Inequitable Leadership In Animal Farm By George Orwell

The farm was initially established to ensure equal rights to all, but eventually the totalitarian rule of the pigs dictated that “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others” (Orwell 134). The pigs, consumed with power, constructed the idea that they were superior to the other animals, allowing them to enact any rules that benefitted them, without considering the detrimental effects on the other animals. The thirst for power consumes the pigs to the extent at which they no longer value what prior morals they had. Any action they take simply benefits themselves; the pigs no longer have regards to the prosperity of the

“The pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others. With their superior knowledge it was natural that they should assume the leadership.” (Orwell 35). The main leader of the pigs is Napoleon due to his controlling and merciless personality. Since the pigs were not doing any work on the farm, they encouraged all of the other animals to contribute in the work. As you see here, these are the beginnings of an overbearing government starting to form. The animals do not have a say in who does what or who gets what on the farm. Two items that really created a fuss on the farm were the disappearance of cows’ milk and the apples. “"Comrades!" he cried. "You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a 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. Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organization of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for YOUR sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples." (Orwell 42). In this quote the pigs are trying to justify their superiority to the animals and give logical reasons as to why they deserve the milk and apples over the other characters. This is similar to the people of Russia when they began to be oppressed all over again by Stalin. Both groups of people and animals do not want to repeat the same past that they just escaped, however they are not sure how to break free from the

George Orwell’s novella “Animal Farm” is an allegory of the Russian Revolution retold by the rebellion of beasts over mankind. Through the actions and influences of the pigs in the story, Orwell highlights and mocks various human weaknesses, showing that although humans are thought to be the superior race, they are still flawed. Orwell ridicules man’s hunger for power and the benefits that come with authority. Furthermore, he brings to light the effects of alcoholism, and man’s detrimental and uncontrollable ability to cause physical harm.

Orwell shows the difference in those with absolute control and those without the ability to express themselves by describing how “the pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others. With their superior knowledge, it was natural that they should assume the leadership”(35). By including this quote within the making of the new farm, Orwell expresses how the pigs took advantage of their authorial positions so they could force the others to work, while they dominated Animal Farm with their own rules. The pigs’ power allowed them to have freedom to do anything they wanted, but caused the other animals to be restricted further in their lives, work, and individual rights. This resulted in the exploitation of the other animals, forcing them to have lose any hopes of having an equal society. Still, the other animals did not protest, and instead believed the pigs should be in power because of their intelligence. Their actions lead to the oppressive, dictatorial society shown as Animal Farm progresses. Soon, the inequity between the pigs and other animals develops to a point where “all rations were reduced, except those of the pigs and the dogs. A too rigid equality in rations, Squealer explained, would have been contrary to the principles of Animalism”

The novel ‘Animal Farm’ created by George Orwell heavily expresses the ideals of a prolonged cruel or unjust treatment and the exercise of authority. The exponential ignorance of the farm animals towards the actions and ideas of the pigs (Napoleon, Squealer and Snowball) prove the incentive that it is easier to conform to the ideals/ways of the ‘New England’, than to rebel, as well as through the exposure to propaganda and the distortion of reality. This therefore leaving them docile, numb, and oppressed.

In a society where an elite class has access to tools that the masses do not, this elite group of people often use these tools to dominate and oppress society. In George Orwell’s story, Animal Farm, Orwell demonstrates that education is a powerful weapon and is a tool that can be used to one’s advantage. Living in a world where power is easy to gain, the pigs quickly use education (or lack thereof) to manipulate the rest of the animals on the farm to serve themselves. This story ultimately reveals the underlying message that  first, education is important to all levels of society, next, for when it is not, society is stratified, resulting in the masses suffering.

“The mystery of where the milk went to was soon cleared up. It was mixed every day into the pigs’ mash” (Orwell 35). The milk and apples of the farm had been mysteriously disappearing, but it turns out that the pigs had been smuggling them in all along. “‘We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organisation of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink milk and eat those apples’” (Orwell 36). It is implied in Squealer’s quote that the pigs’ stealing of the milk and apples can be justified, because it is for the well-being of the animals. This is evidence of the pigs’ incorrect use of intelligence leading to corruption. In addition to this, the pigs’ brainwashing of the animals is evident in the character Boxer.

George Orwell’s Animal Farm is a perfect example of how ignorance and lack of education can be used for control. Control which can lead to political and social oppression. The experiences of the various characters present how the pigs use this idea to oppress the animals of 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.”

The animals now believe that all the credit should go to the animal most educated and the biggest contributor to the revolution because the other animals would never be able to make these impactful changes. Every animal that comes to power is assumed to be more educated than the others, even if they are not the most capable or literate. In the case of Napoleon, he intimidates his peers with his fierce group of dogs and the other animals are forced to go along with what he says with the fear of getting

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.

Flaws in Human Nature: A Study on the Satire of Humanity in Orwell The novels Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm by George Orwell provide intriguing commentaries on humanity that are still applicable even today. Nineteen Eighty-Four unfolds in the year the book is named after in Oceania, the totalitarian new world superpower presumably post-World War II. The book’s protagonist, Winston Smith, works in the records department of the Ministry of Truth, altering records of the past to fit with the ruling Party’s current rhetoric. The story follows his desire for rebellion though a passionate love affair with co-worker Julia and his subsequent arrest, torture and conversion to the Party’s principles.

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.

Tyranny has always been present in human history from Joseph Stalin to Adolf Hitler they have all taken advantage of the public and used them to their own advantage and personal needs. In the story Animal Farm by George Orwell this tyrannical, totalitarian, and corrupt form of government is seen. In the story the tired animals organize a rebellion against their owner and drive him out. They create their own government, with the pigs assuming control. But the corrupt pigs take advantage of this power entrusted to them, and oppress the animal for their own benefit. Even though the pigs abused the power they had, The naive and gullible animals themselves were the ones responsible for the pigs’ quick rise to power and control because the animals were tricked into supporting the pigs evil plans, they were too braindead to organize and execute a rebellion even after they realized the pigs were up to no good, and they were so foolish that they even supported the expulsion of snowball, the only good pig that worked for the good of the other animals.

In Animal Farm by George Orwell, he uses the animals to represent everyone in our society today. In this novel, satire is the use of animal characters as a representation to show the Russian Revolution. The humans, portrayed by animals, are being ridiculed and it shows the breakdown of political ideology, and the misuse of power. Each of the characters portray an individual in society that expresses how humans can act similarly to animals. We can be perceived as animals because we can be separated by classes, or by our appearances. We often become what we don’t want to be, as in the novel the animals make rules to not become humans. We soon find out that the pigs are standing and becoming just like humans. The pigs hold all the power, and everything is fitted around them.