The Abuse Of Power In George Orwell's Animal Farm

One night, all the animals of Mr. Jones’ farm, gather together in the barn to listen to Old Major, the pig, tell them about a dream he had, in which no animal had to live under the reign of human owners which would happen after a large rebellion against the people that treated them as slaves. After his death, which occurred only three nights after that meeting, the rest of the animals spent months working on plans to make the rebellion that Old Major had spoken of, into a reality. In the beginning the pigs, particularly Snowball and Napoleon, which had naturally become the leaders, faced difficulties convincing the other animals that this was the right thing to do.

George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ is the story of the animals on ‘Manor Farm’ uprising and taking over to create an equal society within the farm. Napoleon, the self appointed leader of the farm uses manipulation and relies on the naivety of the other animals, in order to take full control of the farm. ‘Animal Farm’ is an allegory of the Russian Revolution which George Orwell displays through his novel ‘Animal Farm’. Throughout the novel George Orwell demonstrates the themes hypocrisy, dominance and manipulation.

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.

The author of Animal Farm, George Orwell once said, “Power is in inflicting pain and humiliation.” At first, animals wanted to get rid of the humans, they did not treat them right. They thought that all animals should be equal. Nonetheless, they eventually get rid of the humans and all was going well. By the end of the story the animals did not think of one another as equal and the humans came back to run the farm. Moreover, the moral of the story is do not take what you have for granted.

Napoleon, who is one of the more intelligent pigs on the farm is force to take authority and eliminate opposition. Napoleon takes “nine sturdy puppies” (35) and becomes “responsible for their education” (35) while raising them up. The puppies soon become “fierce-looking wolves” (53) which he uses them to intimidate and petrify all the animals. Napoleon’s guard dogs “dash straight for Snowball, who only sprang from his place just in time to escape their snapping jaws” (53). Snowball “running faster than ever”

Often times in a communist society, a leader’s use of language can lead to abuse of power. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the farm leaders, the pigs, use unknown language, invoke scare tactics, and create specific laws, thereby enabling them to control other animals, to suit their greedy desires, and to perform actions outside their realm of power. Because of the pigs’ use of broad language, implementation of scare tactics, and creation and manipulation of laws, they are able to get away with avoiding laws and convincing other animals into believing untrue stories and lies that are beneficial to the pigs.

People play an enormous component in our lives and the choices we make. In George Orwell's “ Animal Farm” there are several people that show leadership and guidance. The Leaders of Animal Farm start off with good intentions, but as the story goes on it becomes obvious the leaders have grown power-hungry and have become the 'superior' animals, showing that equality does not exist. This source of power has been used by leaders at the expense of their followers for their own personal gain, like Napoleon, whose first sign of corruption occurred early in the book when he seemed to be the main leader of them all.

Language is a powerful tool, some abuse it to obtain power and some use it to inspire movements and bring change. I believe that language is more powerful if you use it to control a population via lying, manipulation, and fear. There have been many instances of individuals and groups using fear and language for control.

“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.

These commandments were to “form an unalterable law” (pg.17) but as the pigs quickly began to realise that their mental capabilities outshone the other animals, their self entitled supremacy rose with it. Their constant desire for power then followed and they believed that their egotistical ideals were not something to be reckoned with, therefore manipulating the commandments to their own liking. This was exemplified when the commandments are gradually undermined by the pigs to; “no animal must sleep in a bed” to “no animal must sleep in a bed with sheets” (pg.17,50), and “no animal shall kill any other animal” to “no animal shall kill any other animal without cause” (pg.17, 66)( Dr Jennifer Minter, English Works, 2016). The pigs act as if they are abiding by the commandments to gain the trust from the mindless animals using strategical manipulation strategies, then later reveal their true intentions in a time and way that no animal is cunning enough to challenge them, making them all powerless to protesting against the supremacy. A representation of this occurs by all the original commandments being erased and replaced with the new guiding principle “all animals are equal but some are more equal than others” (pg.

Towards the beginning of the book, the animals make a list of rules which they call the Seven Commandments. Throughout the story, Napoleon adds on to the commandments, such as changing the last rule from “All animals are equal” to saying, “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.” The animals accept the changes and just think that they remembered the commandments wrong..blaming it all on their ‘faulty memory’. This happens again and again, and Napoleon continues to take advantage of his power. He realizes that he is much more smart and clever than any of the other animals on the farm, and changes things to be in his favor. He cuts down on the serving sizes of each animal’s food portions and makes them work even more than they worked with their previous human leader. The animals so obliviously followed Napoleon even though what he was doing was incorrect, but because they had trust and respect for him, they never thought that he was in the

George Orwell’s book, Animal Farm, shows society is glued together by alliances against enemies. The potential is boundless when people join arms to fight an opposing force. If one’s individual presence leaves a long shadow, the other’s allegiance will only compliment and strengthen its formidable approach. An ancient threat is of no use to those in power.

In the novella, Animal Farm, by George Orwell, Orwell uses Squealer to describe the quote, “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” by John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton. In the story, when all the animals were working hard on tending the farm, Squealer sits around explaining the “endless work in supervision and organisation [on] the farm” (119). Squealer, with power to convince the others animals what he does is right, lives a lavish life without having to do much work on the farm. Squealer is able to leech off the other animal's work to benefit himself because of the amount of power he has gained.

“The abuse of language (propaganda) is instrumental to the abuse of power” is significantly portrayed throughout the book Animal Farm by George Orwell. One of propaganda’s main purpose in society is to help leaders, politicians, companies, etc., to gain a great amount of power. Propaganda also helps corrupted leaders execute illegal doings or other misconducts that eventually leads them to abuse their power. In this book, the pigs are examples of how propaganda is to manipulate and take advantage over others. Misleading information to gain control and power for self-benefits are ways one can abuse their own power.

Animal Farm is a novel by George Orwell. It is an allegory in which animals play the roles of Russian revolutionists, and overthrow the human owners of the farm. Once the farm has been taken over by the animals, they are all equal at first, but class and status soon separates the different animal species. This story describes how a society’s ideologies can be manipulated by those in political power, to cause corruption by those in leadership.