Power of the Pigs

Power brings greed and selfishness to a person, and soon they begin to only think about themselves. Napoleon, the ruler of France conquered many countries, and overthrew several kings to increase his power throughout the nation. In Animal Farm, by George Orwell, Napoleon rebels against the humans and takes over the Manor Farm. Napoleon also overthrows a great leader, Snowball, so he could be the in charge of what goes on the farm, and be the leader of all the animals.

Napoleon is a very interesting character because he changes through out the whole book. In the beginning of the book, Snowball and Napoleon learn to read and write, and make up seven commandments that all the animals have to follow. The commandments say, "No animal shall wear clothes, sleep in a bed, drink alcohol, or kill any other animal" (Orwell 43). As the novel progresses, Napoleon and Squealer modify the rules to; "No animal shall drink alcohol to excess", and "No animal shall kill any other animal without cause" (98, 118). As you can see, the pigs changed the rules so it would fit their needs and comfort. They also took advantage of the animals that weren't as "smart" as them, and tried to trick them into believing that the commandments didn't change at all. Towards the end of the book, you can see that the pigs become greedier and stopped believing in equality, as they did in the beginning of the book.

Since the pigs were so clever, they always figured out a way to fool the animals, and get what they want. "The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white"(36). Squealer would always help solve any doubts that's the animals had by making something up which was very convincing. For instance, when Squealer, Napoleon, and Snowball saved all the apples and milk for themselves, the comrades felt that it was unfair. "You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this is spirit of selfishness and privilege? Milk and apples contains substances absolutely necessary to the well being of a pig. We pigs are brainworkers", says Squealer (52). After his big speech about how important apples and milk are to the pigs, they finally agreed to leave the food for them, since they do run the farm all day long. Not only does power bring greed and selfishness to a person, but it also brings dishonesty along with tons of lies.

Snowball was a very creative character in this book and generated many new ideas to benefit the farm. He tried his best to educate wild animals by setting up committees, such as the Wild Comrades' Re-education Committee. Snowball also came up with the idea of the windmill and convinced the animals to support. He said, "Electricity could operate threshing machines, ploughs, harrows, rollers, and reapers, and binders, besides supplying every stall with its own electric light, hot and cold water, and an electric heater"