Power Corrupted In George Orwell's Animal Farm

There is a famous quote by David Brin which states: “It is said that power corrupts. But actually it’s more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.” This quote means that not everyone can be corrupted, but sometimes, people are too weak to handle the pressure. Additionally, power comes in many forms, but one way that really stands out is when it boils down to influence on other people. Furthermore, in real life and in novels, power often corrupts people and characters. In both the novels Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, power has the ability to bring out the worst qualities in human nature in the antagonists, a concept that can be also be applied.

Throughout history, people have gone crazy over power, making them do things that they would have never done. Stories have been written, wars have been fought, and even families destroyed over the struggle for power. Desiring power is part of our human nature, everyone wants it, and what one does while in power, is often attempts to gain more. Even the most paramount leaders can become corrupt, leaving their legacy resonating through history. A common theme throughout our history is the abuse of power. It is often that societies find that their highly elected officials have broken laws to a large degree. With superfluous power, there is an abuse of power. Human nature is to covet power, and when someone feels power, it makes them go ballistic over it, eventually, leading to that power becoming corrupt.

Throughout history, people strive for power over others. People will kill, steal, and lie in order gain the power they crave. Some people become arrogant with the power they possess and do not assist people in need around them. For hundreds of years, kings held great power over their subjects by owning all the land in the country and making all the laws. While there were a few good monarchs, there were many that chose to use their power to be detrimental to their society such as having high taxes as in King Louis the XVI of France. Through history, past and present, power tends to corrupt humanity more than powerlessness.

Power is good to have, but too much power would lead to corruption. An example of this would be when

One of the many awful things he did was he proclaimed that whoever killed, snowball would be rewarded. He would also kill any animals he believed were working with Snowball, breaking the commandment that said no animal shall kill another animal. He also formed one single commandment after breaking all of the other ones, which was “ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS” ( 194). This shows that the pigs finally established dominance over the animals, and no longer believed that all animals were equal. Another action that showed that Napoleon was taking dominance over the other animals was when he took away some of the dreams that at the beginning was once promised to them, such as “The luxuries of which Snowball had once taught the animals to dream, the stalls with electric light and Hot and cold water, and the three-day week, were no longer talked about. He said, lay in working hard and living frugally” ( 185). This shows that the animals were promised great things, but this all changed when Napoleon's desire for power clouded all of his previous beliefs. Lastly, the pigs and Napoleon appeared one day walking in their hind legs and showing qualities of humans until one day in the eyes of the animals they become so human like, it was impossible to tell between humans and pigs. The animals

Possessing a certain amount of power is not a bad thing. It is the love for power and the desire for more that ends up eventually destroying one’s mind and body. The desire for power corrupts one’s mind and will cause them to make decisions that will result in the destruction of theirs and other’s futures.

“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.

Another way power leads to corruption is shown by George Orwell’s Animal Farm. The author shows it by how Napoleon treated the animals on the farm, and by how Napoleon treated the farm itself, and by how Napoleon used his power to brainwash the dogs and use them for propaganda on the farm. George Orwell’s Animal Farm shows how power leads to corruption in how Napoleon treated the animals on the farm with propaganda. He treated them so badly that when the chickens didn’t give up the eggs to the farm, he killed them using the dogs that bite their throat open. After Napoleon told the dogs to go after them,

As demonstrated by Napoleon in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, too much power is dangerous and can change an individual to become greedy or corrupt. “There was nothing there now except a single Commandment. It read: All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others” (Orwell 92). In the beginning the pigs, including Napoleon, stood for equality for all animals. In fact, it was the foundation of their revolution. After Napoleon took over, he slowly began to become more and more greedy, symbolizing human nature, until he completely changed his set of morals and beliefs to benefit only himself. “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it

He takes his power and turns into a tyrant. At the beginning of the story, Napoleon and Snowball write seven commandments for all animals to follow. Napoleon goes on to kick Snowball out of the farm and uses him as a scapegoat. This creates a common enemy for the animals and gives everyone the illusion that Napoleon is a perfect leader. While everyone is under the cloud of false security, Napoleon is going behind everyone’s back. He is taking on human characteristics in addition to associating with man. At night, Napoleon has his second-in-command, Squealer, change the commandments so they fit Napoleon’s needs “...and near at hand there lay a lantern, a paintbrush, and an overturned pot of white paint,” (Orwell 108). Just like most tyrannical leaders, Napoleon believes he is superior to everyone, which goes against the initial rule that all animals are

Allegories, like Animal Farm which is a satire about the Russian Revolution, are insightful stories that help convey issues in society to let us have a better understanding of them. Animal Farm challenges us to think about power and corruption through the comparison of the animals' lives before and after which reveals a society plagued by negative consequences arising from totalitarian regimes. Firstly, Animal Farm portrays a world revolutionized through power which provides order whilst dictating an individual's status in a society. This is shown through the change of hierarchy and the pigs' attainment of power after overthrowing Mr Jones. Additionally, the corruption of power shown through the individuals in Animal Farm, especially Napoleon,

“No one knows for sure how many people were murdered during Stalin's Great Purge, but estimates put the figure at more than 1 million.” Over the course of his reign, Joseph Stalin has executed and imprisoned perceived threats to his power. During the three public trails of former prominent Communist Party leaders, and plenty of other private trails held, the defendants have been charged under pretenses fabricated by the NKVD, the Soviet Secret Police. The defendants have fully confessed to their crimes in court after facing intense beatings, sleep deprivation, and threats to arrest and execute their families. However, the West has continued to see Stalin and the Soviet Union favorably. This has urged George Orwell to write Animal Farm so he can expose the truth about the Soviet regime. In Animal Farm, the author George Orwell uses the manipulation, and fear of the leaders and the naivety, and loyalty of the followers to contribute to the theme of loss of freedom and equality in order to show how power can lead to corruption.

You may have heard the phrase, “power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely,” a quote by a 19th century British Politician, Lord Acton. There are many prime examples that portray this idea, not only throughout literature, but also throughout history, and even life in general. Marcus Antony, Adolf Hitler, and Donald Trump are three people who can easily support this concept.

In the novel Old Major, who is an admired animal on Manor Farm, has given a speech to blend the animals’ emotion into insubordination. Old Major utilized his power of respect and trust to convince the others to seek his vision of a farm from his dream. In this scenario Old Major has all the power, because he led the other animals into a discussion of a better society, for equality throughout the farm. In any case, history has demonstrated that dictatorship does not work; this is because absolute power is corruptive. The influence

disagree with this statement made by Lord Acton in the 1800’s, choosing instead to see corruption of power as simply a moral dilemma that is present before a person is ever put into a position of power. According to DeCelles et al., “the psychological experience of power, although often associated with promoting self-interest, is associated with greater self -interest only in the presence of a weak moral identity. DeCelles et al., also goes on to say that the psychological experience of power is associated with less self-interest in the presence of a strong morale identity” (1). The study showed that power activated, rather than changed people’s underlying character. In other words, you are who you are and power doesn’t change that but it will compound it.