What Is The Corruption Of Power In Animal Farm

“Choose a novel or short story or a work of non-fiction which explores a theme which you find interesting. By referring to appropriate techniques, show how the writer explores the theme.”

Corruption in the governments can take place in any civilization. A representation of this is, if you take a group of people and drop them off in the middle of nowhere, with no form of authority nor government. Most of the time someone will want to take power, and sacrifice the greater good for their own needs. This same form of corruption is greatly displayed in the book called, “The Animal Farm”. It shows how a utopia can turn into a dystopia in a blink of an eye.

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.

The statement, “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely”, simply means that the more power one has – the more control one has over people – then the more corrupt it is possible for that person to become. This statement is certainly correct if the person with the power has certain proclivities towards corruption. There are many examples in the book, “Animal Farm”, by George Orwell, of power corrupting those in charge because they had these tendencies. In the story, the most powerful animals are the two pigs, Napoleon and, to a lesser degree, Snowball. During the course of the story these pigs used their power to get more power, and in the process their inclinations towards corruption triumphed. When Old Major, the boar who came

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.

The best theme for Animal Farm by George Orwell is absolute power corrupts absolutely. According to “Animal Farm” by George Orwell it states, “Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy,” (pg.43) and later on in “Animal Farm” by George Orwell it states, “...came out Napoleon himself, majestically upright, casting haughty glances from side to side (pg.132)…All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others” (pg.133). The quote on page 43 shows how Napoleon has had rules set in order so that the farm would be under control. The quote on page 132 shows Napoleon standing on his hind legs, which is against the rule. The quote on page 133 it shows the new rule that allows Napoleon to do what he wants. Napoleon took his power as the one in control and used to do what he wants and not what was best for all the animals. He changed the rule, so that he could do what he wants and not get reprimanded for it. Another quote in “Animal Farm” by George Orwell is“...giving birth between them to nine sturdy puppies. As soon as they were weaned, Napoleon took them away from their mothers saying that he would make himself responsible for their education” (pg.51) and later in “Animal Farm” by George Orwell it states, “Napoleon stood up and, casting a particular sidelong look at Snowball, uttered a high-pitched whimper of a kind no one had ever heard him utter before. At this there was a terrible baying sound outside. And nine enormous dogs wearing brass-studded collars came

Animal Farm by George Orwell is about the Russian Revolution shown by animals. Farmer Jones was always drunk and a mean farmer. Napoleon the pig kicked out Snowball who was also a pig, and only cared about himself and the other pigs on the farm. Power corrupts is shown by Jones wanting more and more power, Napoleon kicking out Snowball and Napoleon only caring about the pigs on the farm.

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.

At the start of the story, the animals of Manor Farm begin to comprehend that their means of existence is to slave away to the needs of Mr. Jones or man in general. They then make a successful attempt to take over the farm in a rebellion. However, later on in the story they were able to slip back into the grasp of oppression since the pigs become corrupt due to their high position of power in the farm. The pigs are so blinded by greed that they don’t even bother to see how much the animals are suffering. At the end, the pigs are now the new Mr. Jones and so closely resemble man that the rest of the animals cannot even tell the difference between them. Showing the reader that one of the main themes that Animal Farm contains is the abuse of power with language.

Napoleon uses propaganda and lies he spreads with Squealer, that all his actions are put forward to the benefit of ‘all’ the animals. Squealer speaks,” Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty? Jones would come back!” He creates fear within the animals of Mr.Jones coming back again, and tells them, “Napoleon is always right.” He sees Snowball as a threat to his power, he spreads his words “Comrades, do you know who is responsible for this? Do you know the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown our windmill? SNOWBALL!” He tries to make false information and lies to the common animals. The external conflict between Napoleon and Snowball over power are shown, due to Napoleon’s greeds. Although the common animals of the farm found Snowball more likeable, the nine loyal dogs of Napoleon frightened the animals and strengthened the power of Napoleon allowing him to become the leader after Rebellion. Napoleon is unsatisfied of any ideas rooted from Snowball, brings out his specially trained dogs to go after Snowball. Snowball who does not have a physical force of his own like Napoleon’s, is chased out of the farm allowing Napoleon to become the one and only leader of “Animal Farm”. I feel empathetic to Napoleon some of the time, but to this extent I wouldn’t agree or connect with Napoleon. He uses and exploits other animals for his benefit, and untruly spreads propaganda to keep in power.

George Orwell's Famous novel Animal Farm, views the life of the animals throughout the rebellion, which through the journey of Animal Farm, we are faced with the many themes that are forced upon and ones that influence very largely on some of the animals. We find Manipulation and Deceit is a very often seen one, as well as the Corruption from Strong power and Leadership that is poured out over time. The controlling over the Intellectually Inferior was one that stood above most as well due to habits that the more superior animals had adapted over time as influence from those human.

The first reason power leads to corruption is because with power comes broken rules. The pigs use their power to override the rules in Animal Farm. They show the reader this when George Orwell says, “It was a few days later than this that the pigs came upon a case of whiskey”(106-107). This means that the Pigs are breaking a rule that no other animal is allowed to break. The reason no other animal says anything is because the pigs possess power and they can not do anything about it.

“Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power.” John Steinbeck. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Leadership and Corruption correlate in his whole theme of power and become quite evident throughout the story. The ideas from the story connect to real world ideas. The concept of the Animal Farm story was an allegory to the Russian Revolution. In the real world when power becomes corrupt its usually in the event that the person in charge wants things to satisfy their needs for stuff. Also they don’t want to work. In addition to that they simply bask in the ideal of being in charge having all of the attention because people are selfish and their is no doubt about that.

What if you were involved in a revolution, and when the revolution is over, a certain person takes control of the community. When this certain person gains power, the region in which the revolution was fought, transcends in growth. When compared to their past living style, the citizens are pleased by how well they are functioning. Later on though, the supposed leader uses his sovereignty for his/her own personal benefit. It is now affecting the whole community, as each person can only have a decent amount of goods. Each individual has to work with their maximum effort to try and still develop the community. They do this to please the leader in order to stay alive. This is the case in Animal Farm by George Orwell, where

You sit in class and always know the answer. People come to you for help and after a while you become cunning. You start to charge people for help. They still keep coming in for help and now you control the school and what goes on. The novel Animal Farm by George Orwell is about a farm that animals took control from the owner lead by intelligent pigs. The pigs rose to power because of their intelligence and are lead by Napoleon. They go through many hardships, but at the end Napoleon makes peace with the humans much to the rest of the farms dismay. A theme that is found in the book is that knowledge is power. This theme comes up many times in the beginning, middle, and the end of the novel.