Animal Farm by George Orwell depicts Napoleon as the supreme leader and how the power gradually corrupts him into becoming everything they fought against in the rebellion. Losing the quote “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely’ fits well with Napoleon and his reign as a leader. I believe Napoleon has always wanted power, however it came to be. He, and many of the other pigs, took no part in the rebellion.
Orwell showed Napoleon as a dictation opportunist, never topping or letting anything get in his way of achieving his goal to take over and leading the farm. Orwell describes him as a pig who has “a reputation for getting his own way”. I believe this is beginning to foretell us about Napoleon’s mysterious nature and his behavior that continuously gets worse as the novella progresses. As soon as Napoleon takes the role as the leader and seizes power, we, as the reader, understand he has very little care for Old Majors speech and therefore, little care for the revolution.
He doesn’t care about the equality of the animals, only for himself ND the other pigs. “Never mind the milk, comrades! That will be attended to. The harvest is more important…. I shall follow in a few minutes… ” ‘When they came back that evening it was noticed that the milk had disappeared”. The milk is a symbol of wealth, and when the animals arrive back after the long days work the milk is gone and feel this foreshadows chapter 3 as we see Napoleon has taken it for himself, and the other pigs.
But the milk should have been given out equally, as the 7th commandment states ‘All Animals Are Equal’. ‘ ‘The mystery of where the milk went was soon cleared up. It was mixed every day into the pigs’ mash”. This is Napoleons first act of corruption as the leader. Napoleon decides soon after to have all the apples taken to the harness room for “use of the use of the pigs. The apples are another symbol of wealth and power as only the pigs are permitted to eat them.
When Napoleon gave the order for the public executions, he was officially robbing the animals of free speech. “When they had finished their confession the dogs promptly tore their throats out, and in a terrible voice Napoleon demanded whether any other animal had anything to confess”. I noticed Napoleon’s preferred method of execution is to tear their throats out. Napoleon forces the animals executed to tell lies about themselves and about their supposed treachery before they are brutally murdered.
He installs fear within the animals and makes them afraid to speak the truth. He makes them afraid to speak the truth – or even speak and (if they were intelligent enough) form an opinion. He absolutely robs them of free speech, exactly like tearing out their throats. In the final scene of the novella, a delegation of neighboring rammers are offered a tour Of the farm, after which they are invited to meet back in the dining room of the farm house with Napoleon and the other pigs.
Mr. Politicking offers a toast, with the alcohol, for the success of animal, which leads Napoleon to his new policies about changing the farm name back to its original ‘Manor Farm’. After he has finished his speech the pigs and animals combined play cards, but a loud quarrel erupts when both Napoleon and Mr. Politicking each try to play the ace of spades, and as the other animals look on upon the arguments taking place, they are unable to distinguish the preference between the humans and the pigs.
This is Napoleons greatest act of absolute corruption and the final act of his transformation into Jones. The completion of the second windmill marks a further linking of the animals and humans: used not for a generator but instead for milling corn, and thus making money. The windmill’s symbolic meaning has been reversed and corrupted. Animal Farm is now inevitably tied to its human neighbors in terms of business and atmosphere. This completes the transformation from Animal Farm to Manor Farm.
There will never be a “retirement home” for old animals (as shown via Clover), and the pigs come to resemble their human oppressors to the degree that “it was impossible to say which was which” Although Napoleon is a much harsher and stern master than the reader is led to believe Jones ever was. Napoleon’s power had corrupted the whole idea of Minimalism & the Seven Commandments, which the whole utopia of animal farm first started with. The power that the three pigs obtained had corrupted them and, then Napoleon received absolute power, which corrupted the society as a whole.
