Corruption In Animal Farm By George Orwell

Animal Farm is a novel written by George Orwell. The story takes place in a farm full of animals. Eventually, the animals rebel against the humans, which leads them the make their own government. As the book progresses Orwell uses many types of literary devices to communicate his opinions and thoughts specifically about the government in the society. In Animal Farm Orwell uses satire through the animal allegory, and irony, commenting on the the Russian Revolution, to show a connection between the individuals of a society and a totalitarian government and to create a cautionary tale that warns the readers about abuse of power.

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.

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.

When thinking about pigs, you generally associate them with being dirty, repulsive and gluttonous. Well, that's Napoleon. In the novel, Animal Farm, by George Orwell Napoleon is a pig on Manor Farm who slowly exerts power over others and begins his reign as a dictator. Napoleon takes over and renames the farm Animal Farm while being completely deceptive and unfair. Napoleon is a prime example of how absolute power corrupts absolutely because he is unjust and doesn't care for the wellbeing of any of the other animals on the farm but himself.

George Orwell’s Animal Farm is a satirical allegory through which he presents his cynical view of human nature. He uses the animal fable effectively to expose the issues of injustice, exploitation and inequality in human society.

As the saying goes, “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This text is an allusion to the Russian Revolution. After the rebellion the animals are left with two leaders, Snowball and Napoleon, that cannot agree on a single thing. Snowball was chased off by Napoleon’s dog and was left with all the power. in animal farm, George Orwell asserts the idea that absolute power results in corruption. Napoleon and the other pigs, interested in remaining superior, persuades the other animals by using intimidation and emotional appeals in order to keep control of the gullible animals.

It was once when an animal was a slave and just an animal, but with a little bit of rebellion, things are turned upside down. Animal Farm shows an important point that it is easy to take advantage of those who are feeble, or less intelligent. Napoleon uses his power to keep the sheep working who follow along with the rest of the animals, and also exploits characters like Boxer who helps. In Animal Farm, George Orwell uses personification and detail to show a leader and followers viewpoints in an environment to prove how leaders and followers contributes to the loss of freedom and equality.

“Animal Farm” by George Orwell is an allegorical novel published on England in 1945. According to the author, this book reflects historical events leading up and during the Stalin era before World War II. It is the story of a revolution which goes wrong, based on the Russian revolution and Stalin’s use of power, the overall message is that man’s desire for power makes a classless society impossible. In the book, each animal represents a public figure or a type of person in real life. With this we can begin to develop the questions below in order to have a more complete idea of the meaning of the novel.

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.

Animal farm is a book that describes the harsh reality of inequality and injustices towards people of different races in the form of animals on a farm. In a fictional world, talking animals on a farm overthrow the owner, Mr. Jones, and drive him out of his own farm. These shockingly human animals have many of the characteristics that humans have, notably greed and social class differences. In Animal Farm, the revolution and rule of the animals is used as a metaphor to show how corrupt power can lead to inequality and unfair social classes.

Throughout the book of Animal Farm the theme of leadership and corruption is continuous. The animal’s who have the biggest part in both of these major themes are the pigs. Napoleon, for example, takes over as the leader in the beginning of the book and later his leadership methods turn corruptive.

In every society, power and regulation is necessary in ensuring an established population. Without leaders who have jurisdiction and administrative power, chaos and disorder can break loose. However, what if this power is given to leaders who will not stop the chaos, but only create it? What if the possession of absolute power creates leaders who do not fear whether their people suffer, but instead only fear the loss of their position as absolute?

The corrupting effect of power is one of the focal topic of George Orwell’s allegorical novel, ‘Animal Farm’. When too much power is given, a dictatorship government can shape, in which all choices are made by one authority, which Orwell depicts through Napoleon. George Orwell portrays how authority can without a doubt corrupt organised societies. In the novel Old Major, who is a valued animal on the farm, had given a speech to push the animals towards a rebellion.

Corruption can occur for many different reasons within a society, as power is so tempting and desirable that it can change one’s intentions and behaviors for the benefit of their authoritative entity. Animal Farm, an allegory by George Orwell, demonstrates that in a society, corruption occurs if the ones that receive power care more for their own well being than for the others’. After the animals first milk the cows and then eventually find the ripening apples, the pigs take these things for themselves, and Squealer justifies their actions by saying, “‘You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. I dislike them myself. Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health’” (Orwell 52). Almost immediately after the revolution, the pigs begin to act for the benefit of themselves, and persuade the others to justify their wrongdoing. Simply the act of sharing at this stage would have ensured that the pigs were committed to improving every animal's life. Unfortunately, they cannot even act fairly with a basic resource, foreshadowing that the corruption has only just begun to develop, and will worsen. Furthermore, after this incident, the pigs realize that the animals can be easily controlled, and therefore they can act unfairly to them with no opposition, besides Snowball. Later on, after Snowball is exiled and Napoleon gains control, “The pigs suddenly moved into the farmhouse and took up their residence there. Again the animals seemed to remember that a resolution against this had been passed in the early days, and again Squealer was able to convince them that this was not the case” (Orwell 79). Although there was in fact a resolution against living in the farmhouse, the pigs use their power and persuasiveness to serve themselves and move in. The injustices that the pigs partake in are now beginning to escalate. Depriving the other animals of better tasting food was wrong, but moving into the farmhouse implies the idea that they believe that they are of a higher class and should not live with the others. This is because the farmhouse has a much nicer living condition than the stalls that the “lower” animals

Imagine sitting with your parents that are watching the news. On the news there is a man on trial for the things he's done in his corporation. You soon realize the man is the head of his business and has been using underhanded tactics to gain more money. It is also revealed the man wasn't always like this and has only started using these tactics when his corporation began to expand. This is one example of the theme corruption comes with power. In the story Animal Farm by George Orwell which follows the events of an animal rebellion on a farm that gains power at one point, but eventually begins to become corrupt and reverted back to it's old ways due to their leader Napoleon. In the story Napoleon is shown gaining a larger stance in the rebellion only to take away animal’s rights and amendments initially created to help the farm stay on the path of rebellion against humans. In the story the theme corruption comes with power is revealed.