Pigs And Corruption In George Orwell's Animal Farm

When one acquires a position of extreme power, it is only a matter of time before it is maliciously abused for personal benefit. As socialized power, the power used to benefit others, transitions to personalized power, the principle of morality is lost as the leader becomes unable to discern from right and wrong.

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

In the book Animal Farm by George Orwell, animals overthrow their cruel master and create their own government which the pigs dominate. The foremost leaders are the pigs, Snowball, who is quick speaking intelligent, and Napoleon, who is brutish and clever. Their hunger for power shapes the rules and mindsets of the animals. In the beginning, the Seven Commandments of Animalism created by the pigs, stresses the animals’ hatred of mankind and how they will never imitate or act like man. These ideals are soon corrupted and Animal Farm’s original values are soon abandoned.

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.

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.

On Animal Farm all animals are equal and all try to pull their weight, but some animals are more equal than others. And many other animals don’t work and some work more than others. Boxer is a hard working horse who is kind but he is very persuaded with the ideas of Napoleon. The sheep of Animal Farm are stupid and blind in following the pigs and just do what the pigs ask them to do. Napoleon develops a secret police out of nine puppies he stole and those nine puppies were taught in the way of Napoleon, who wants the dogs to be loyal and enforce his ideas. All of these animals are being manipulated by Napoleon and making choices so they can help others or help themselves.

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.

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.

The next few chapters of Animal Farm by George Orwell begin to settle the roles the animals fall into after the rebellion. They band together and complete the tasks required of the farm in a timely manner. The pigs easily take control over the farm and the animals follow their orders. They do successfully harvest the crops however, they ruin into problems quickly.

Leadership and corruption can be found in the mid section of the novel when the pigs deceive the animals about what happened at the Battle of Cowshed. In the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell Squealer had this to say, “Snowball was in league with Jones from the very start… Did we not see for ourselves how he attempted-fortunately without success-to get us defeated and destroyed at the Battle of Cowshed?”(Pg. 79). This quote shows how Squealer in particular tells lies on the other animals telling them that Snowball planned to through the battle. It shows that with him in a position of power he tricks the animals with lies to further their hatred toward snowball. Much like in today's society where countries like North Korea feed lies into their citizens minds who don't know better to gain their support on issues surrounding

“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.

“People shouldn’t be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.” V, from the 2005 film V for Vendetta, preached the truth about ultimate power. Similarly, George Orwell, in his novel Animal Farm, unraveled the reality of the Russian Soviet Union, and its slow but steady spiral into an oppressive dictatorship, using an ordinary country farm and a group of typical farm animals. These animals successfully overthrew the humans that tyrannized them but could not stop the eventual corruption of power within their new government. The readers come to know that this corruption of authority was inevitable, however, due to the overpowering human attributes Orwell buried deep within his character’s cores. Their very souls

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.

Orwell shows corruption in Animal Farm by changing the commandments. For example, towards the end of the novel there only remains on commandments which states ‘ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS’. This can cause corruption because before hand there were seven commandments which helped organise the farm, and all of a sudden, there is only one commandment left. Previously, the animals were used to following seven fair and organised rules, then they only have one rule which, to them, doesn’t make sense. This commandment can seem quite confusing to the animals because on one of the previous commandments stated ‘All animals are equal’.

From the very beginning of the novel, dangerous and dictatorial leaders are at the centerfold, as the animals revolt against the irresponsible Mr. Jones and “expel” him from his own farm (Orwell, 16). Having understood the unfair nature of their livelihood in the past, the animals managed to complete a task that works entirely for their own benefit, and, given the pigs’ previous encouragement of revolution, appoint them to be the leaders of their brave new age. With Jones’ power and total devotion from the animals, however, the pigs descend from the morally righteous and fair writers of