Power Corrupts Those Who Possess It (Animal Farm)
3 Pages 758 Words
Power Corrupts Those Who Possess It
Too much power corrupts those who possess it just as Joseph Stalin committed sins
against Russia when he gained power, the main character, Napoleon, committed sins against
Animal Farm. In the novel Napoleon was corrupted by his power. Napoleon abused and deceived
others and finally became what he had rebelled against. Napoleon wronged the inhabitants of
Animal Farm. Napoleon terrorized animals by killing many of them. He killed four pigs for
communicating with Snowball and he killed three hens for confessing that Snowball came to them
in their dreams. Napoleon also affected the animals by making decisions for them. When
Napoleon decided that there was no longer a need to sing the Beasts of England, a favorite song,
because the rebellion was over, he banned it. He also decided how much food each animal
received. In addition, Napoleon changed the seven commandments to benefit him but not the
other animals. The fourth commandment about an animal not sleeping in a bed was changed after
the pigs started sleeping in beds to ‘no animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets.’ When Napoleon
drank alcohol he broke the fifth commandment, and so he changed it to ‘no animal shall drink in
excess.’ All the animals of Animal Farm were wronged by Napoleon when he used his power to
terrorize them, make decisions for them, and change their commandments. Another way
Napoleon abused his power was by deceiving the other animals. He first deceived by false blaming
when things went wrong. For example, when the windmill was ruined by a storm, Napoleon said
Snowball had destroyed it because he was an enemy. The second time the windmill was attacked by humans was also blamed on Snowball because he supposedly helped them. Napoleon also
deceived the animals by using Squealer to spread propaganda. One piece of propaganda arose
when Napoleon decided...