Animal Farm (napoleon) Essay, Research Paper

Animal farm

Napoleon

The great rebellion on animal farm was a great event for all the animals. The pigs in particular were very supportive in these events as was seen in snowball during the battle of the cow-shed. Napoleon, because he was the bigger of the boars was seen as a figure of small authority on the farm and was usually seen to be caring and supportive towards the ideas of the rebellion. But as the saying goes ?all power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely? Napoleon soon became the all out leader on the farm.

At first Napoleon just did things slowly such as stealing all the milk and then saying that all the milk and apple crop was to be reserved for the pigs because they contain things that are essential for a pigs health.

Napoleon was able to manipulate the animals into being his slaves without them realising it and if there were any doubts, the inevitable speech from napoleon or squealer?s way of twisting the truth was proof enough for the animals that they were doing fine. Napoleon was always seen to be helping out although this was not actually true. As we saw in the battle of the cow shed when Napoleon ran and hid until it was over and the gave himself an award, but squealer?s ability to twist the truth convinced the animals the animals that Napoleon was there all along and in fact saved the day!

Napoleon had to do this to prove to the other animals that he was a good leader and always put the other animals? safety, before his own.

The pigs later took it upon themselves to learn how to read and write after which the commandments were written on the wall of the barn.

Snowball then decided to set up a teaching group so all the animals could learn to read and write, but where was napoleon through all of this? He was in the farm-house concocting an cunning plan because as you see throughout the book, Napoleon in a brilliant tactician.

You only really begin to see Napoleon?s real intentions when snowball introduces his proposal for the windmill to the other animals. Napoleon calls on his dogs and orders them to kill snowball! Unfortunately for Napoleon, Snowball is too fast for the dogs and manages to escape. It appears that all along, while snowball was planning the windmill and teaching classes, Napoleon was in the farm house training the dogs to be his own private army. Now like all leaders in absolute power, Napoleon rules the farm by fear. I believe that Napoleon felt it necessary to expel snowball because if Napoleon was going to be in absolute power, Snowball who was at least as clever as Napoleon would protest and could possibly lead another rebellion against Napoleon. Also snowball?s idea of the windmill shows that snowball is a very quick thinker and if Snowball?s visions of four day weeks e.c.t come true then the animals will like Snowball more than Napoleon.

Next came the brutal killings by Napoleon (another commandment broken). Animals were compelled to confess their petite crimes, things like urinating in the drinking pool and when they confessed they had their throats ripped out. Napoleon then told all the animals that snowball and many of the executed animals had been in league with Jones from the very beginning and even before the rebellion. He told the animals this for the simple reason that he needed to justify his actions. The animals seemed to be quite contempt with this answer, all except Benjamin the donkey.

Napoleon later says that the windmill was his idea and that snowball had taken it from his personal documents.

To get some more money for the windmill Napoleon made it so that animal farm was to engage in trade with the outside world, in return for food money, the chickens would give a few of their eggs every week.

A few of the hens disagreed with this and went on a demonstration but in the end Napoleon won.

There was a dispute between the farms neighbouring animal farm over who was going to buy the pile of timber in the yard which led to another battle in which the second windmill was destroyed by being blown up! But Napoleon gave a speech, which filled the animals with confidence that, a new windmill could be built in no time at all.

The pigs grew a liking for alcohol and boxer got ill from being overworked Napoleon said he was going to send for the vet. This relieved many of the animals but when the van came to take away boxer it had the written on it ?horse slaughterers? but squealer told the animals that it was in fact the vets van and he had forgotten to paint it out.

Only Benjamin knew any better and tried to save boxer and unfortunately was not fast enough to save his friend.

A few days later squealer announced that boxer had died while in hospital and while receiving the best care possible. The pigs were also seen enjoying a case of whisky. It appears that the pigs sold boxer to the horse slaughterers to buy alcohol. Napoleon was very Hypocritical about the subject of drinking alcohol because he passed a law that said ?any animal drinking alcohol would be punished by death and then drank it himself. Napoleon saw a way of getting money and because his power had corrupted him so much he got it.

After a little while the animals were shocked to find that the pigs were walking on their hind legs followed by the sheep which were bleating ?four legs good, two legs better?. Napoleon believed that he was equal to any human and walking on two legs proved this.

Benjamin and Murial thought that they remembered that there was a commandment against walking on two legs but when they got round to the old barn there was just a single commandment written there, it said ?All animals are equal but some are more equal than others?. Every time Napoleon breaks a commandment to suit himself he writes a different commandment in place of the old one but in this case he had them all painted out and just a single one remaining. This commandment says that Napoleon is the undisputed leader and that he is equal only to himself.

In conclusion I would like to point out the fact that Napoleon is a good leader while he is also a bad one. He is a good leader in the respect that he can get people to follow his commands and keep up their morale but he is a bad leader in that he uses terror to rule and only makes rules to suite himself and not the other animals of the farm.

A better leader would have been snow ball but as you know he was expelled because he was a threat to Napoleons leadership.