Leadership And Corruption In Animal Farm By George Orwell

Uneducated citizens can allow a corrupt government to succeed because they believe that what the government is doing is the right thing because they are the most educated and that is what they were made to believe since the beginning. This theme can be seen in George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm. In this novel, the animals start to riot of how they are not being taken care of properly and that their farmer, Mr. Jones, is awful towards them by not feeding them any food and mistreating them. One of the animals, a pig, named Old Major decides to take a stand and gathers all the animals together to kick out Mr. Jones from the farm. Since Old Major ends up dying other pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, end up taking charge of the farm naming it Animal Farm and making amendments for all to follow, putting humans as their

John Dalberg Acton once said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This seems similar in the case of Animal Farm, a book by George Orwell. In the story the tired animals rebel against their owner and set up their own government, but the pigs assume control and abuse their power which corrupts the whole system by oppressing the other animals and exploiting them. Even though the pigs abuse their power, the naive animals are the reason why the pigs rose to control because the working animals were tricked by the pig’s corruption of language, persuaded by their propaganda, and were naive time and time again.

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.

Throughout time there were a lot of people in leadership positions, and corruption is not uncommon. In many occasions, the leaders wanted more power, and the strive for it eventually developed into corruption. In George Orwell’s story, Animal Farm, the pigs are seen as the smartest of the animals, and therefore they became the leaders. One pig, Napoleon, did not like how the farm was being run, so he took over through the use of force. After he became the leader of the farm, he continued to try and gain more power and influence over the other animals. In Animal Farm, George Orwell asserts the idea that absolute power results in corruption. Napoleon and the other pigs, interested in remaining superior, persuade the animals by using intimidation and emotional appeals in order to keep control of the gullible animals.

Power is one of the most desired things in the world, and is often hard to attain, but once it is gained it can often corrupt a person. Corruption due to power is shown in many instances in the book, Animal Farm. In the book, there is an opening for someone to take control of the power, and the animals that do are the pigs. The pigs gain the power for many reasons. When power is gained there are many things people can do with it, either bad or good. The pigs’ actions in animal farm show the different ways that power can be used by those in charge.

In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the pigs are in control. Napoleon became the official leader after Snowball was chased out by the dogs. Squealer, Napoleon’s sidekick, now has social control over the farm animals. Squealer uses language to confuse and persuade the animals into thinking the commandments did not change, humans are allies and not enemies, and that some animals are more equal than others.

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.

George Orwell’s Animal Farm is, first and foremost, a political satire warning against the pursuit of utopian desires through unjust and oppressive means. Operating under the pretense of an animal fable, Orwell disparages the use of political power to poach personal freedom. He effectively alerts his readers to the dangerous price that can accompany the so-called “pursuit of progress”. And he illuminates how governments acting under the guise of increasing independence often do just the opposite: increase oppression and sacrifice sovereignty. While the cautionary theme Orwell provides proves widely applicable, in reality his novel focuses on one tale of totalitarian abuse: Soviet Russia. The parallels between the society Orwell presents in his Animal Farm and the Soviet Union – from the Russian revolution to Stalin’s supremacy – are seemingly endless. Manor Farm represents Tsarist Russia, Animalism compares to Stalinism, and Animal Farm, with the pig Napoleon at its helm, clearly symbolizes Communist Russia and Joseph Stalin. But Orwell does more than simply align fiction with fact. He fundamentally attacks Soviet Russia at its core. And in so doing he reveals how the Communist Party simply replaced a bad system with a worse one, overthrowing an imperial autocracy for a totalitarian dictatorship. This essay will demonstrate that Orwell’s Animal Farm is

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.”

“Remember that all things are lawful to me” (Tranquillus). These words by Gaius Caesar Germanicus, more commonly known as Caligula, epitomize the corruption caused by absolute power. Under his rule, the Roman treasury was emptied, people suffered from seemingly random acts of brutality, and Rome was ruled by an emperor who thought of himself as a god. Similarly, in the novel Animal Farm, the Manor Farm is taken over by its four-legged inhabitants. Their equal government is soon taken over by a power-hungry leader, a young boar named Napoleon. George Orwell’s fictional dictator Napoleon in the allegorical novel Animal Farm and the lavish life of the Roman Emperor Caligula both prove that power always causes corruption.

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” (John Dalberg Action 1st Baron Action). The more power and person strives to have the more corrupt things they must do to obtain and keep it. The pieces of literature written by British authors Animal Farm, George Orwell, Lord of the Flies, William Golding, and Hamlet by William Shakespeare all portray this idea in different ways.

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.

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.