Preview

Power In George Orwell's Animal Farm

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
499 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Power In George Orwell's Animal Farm
In John Actons quote, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts completely.”, is the theme of the book Animal Farm because the pigs began to take advantage of the power they got as for being the leaders of the farm and then turned themselves into the people they considered their enemies. The pigs in the beginning of the book ‘Animal Farm’ hated humans which lead to revolution. Then, the power was taken advantage of by the pigs and began to act like humans and the humans began acting like the animals. When you become leader of something you start to take advantage of that leadership power. “Four dogs guarded his bed at night, one at each corner, and a young pig named Pinkeye was given the task of tasting all his food before he ate it, lest it should be poisoned.”(pg.40) The animals are being treated as Napoleons slaves and are putting Napoleon's life in front of theirs. Not only is Napoleon using animals as slaves but he is also using them as his own self life entertainment. “He had flogged an old horse to death, he starved his cows, he had killed a dog by throwing it into the furnace, he amused himself in the evenings by making cocks fight with splinters of razor-blade tied to their …show more content…
When the windmill was completed Napoleon took the animals credited for building the windmill. “Napoleon himself, attended by his dogs and his cockerel, came down to inspect the completed work; he personally congratulated the animals on their achievement, and announced that the mill would be named Napoleon Mill.” (pg. 42) Even though Napoleon congratulated the animals for their great work he gave himself credit by naming the windmill after himself and not the by the animals. Napoleon took the benefit of being the leader of the farm by naming the windmill after

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    “With power comes great responsibility.” This quote perfectly describes the future of not just world leaders, but any leader. Power is a great chance for a good world change, but it can also be manipulated for selfish reasons. If lured to the dark side, control can be one of the most dangerous and horrifying things in the universe. Considering that, power is a negative trait, not just for the user, but also for its victims and the effects power has.…

    • 1077 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Animal Farm Dbq

    • 844 Words
    • 4 Pages

    One of Napoleon’s methods of staying in charge of Animal Farm was the repetitive use of Animalism. Animalism…

    • 844 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Orwell's 'Animal Farm' is an allegory because it represents Stalin's rise to power in Russia. His dictatorship to the people of Russia is how Napoleon treated the animals on the farm. Napoleon the pig represents Joseph Stalin, the dictating leader of the Soviet Union. Napoleon tricked the other animals into believing he was the only one that wanted the best for them. He slowly brought the farm from a more equal state to a state where he was considered and treated as a king. He also murdered any of the animals who opposed him or stood in his way, without trial. Stalin did the same by consolidating power and expanding the limits of his role. He eliminated anyone who tried to oppose him. He organized a massive purge where "enemies" were imprisoned,…

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Napoleon uses animalism to stay in power. Napoleon states “All Animals Are Equal But Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others.” Napoleon uses animalism to manipulate the animal's feelings toward him, seeing him as the best and only option to rule the farm. This is one of the many reasons why napoleon stays in…

    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When Napoleon had the power to follow his own rules, Animal Farm fell into a dictatorship. Most people have the ability to know what is right and wrong, but rules are still set to bind a community together. If people did not have set regulations to follow and be disciplined by, society would crumble into…

    • 56 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Lord Acton). The novel Animal Farm by George Orwell, demonstrates multiple ways how power was abused during the time of the Russian Revolution. This book displays many parallels with history, for example, how the animals on the farm represent the people of Russia. On the other hand, the pigs, that portray the leaders of Russia, who wanted nothing but authority which lead to corruption. In interest of gaining more privileges and power, Squealer persuades the animals to let the pigs sleep in the beds using guilt and fear tactics.…

    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This Animal Farm and its authoritarian leader facilitate a severely unethical environment, wherein law changing for one's personal benefit and conversing with the enemy is perfectly fine. Animals are chosen to portray humans in this narrative because during the Russian Revolution "leaders" performed unspeakable acts; acts that people would and should never even think about doing to their fellow man. Napoleon and his minion pig, Squealer successfully replicate these acts by manipulating the lesser intelligent animals to believe in Napoleon's superiority. Secretly both the ladder and former have worked together to become an oppressive, sorry excuse for a government institution to extremely hardworking. Napoleon eventually strays very far from the base idea that all animals are equal which was established by the wisest of the pigs. The makeshift Stalin says, "...all animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others."(Orwell…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Certainly the ramifications of oppression and absolute authority are outrage and this is conveyed throughout Animal Farm. Old Major tries to convince them that the reason behind their servitude and despair is Man, because Major believes that "Man is the only real enemy [they] have" (Orwell 7). Through expressing his anger, Major criticizes the fact that Man does not lay eggs or give milk, "yet he is the lord of all animals" (Orwell 8). It is clear-cut that the animals are affected by Major's speech which urges them to obtain their freedom. Major's point of view is that "all men are enemies. All animals are comrades" (Orwell 10). From here, the reader can deduce that Old Major represents V. I. Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevic Party that seized…

    • 195 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The basic reason for the corruption of the society of Animal Farm was because the pigs were smarter than the other animals, hence, there was a natural inequality that gave the pigs a chance to exploit the other animals. However, those few animals that were smart enough to understand what was going on were unable to stop the pigs because they were afraid of being punished for raising doubts about Napoleon’s supposedly great leadership.…

    • 555 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In George Orwell's Animal Farm, "power corrupts" is the central focus, because human nature is filled with too much avarice to allow for complete equality. He writes Animal Farm to prove to the world isn't practicing true Communism; this is contrary to what Russia is saying. Orwell Passionately hates political lying and inequality, and Russia is guilty of both acts. The leaders say it is true Communism, but they're lying because there are people in charge (inequality). Orwell must be subtle in accusing Russia leaders though, because his punishment could involve an axe whistling towards hi neck for making the government look bad, so he uses animals instead of people in his novel. To ensure everyone is able to read Animal Farm, he writes with simple language so it can be translated to other languages. With these precautions and…

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    First, Napoleon takes control of the animals because when any of them complain about something, he makes their lives miserable. One example that shows this is when the hens rebelled about the fact that Napoleon wanted to sell their eggs to other…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Power is a strong determinator is a person's life. 44% of all women say their purchases are influenced by celebrities. This happened because of their ability to influence others. It can have an effect on people because the people with power having respect. Power has the abilities to change people because it makes a person change personality, and become greedy.…

    • 222 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “As Stalin once said ‘a single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic’.” In George Orwell's Animal Farm, Napoleon is directly described because Stalin and Napoleon were both extremely paranoid and killed their own people to stay in power. Animal Farm is an allegorical story that symbolizes the Russian Revolution meaning that all the characters and battles represent the real people and events that lived and occurred during this time. Since Animal Farm is an allegory, there is extreme personification going on because the animals talk and plan like people do. With that said the plot of Animal Farm revolves around all of the hardships that Napoleon caused throughout his leadership. Therefore, George Orwell forecasted that power can be a corruptive force through Napoleon's manipulative…

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Animal Farm is supposed to be for animals to escape the people’s cruelty but is it possible for the animals to have their freedom and equality if Napoleon is just as bad as the people? In his novel Orwell has a message spoken throughout Animal Farm that says whenever and wherever animals want to be free there’s always someone higher that is bigger and has more power. In Animal Farm, George Orwell uses dictatorship, individuality and hardship to reveal how the animals lost their freedom and equality.…

    • 889 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    For example, he took Snowball’s windmill plan when he ran Snowball off of Animal Farm. Time and time again, when Napoleon was not happy he would fix it one way or the other. While it seem that Napoleon worked very hard for the sake of the farm, in reality, he was too selfish to care about the other animals. He only wished to rule over them and get what he wanted. The pigs use antangoges to lessen the impact Napoleon’s cruelty has on the animals. Squealer speaks to the animals after a new arrangement was made by Napoleon. He told them that Napoleon thought of his leadership was a pleasure; however, “it is a deep and heavy responsibility.” This antanagoge makes it seem as if Napoleon enjoys his leadership, but only for the sake of the other animals other than himself. This is how Napoleon kept a lot of his respect; he was looked up to as someone who was selfless. By the end of the book, however, Napoleon’s actions caused him to lose a lot of his…

    • 815 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays