, they start with the best intentions, but power is a tricky thing, showcased in Animal Farm as Utopian ideals but with failed practices.

An Inept Leader: Calamity for a Nation and its People The state of a nation primarily reflects the strength and aptness of its leader; a weak leader submits their nation into an abysmal state, whereas a great one promotes progress. In Orwell's novella, Animal Farm, the animals of inferior intelligence comply with their vehement leader, Napoleon, who initially demonstrates strong qualities as a leader. However, Napoleon's leadership succumbs to corruption as he gradually implements unprincipled authoritarian rules that primarily benefit the pigs at the expense of the working class. Similarly, past leaders have displayed abuse of power for personal gain.

The theme of leadership all began when Napoleon took all of the control by forcing Snowball off of the farm. This happened in the book in chapter five in the following lines, “Then he was up again, running faster than ever, then the dogs were gaining on him again. One of them all but closed his jaws on Snowball’s tail, but Snowball whisked it free just in time. Then he put on an extra spurt and, with a few inches to spare, slipped through a hole in the hedge and was seen no more.” This is text evidence of when Napoleon forced Snowball off of the farm so he could be be the only leader on Animal Farm. Throughout the entire book it was evident that Napoleon wanted to be the only leader on the farm.

Another way Snowball establishes order directly and earns respect from his fellow animals is when he “busied himself with organizing the other animals into what he called Animal Committees” (Orwell 49). Those committee’s organized the animals into different production work forces, along with “instituting classes in reading and writing” (Orwell 49). This shows that Snowball put these committee’s into work to help the animals feel like they were needed and apart of the success of the farm, and since Snowball gave the other animals their success, he is seen as a generous and instructive leader who the animals trust. Along with being a direct and approachable leader, Snowball is also a very wise pig. In very little time he “had taught [himself] to read and write from an old spelling book;” and out of the pigs, “it was Snowball who was the best at writing” (Orwell 42).

He falls short in his plans when he comes up to his rival, Napoleon. Napoleon’s brute force kicks him out of the farm and uses his absence to portrait him as a spy, traitor and then makes the rest of the farm turn their backs on the non-present pig. Snowball fools others with his social graces, charming attitude and liveliness. Because of that others on the farm see him as a nitwit, which is the foundation of their alliance with Napoleon. Even though Orwell portrays Snowball as a refreshing and enthusiastic light, he does not fully put

As a political writer and socialist of the time, Orwell turns the tragedy of the Russian people, whose dreams of a communist utopia were crushed by the Stalin regime, into a message to society. These people of the Russian Revolution were treated just as poorly, if not worse, than before the revolution because of political innocence and an authoritarian government. With his novel, Animal Farm, serving as allegory for the Russian revolution, Orwell warns that any society that gives the leader absolute power is fated to become corrupt and oppressive because of the inevitability of a leader manipulating his power for personal gain. Even revolutions that have the best intentions will ultimately fail if the leaders are not held accountable.