Ans to practice essay 2 - on power

‘Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely’. With reference to what you have covered in Animal Farm so far, discuss the theme of power, by referring to Napoleon’s rise to leadership. You should use evidence from the text to support your answer.


Napoleon
- Starts off as a pig competing for leadership position with Snowball
- Says he will take care of the milk -- later on the animals discover that the milk has disappeared, hinting that he has taken it.
- Orders all the milk and apples to be for his and the pigs’ consumption -- selfish
- He does not work at all, only gives orders -- later in the novel, the pigs wake up later than the other animals, thereby contributing less than they already do.
- Becomes so power hungry that he eliminates his rival, Snowball, so that he can have a monopoly of power. Also blames his rival Snowball for the failure of the windmill so that the animals will feel that they need him (uses Snowball as scapegoat)
- Makes himself indispensable by confusing and frightening the animals about what would happen if the were not there. He creates panic and paranoia in the farm -- says that Snowball was frequenting the farm, and that some animals were working with him.
- Later in the novel, he does not even consult the animals on decisions (no more debates) -- rise of Napoleon as a dictator
- Abuses his power. He removes all those who speak or go against him (public executions) -- e.g. the 4 young pigs who protested when Napoleon stopped the Sunday meetings are killed, and so are the hens who tried to rebel against him taking their eggs --> so that he will be unchallenged.
- He gets everything his way and goes against many of the commandments for his own selfish reasons -- e,g, lives in a house, sleeps in a bed, kills another animal, does not treat all the animals equally, drinks alcohol.

- However, he gets away by
1. Using Squealer to brainwash the animals and control the way they think,
2. Confusing them about what they remember (e.g. that some of the commandments did not exist, but were lies circulated by Snowball, that Napoleon, not Snowball, played a large role in the Battle of the Cowshed)
3. Using the threat of Jones’ return,
4. Using terror/intimidation through his dogs.