The Importance Of Power In George Orwell's Animal Farm

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A wise man once said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” this is not only is applicable to life but also many novels, one of them being George Orwell’s Animal Farm. It is an analogy for the Russian Revolution, and like the revolution, the leaders within Animal Farm don't stay true to their motives. Throughout the story certain characters lie, steal, and cheat for their own benefit, and more specifically the leaders of the farm. Whether they were in groups or alone, the pigs a manipulative.

In the beginning of Animal Farm, an old pig called Old Major is dying and he talks of a day when animals will rule all of england. He talks about beliefs that will help them, the animals, reach that goal. After his passing
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After that event meetings were abolished and all meetings were abolished, and with that comes the decision that all further decisions shall be made by a group of pigs led by Napoleon. Napoleon then started construction on a windmill to make the farm more efficient. The other animals would work on it throughout the week except on sundays. Work on that day was optional but if you didn't your rations would be cut. He would later dub Snowball a traitor and anyone even remotely associated with him (even through dreams) will be killed. Since most of the animals were illiterate and had bad memories he kept on changing the seven commandments to befit the pigs, but mostly himself. But his biggest piece of corruption was meeting and celebrating how efficient and bad for the animals he had made Animal Farm with other farmers, and by doing so setting a standard for the entire country.

Lord Acton’s famous quote applies to many historical characters, from King Richard to Joseph Stalin it holds true. The latter is probably the influence for Napoleon the pig since Animal Farm is an analogy for the Russian Revolution. Both beings twisted the teachings of Karl Marx and Old Major respectively to meet their needs. Change is a huge driving force, especially when trying to change the quality of life or better society. Letting the power of the people go to your head will change