The Influence Of Power In George Orwell's Animal Farm

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.

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.

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.

In contrast, the Animals in animal farm have their power taken from them in front of their eyes, however, a combination of low intelligence and pigs capitalising on animal stupidity leads to the animals believing they are free and in power while they actually are not at all, the animals definitely have

“No animal shall drink alcohol” (Orwell 25) was the 5th commandment, but Napoleon didn’t let that stop him. After he got drunk he had Squealer change the 5th commandment to “No animal shall drink to excess” (Orwell 109). Having that much power can be used for self-interest instead of thinking about the common good. No man or animal should have that much power or they will abuse it, just like Napoleon. Napoleon starting to think that the pigs were more superior. Orwell seemed to be stating that if Napoleon was the only one who knew what was right or true, then Napoleon could convince the animals that he and the pigs needed more of the resources, like milk and apples. Simultaneously Napoleon later on state that “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others” (Orwell 134) Napoleon is literally saying all the other animals are less than the pigs. Because they are using tyranny as their style of government they can say whatever they want without having to prove it. From the start Napoleon is gaining control by having a better education, having apples and milk, drinking alcohol, wearing clothes, walking on two legs, and manipulating the animals to think they are dumb. Power is corrupting the farm and all of the other animals besides the pigs are losing control. From the start the pigs only did what they wanted to benefit themselves, by pretending to have the other animals

In George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’, one of the major themes was power, and how absolute power corrupts absolutely. To the animals, Jones was a tyrant, always mistreating and abusing them, until one day Old Major told them of a dream he had, where the animals will be able to live in a utopia, and lead lives of peace. After the rebellion occurred and the animals overthrew Jones, Napoleon soon came to power. He promised the animals lives of prosperity, and for a while Animal Farm was a blissful place, however after a while his reign became a tyranny, one very similar to Jones, if not worse.

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.

The book, “Animal Farm” by George Orwell, is about a society of animals who run out the owner and run the farm. There are many different types of leaders in a society, a specific type, a tyrant. A briefing of what happened in “Animal Farm” is that the animals on the farm wanted freedom, humans forgot to feed the animals, animals broke into the food storage, humans came and whipped them, the animals ended up driving the humans out of the farm. The pigs then take leadership, but then they ran out a pig named Snowball off the farm. The pig who becomes fully in charge is Napoleon. These next examples will explain why having too much power is dangerous for the society. The first example comes from the book, where Napoleon kills the animals who

Having so much power is not always a good thing. In George Orwell's classic novel Animal Farm, this is proved to an extent where the characters are mainly animals, not people. In this novel, the animals speak to each other as humans would talk to each other, making the novel very intriguing to read. The point I am trying to make here as it is proven time and time again in history, as well as in this book, is that absolute power corrupts; and it corrupts absolutely. I personally have chosen the topic that power corrupts, if given to much power it corrupts you by making you greedy, violent and egocentric.

This sub-theme is treated carefully and crafted well by George Orwell as after all, it is one of the most important ideas Orwell is trying to convey in the book. The 7 commandments were created by Orwell so that the reader would be able to clearly see the gradual corruption in the pigs as the got more powerful. Orwell also crafted many incidents into the story where the reader would be able to catch a glimpse of the pigs’ corruption. One example of such an incident is when the pigs steal the milk and apples. Another incident is the end scene, where there was no way the animals could tell which was pig and which was man. Also, he uses irony to convey this theme, as can be seen from the milk and apples incident and also the incident where Squealer takes the sheep somewhere to “re-educate” them when he was in fact brainwashing them into learning the new

"Then there came a moment when the first shock had worn off and when, in spite of everything-in spite of their terror of the dogs, and of the habit...never complaining, never criticizing...But just at that moment, as though, at a signal, all the sheep burst out into a tremendous bleating of-". In George Orwell's allegorical novella Animal Farm, a successful rebellion was held against the farm owner, as he mistreated the animals on the farm. Right after the rebellion, the pigs took control of the farm as they were the most literate and clever animals on the farm. There was no other choice for the animals than to believe and agree to what the pigs said as they were not as literate or clever as the pigs. Which led to the point where the pigs had the absolute control over the farm.

Dictators, tyrants and emperors have had a tremendous impact of the making of Western Civilization. In building empires, partaking in wars and controlling the masses, all past leaders had one thing in common: strategies. These strategies helped expand their lands, gain many victories, but especially helped with gaining a loyal civilization. A loyal civilization is the base of a successful dictatorship. The novel, Animal Farm, by George Orwell highlights many strategies used to gain, maintain and control the common people in order to achieve the ideal dictatorship society that the pigs want. The animals begin with a hearty embrace to change and to carry out Old Major’s vision and dreams for an ideal world for the animals. However, once he dies,

In the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell, the animals in a farm start a revolution against Jones, the farm owner, since they felt that they have a lack of freedom. When the animals take over the farm, they began to create their own society with the seven commandments and Napoleon and Snowball as their leaders. However, Snowball was kicked out of Animal Farm by Napoleon and Animal Farm ran into some problem like when the windmill broke for the 2nd time. As a result, many animals on the farm died. This shows that power can easily be corrupted, because of the selfishness of Napoleon, the benefits the pigs have over all the other animals, and the amount of rights given to the other animals by Napoleon.

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test their character give them power. ”(Abraham Lincoln) In the novel, Animal Farm by George Orwell relates to this quote, when an animal revolution occurs. One animal has power over everyone, he seems to be corrupt. That one leader makes all the other animals suffer just from him being corrupt with his power.