Power And Corruption In Animal Farm

The third maxim by Ralph Waldo Emerson is "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. " Emerson is saying that one's open honesty is importantly treasured. One's honesty is more important than following other people's beliefs. The maxim embodies the theme that people respect others' honesty more than emotionless obedience to conventions set forth by someone else.

This, he said, contained the essential principle of Animalism.”. Throughout the book the commandments are changed to fit the pigs lifestyle. Animalism was supposed to be used to keep one animal from having more, or less power than the others. One of the commandments states that “5. No animal shall drink alcohol.”.

The political satire Animal Farm by George Orwell is a reference to the Soviet Union’s corruption. The quote in the book Animal Farm stated "There was nothing there now except a single Commandment. It ran: ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS” (Orwell 134). The lesson learned from this quote is that communism is not what it was meant to be. This means that communism looks good at first but always ends up being the complete opposite of the communist idea.

The rulers of the farm take advantage of the low reading skills that the rest of the animals possess and use that weakness against them, as the animals just believe whatever the pigs tell them to, as they have no reason not to. The pigs’ goals seem intact and they do

Napoleon lied to the other animals in many different ways. One way he lied was by telling the other animals that he was going to send one of the horses on the farm, Boxer, to doctor to be treated for his sick lung. Napoleon made the other animals think that he was sending Boxer off to get better, but he was actually sending Boxer to a horse slaughterer to be killed. When Boxer was being loaded into the “ doctors” van one of the animals began to read what was on the side of the van. It read “ ‘ Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughterer and glue boiler, Willingdon.’ ”

Napoleon also took this for granted by allowing the other animals to do it themselves and allowing the pigs to help at critical moments. This is a smart tactic that Napoleon uses by the animals thinking that they are working for the farm , but, instead they are working for him. This was a good tactic that Napoleon used but, the next one is even

Furthermore, Napoleon gives the other animals the impression he was the sole leader of the rebellion on Animal farm and makes Snowball -a leader who wanted what was best for the animals- seem like an enemy who was in cahoots with Farmer Jones since long before the animals took over the farm. Napoleon and Squealer (another “fat cat” pig.) always put the blame on Snowball whenever something went wrong in the farm to avoid having the blame fall on them. Napoleon is an exemplary example of just how selfish and hypocritical people can be in furthering their own aims because he continued to subtly but purposely change the seven rules put in place as the pillars of animalism. For example, Napoleon and the other pigs move into Farmer Jones’s house and sleep in his bed after commanding “No animal shall sleep in a bed”, so he changes the commandment to read “no animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets”.

Power. It is the world’s most dangerous asset anyone can hold on to. It can be used for prosperity or for a complete destruction depending on the person. As the famous Lord Acton 's quote says, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Animal Farm stands for the best example that can display this matter in a clearer and funnier version.

In a essence Napoleon the pig becomes the persona of “Someone to believe in,” for the animals. After Snowball was chased out, Napoleon most importantly and the pigs become the guidance for the animals lives. “Napoleon is always right”(Orwell 70), said by Boxer the horse, expresses his strong belief in his intelligence and guidance. The more and more, the story progresses, the more religion takes the role of keeping the animals organized and in harmony of the pig’s leadership and system. Although, “The Seven Commandments” start to change, the animals chose to keep following them.

But as the months go on, the pigs change them to their benefit, giving them more power and luxury. The quote, “when the terror caused by the executions had died down, some of the animals remembered that the Sixth Commandment decreed ‘No animal shall kill any other animal’... Muriel read the commandment for her. It ran: ‘No animal shall kill any other animal without cause’,”(Orwell 98) shows that the pigs obviously change the commandment before the other animals got a chance to read it. This happens more times as the book goes on, and shows the pigs abusing their power by changing the commandments to fit their actions and desires.

The animals start recognizing Napoleon for any good achievement done that day. For example, one of the hens recognizes Napoleon for just one stroke of good fortune. “Under the leadership of our Leader Comrade Napoleon, I have laid five eggs in six days…”(78). These poor animals are tricked into thinking that everything good that happens is due to “Comrade Napoleon's Leadership”. Every quote we see is a deeper level of corruption in Napoleon, and now, his influence on the farm is tearing what the revolution was all about.

In Animals Farm, there is a pig who’s name Napoleon. This character did not contributed to the society with his actions. In effect, he did not respect the concept of “Animalism” which is the equality of all the animals. He did many actions that broke this conception during the entire story. At the beginning, Napoleon, take the farm with Snowball when the farmer, Mr. Jones, left.

This relates to the theme because, throughout the story, the pigs have been in charge because they have more knowledge than the other animals. They were also really clever and could think of a way around every difficulty the farm experienced. ( Orwell 13) In the middle of the story, some crucial rules were being changed and the animals did not do anything about it. “ … pigs not only took their meals in the kitchen and used the drawing-room as a recreation room, but also slept in the beds.”

As someone gains more and more power, they increasingly become corrupted with that power. In the novel, Mr. Jones, the owner of the farm, neglects, abuses and mistreats his animals until he is thrown out. When one of the pigs, Napoleon, takes power, he eventually behaves so human-like that it becomes impossible for the other animals to tell him apart from Mr. Jones. As Whymper was led to the store-shed, he caught a glimpse of the bins and was deceived, and continued to report to the outside world that there

They must not wear clothing, live in houses, or copy any of Man’s other “evil” habits; Third, No animal shall drink alcohol. Napoleon 's selfish behavior is the cause of the alteration to the fifth Commandment. When he and the other pigs get drunk, Napoleon 's hangover is a cause for alarm, more and more of the farm 's resources are diverted to the provision of alcohol for the pigs. 2) Humans, in spite of the fact that pigs ruled over the farm however the pigs are utilizing the strategies and the strategies that Jones used to take after and far and away more terrible. So fundamentally the pigs are currently people, they don 't contrast what so ever, and in the last part where the creatures at long last find what the pigs have gotten to be, as they see them drinking, sitting, playing cards and giggling with Humans, and also strolling on two legs and being dictators.