Why Is Animal Farm Selfish

“And so almost before they knew what was happening, the rebellion had been successfully carried through: Jones was expelled, and the Manor Farm was theirs.” this quote from the novel Animal Farm represents when during the russian revolution riots broke out in Russia because of Tsar’s unjust rule. Tsar(The Emperor of russia before 1917) was forced to abdicate. Tsar was a very unfair leader (just like Mr.jones) and Russia’s minorities became hard to control under his domination. When his brother (Michael Alexandrovich) refused to rule, over 300 years of Romanov dynasty ended. In animal farm the author George Orwell uses persuasiveness of the leaders and gullibility of the followers to contribute to theme:loss of freedom and equality in order to show even after the revolution animal farm fell back into tyranny, dictatorship, inequality ,and subservience.

In a communist society, the leader's use of language can lead to abuse of power. In George Orwell's Animal Farm, the pig leaders create commandments. Enabling them to take control of other animals on the farm, to suit their greedy desires, and to perform actions of power.

Three of the character traits I describe Napoleon are hypocrite, weak, and a great leader. “Napoleon announce that the windmill was to be built after all… Why then asked somebody, had he spoken strongly against it?” (Orwell pg. 51-52). Although at first, Napoleon strongly opposed to Snowball’s idea of the windmill, he later on ordered the animals of the creation of the windmill. Without his subordinate, Squealer, the animals would have suspected something about him. “Once again the animals were conscious of a vague uneasiness. Never to have any dealings with human beings… The four young pigs who had protested when Napoleon abolished the Meetings raised their voice timidly, but they were silenced by a tremendous growling from the dogs” (Orwell

The undeniable greed Napoleon possesses can only be fulfilled by giving the other animals the illusion of bettering themselves by not questioning his logic: “Boxer, who had now had time to think things over, voiced the general feeling by saying, ‘If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right.’ And from then on he adopted the maxim, ‘Napoleon is always right,’ in addition to his private motto of ‘I will work harder’” (Orwell 60). Because Animal Farm’s audience predominantly consists of working class citizens, they begin to feel sympathy for Boxer since he cannot recognize Napoleon is exploiting him exclusively for his personal goal of becoming a puissant leader; therefore, animosity towards Napoleon develops in the audience. Considering the animals promptly welcome Napoleon’s promise of a better life, they work towards exhaustion, unknowingly fueling Napoleon’s greed: "All that year the animals worked like slaves. But they were happy in their work; they grudged no effort or sacrifice, well aware that everything that they did was for the benefit of themselves and those of their kind who would come after them, and not for a pack of idle, thieving human beings" (63). Although the animals working for Napoleon are unaware he is gradually becoming more human and willfully betraying his fellow animals for his own benefit, it is evident to the audience that Napoleon is corrupt. As Napoleon cunningly achieves power, his greed continues to grow, the same as a totalitarian leader’s:

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Lord Acton) This quote is telling us that when people get into the roles of absolute power they tend to become corrupt, as a result of that power. This quote can be applied to Napoleon from the book Animal Farm by George Orwell, because at the beginning of the novel Old Major’s words inspired Napoleon. As a result, he believed that humans were evil for forcing animals to work for them and that animals should be able to live freely, not under anyone’s control; however, as the story progresses his belief changed and the animals did not get to live their utopian dream.

Selfishness is like a cruel parasite that invades governments and leaders minds making them into corrupt and vain zombies. In The Family Romanov, Candace Fleming tells the story of the gruesome regime of Tsar Nicholas Romanov II over Russia and how the tsar ignores the needs of his subjects and instead focuses on using his power for his own personal gain, ultimately corrupting the government. In George Orwell's sequel allegory, Animal Farm, it tells the story of pigs, Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer taking control over ‘Animal Farm’ and how the pigs progressively became more selfish and arrogant, resulting in them becoming who they initially avoided to become-humans. Moreover, Fleming and Orwell argue that unchecked power corrupts

Napoleon who is demanding and overpowering pig always put himself first he believes that he Animal Farm leader and praises himself for things he done for the animals. He is an example of dictatorial leader because he is greedy for power and is also corrupted. Napoleon doesn’t show interest in the welfare of the animals. In the book

If Jones were to come back to the farm and take over once again, the

Marguerite Young, an American poet, novelist, biographer and critic, once said, “If you understand hallucination and illusion, you don't blindly follow any leader. You must know if the person is sane or insane, over the abyss” (Young 1). However, in the novel Animal Farm written by George Orwell, many of the farm animals blindly followed a leader regardless of what that leader did or said. These submissions lead to a lack of reasoning and thought behind the animal’s actions. Orwell uses allusions, violence, and comparisons to delineate the theme that following leadership blindly will ultimately cause a society to fail.

The Russian Revolution was led by a few leaders of the common people, promising better work conditions and a Communist government with equality for all. However, when the Communist party was established, so much power was given to the government, that, it quickly went corrupt and abused peoples’ rights far worse than the previous government. In George Orwell’s book, Animal Farm, the pigs promise the animals better lives than their current lives under Jones’s rule. However, mirroring the Russian Revolution, the pigs went corrupt almost immediately afterwards, changing previously declared rules, and killing other animals without reason. In the end, the pigs ended up as bad as man. In Animal Farm, George Orwell utilizes situational irony, displaying the pigs as corrupt leaders, to support Lord Acton’s quote: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Selfishness is when someone doesn’t really care for others or when someone only cares about what they will get out of it for their own pleasure. Napoleon was very selfish because he would change the commandments so that it would look like he was right the whole time. For example, commandment five said “No animal shall drink alcohol.”, but after Napoleon had got drunk he changed it to “No animal shall drink alcohol to excess.” Another commandment Napoleon changed was commandment six which said “No animal shall kill any other animal.” and Napoleon changed it to “No animal shall kill any other animal without cause”. Napoleon also never really cared about the animals which they had only started to figure out at the end. Another thing that made Napoleon very selfish was that he allowed the pigs to wear the human's clothes, he let them sleep in the

“The lesson then would be that those creatures who are the greediest, least scrupulous, and most power-hungry, regardless of whether they are human or animal, are the ones who will rule, no matter what the current political doctrine or theory is” (Firchow). Consequently, the one to rise to power will be the one with most ambition for power, thus less likely to treat the other animals fairly. “All talk about democracy, liberty, equality, fraternity, all revolutionary movements, all visions of utopia, or the classless society, or the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, are humbug covering the ambitions of some new class which is elbowing its way into power” (Brander). In Animal Farm, Squealer was the mouthpiece of the pigs, elaborately presenting Napoleon’s ideas in a beneficial perspective and manipulating the other dumber animals for their own ambitions.

He also uses this with the help of Squealer. In the book Animal Farm, when the animals questioned napoleon’s actions and fairness, Squealer told them “No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal.” (Orwell 55) But at the end of the story, Squealer was sent to change one of the commandments to “All Animals Are Equal but Some Animals Are More Equal than Others” (Orwell 134) Orwell is proving that in the beginning everyone though Napoleon was good and equal. As Napoleon gained power, he showed everyone how he really was. He told everyone that they were equal. However, he changed one of the commandments so that he would be superior compared to the other animals. Hypocrisy tricks people into believing someone is in their favor or for them but they really are

Napoleon did not care about the well being of the other animals and this is how he became just as selfish as a human.

The second comes when he starves the hen rebellion, then he forces animals to make false confessions. Napoleon got rid of his four leadership rivals, plus the hens who started the rebellion. This allows him to have complete and utter control, that is when he begins to not care if animals are equal, he only cares about himself. But he continues this path of cruelty because he craves more and more power and greed. Example, almost as soon as the pigs seize power, Napoleon starts claiming things as his own, the hens eggs, humans' beds, and alcohol. At the end of the novel, Napoleon and Squealer wear human clothes and walk around on two legs. The point is, Napoleon craves power and that is his driving force to success, that is what makes him such a powerful character and that is why he was written to resemble such a powerful and power hungry