Corruption in Animal Farm

Essay by Ice_CubeHigh School, 10th gradeA, January 2005

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The corrupt use of power, when carried out to its fullest extent, is extremely dangerous and alarming. The more power an individual has, the more tempting is the abuse of it, mainly for personal gain. Ironically, fewer checks and balances are available to restrain the corruption. This continues until absolute power is achieved, and the people already dismiss the idea of something being wrong in their society. This principle applies itself to situations where one prominent figure takes over and leads the others astray, often in blind compliance, as Napoleon did in Animal Farm.

Like his historical namesake, George Orwell's pig Napoleon was a power-hungry dictator. From the very start, when Napoleon was arguing with Snowball during public discussions without any logical reasons or explanations, he was greedy and selfish, and did not have the same pure ideals as some of the other animals like Old Major and Snowball.

They wanted freedom and equality for all animals, as well as independence from humans. Napoleon, however, took the dream of Old Major and changed it to accomplish his own needs and gain, such as being a dictator and awarding himself with awards. Napoleon had no loyalty to the animals, and also no loyalty to humans. He simply had huge loyalty to his own well-being and prosperity. The animals are no better off- at the end of the book than they were at the beginning, as the human dictator has merely been replaced by another animal, even a crueller one. From the very beginning when Mr. Jones was driven off the farm, Napoleon strove only for his goal of taking over the farm for himself, showing absolute corruption in his leadership.

Squealer was the corrupt messenger of the government. It was his responsibility to inform the animals of the arrangements of...