The Tragic Consequences of the Rebellion on Animal Farm

ANIMAL FARM ESSAY “The tragic consequences of the rebellion on Animal Farm could have been prevented” What did go wrong on Animal Farm? In George Orwell’s book ‘Animal Farm’, many things went wrong. Many agree that the consequences depicted in the book could have been avoided, but what really caused these tragic happenings? Did these consequences occur solely because of Napoleon’s dictatorship, or did the animals willingness to cooperate also contribute in the downfall of Animal Farm? Napoleon was one of the main instigators of Animal Farm’s downfall. He was portrayed as a heartless and selfish dictator, who terrorized the other animals, and whom was willing to do anything, including murdering his comrades in order to gain power and authority. He did this using his guard dogs, who constantly monitored the animals and punished any that dared to go against Napoleon’s many commands. Immediately after Jones had been removed from the farm, the animals chose to seek out a new leader to guide them through the revolution. They did this without thinking of the consequences that could occur, and thus they soon settled on Napoleon and Snowball. Napoleon, being the sly and cunning creature he was, hurriedly devised a plan which allowed him to get rid of Snowball, and ultimately remove any competition that would hinder him from being the only leader. However, it can be argued that Napoleon’s dictatorship could not have occurred if the animals did not blindly and naively follow and believe every word that Napoleon planted into their minds, as it was the animals who willingly handed over their freedom and voice to Napoleon to do as he wished with them. One of the most naive of the animals, the sheep, was also used to Napoleon’s advantage. As they obviously could not read on their own, Napoleon firmly established the maxim ‘Four legs good, two legs bad.’ into their