Literature | High school » Animal Farm, Exemplar Essay

Exemplar Essay – Animal Farm Choose a novel which has an interesting character. Explain what makes the character interesting and how this character allows you to more clearly understand the central concerns of the novel. ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell is a dark, powerful, allegorical novel that tells the story of a group of animals who revolt against their human masters to take control of the farm they live on. More importantly, it tells the story of how this revolution fails as the intelligent pigs, led by the ruthless Napoleon, take power for themselves and increasingly abuse it until they are worse than their human predecessors ever where. The character of Napoleon is particularly interesting as he is the one whose greed, ambition and vanity ultimately turns the farm into a nightmarish place. To fully understand how Orwell uses Napoleon as a warning about the abuses of power we must look at how he rose to power, how he consolidates his power and what he does with his power

once he has it. Initially Napoleon does not seem to be a significant character which could be seen as Orwell’s way of showing us anyone could be corrupted by power. In the first chapter Napoleon is not referred to by name although in the first meeting of the revolution the pigs are described as already having a sense of presumed authority. We don’t actually hear about Napoleon directly until he is described as the character who ‘looks after’ the milk and apples that the animals find on the farm. The readers know here that Napoleon has actually stolen these luxuries for himself. This shows us that Napoleon is actually not the most charismatic or interesting character, he is instead someone who simply takes advantage of the situation he finds himself in. He is not a leader or a thinker, just a dangerous greedy pragmatist. Orwell is trying to show us that anyone can allow power to corrupt them, that no one is immune from its effects. This could be seen as a warning, that no matter

who we have in charge of our society we have to make sure that if they are corrupted by power that we have mechanisms in place to stop them from going too far. This is further highlighted when we see that the uninspiring Napoleon has a charismatic and passionate rival- Snowball. The fact that Napoleon is so clearly less impressive than Snowball yet still succeeds in their power struggle shows us what a dangerous and frightening character he is. Snowball is described as being a better speaker, as having lots of interesting ideas and inspiring animals but Napoleon is simply more ruthless. He takes in some young puppies, not out of any sense of caring for them, simply to build his own personal army. In a terrifying scene Napoleon’s dogs chase Snowball off the farm leaving Napoleon as the sole leader. These dogs could be seen as a symbol for military power; once Napoleon has the dogs he can intimidate the animals into doing whatever he wants. This really shows us that Napoleon will stop

at nothing to get his way By having Napoleon ascend to power through force not skill Orwell makes him a truly terrifying character. Orwell is making us think about the fact that corrupt governments need force to maintain their power. Once they have military support it becomes very difficult to challenge their authority. He shows us that those in power are not necessarily those who deserve it, it is just those who fight hardest for it. However he also wants us to see that it is not the only thing that the powerful use to maintain control. In fact the dogs’ threat of violence is not the main reason the pigs stay in control, it is ignorance of the animals and the pigs’ skilful use of propaganda and misinformation. This can be seen in the way they manipulate the laws set down at the beginning of the story – the commandments. Napoleon is a fascinating character because he so blatantly does whatever he wants to do and still convinces the other animals that he has done nothing wrong. By

the time the story is over he has broken every one of the animals’ original ‘unbreakable’ rules. He smokes, he drinks, he trades with humans, he sleeps in a bed, walks on two feet and, of course, kills other animals who threaten him. Every time he breaks a commandment he simply changes it to suit himself. ‘No animal shall sleep in abed’ becomes, ‘No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets’, ‘No animal shall drink alcohol’ becomes ‘No animal shall drink alcohol to excess’, No animal shall kill any other animal becomes No animal shall kill any other animal without cause which of course means that Napoleon can kill whomever he wants. Ultimately the commandments get replaced the single rule All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others. This nonsensical line means that the rules apply to the other animals but not to the pigs. Orwell is showing us that those with power will use that power to manipulate the system for themselves. He is showing us

that the pigs evil rule of the farm is not down to their ability to control the animals physically but by seeming to be doing nothing wrong. It is the animals’ ignorance that is the real root of the pigs power. Orwell wants us to realise that if we do not understand the systems that are used to govern us then we will allow those in power to do what they want. He is calling for us to be vigilant and informed; Animal Farm is a warning to us all. This warning is all the more powerful when Orwell has Napoleon profit from the death of the books most beloved character Boxer. Napoleons role in the death of Boxer is the final confirmation that he has no redeeming characteristics whatsoever. Napoleon does not directly kill Boxer but he is the one who is ultimately responsible for his death It is Napoleons desire to complete the windmill that pushes Boxer until he has no strength left and we can only assume that it is Napoleon who brings in the knackers to take Boxer to the slaughterhouse

rather than pay for medicine and when Squealer tells the animal an obviously false story about Boxers last words we know that he is simply covering up for Napoleons desire for another case of whisky. It is at this point that we realise that Napoleon is totally the opposite of Boxer: he does no work, he has no principles (unlike ironically Boxers unwavering belief that Napoleon is always right) and he is intelligent and ruthless where Boxer is stupid yet kind hearted. The death of Boxer makes clear that Orwell has nothing but contempt for those that lust after power and he wants us to share in this contempt. He wants us to question everything about people who want power. The death of Boxer demonstrates that if power is unchecked then there is nothing those in power will not do. After this awful moment we realise that the fate of Animal Farm is sealed and that things will not end well. Orwell uses the transformation of Napoleon at the end of the novel to make his ultimate point about

power, that no matter who is in charge unchecked power will always end in the same way. The book ends with the pigs of the farm meeting with neighbouring human farm owners. As the pigs and humans laugh and joke about the misery of the animals on the farm the animals peer in the windows and we end the novel with the line: The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which. This line shows us that Napoleon and all the other pigs have become exactly what they set out to get rid of. In fact they have become even worse. Orwell is showing us here that the pigs have been absolutely corrupted and have no concern whatsoever for their fellow animals. By ending the novel with this line Orwell is showing us that Napoleon will get no punishment for his actions; that the ignorance of the animals is going to allow him to escape any kind of justice. Orwell wants us to be horrified and shocked at this, he

wants us to feel angry and cheated because he wants us to stand up to and question those in power. He wants us to remember the allegory of Animal Farm and learn from the mistakes the animals make. He uses Napoleons transformation into a human to teach us a lesson about the cruelty and self-interest of humans. Overall the character of Napoleon is brutal, ruthless and totally corrupted by the power he seeks. Throughout the story he does nothing but act in his own self-interest. He changes the rules to suit himself, he swiftly gets rid of his rivals and he lies and murders to fulfil his own desires. Orwell uses this awful character to teach us to always remain vigilant about our leaders. I believe that this awful character with no redeeming features is important because it makes us question everything we are told about the people who lead us: they are not noble or wise, they are human and therefore just subject to greed, cruelty and corruption. Orwells nightmarish creation of Napoleon

teaches never to allow someone go unchecked into a position of power