Animal Farm

Animal Farm Essay

The book Animal Farm is a story about a farm on which the animals fight for much more than just the best stall to sleep in. The book is basically summed up into all of the animals taking over the farm and running it on their own. In the book there is a very prominent power struggle between two pigs, Snowball and Napoleon. When compared, they actually are very similar and also very different. In my opinion, Snowball will always be remembered as the honest and actually cared about the well being of the farms and the animals on it. Napoleon was just a selfish, well… pig. Although, both pigs felt that they had the right to be in charge.

Napoleon and Snowball are similar in the fact they are both intelligent. They bother know how to read and write fluently. They both take advantage of having more knowledge than the rest of the animals on the farm and this was helpful to each of them in their goal of becoming leader of the farm throughout the story. Snowball was able to put together these specific, tedious plans for constructing the Windmill. Napoleon used his intellect in hope of gaining trust from the rest of the farm by framing Snowball. He wrote a fake letter that Snowball supposedly wrote, saying that he agreed to be a spy for Foxwood Farms. The lack of intellect among the animals, excluding the pigs, no one could read, to prove that the letter was false. To continue, Snowball and Napoleon had an overall similar goal in the story. They both had different ideas when it came to how to run the farm, but they both fought for leadership and wanted to be in charge of the farm. Snowball and Napoleon were both self-centered. Snowball said that the milk and apples should be consumed only by the pigs and Napoleon wanted beer and barley to be a pigs-only amenity too. Third, both Snowball and Napoleon were very good at convincing the other animals to believe what they wanted them to. Snowball convinced the animals to support the idea of the windmill by promising shorter workdays and it would produce electricity. Napoleon, who was equally as convincing, got the animals to believe the blame on Snowball for everything going wrong on the farm. All in all, both of the pigs’ persuasiveness, intelligence, and selfishness played a big part in the fight for power between Snowball and Napoleon.

Although Snowball and Napoleon share some very obvious similarities and behaviors, they had some very prominent differences too. Obviously, the ways in which the two pigs wanted to rule the farm were very different. Snowball believed in Animalism, which symbolized equality of all animals and freedom. The idea of Animalism had come from an old pig on the farm, Old Major, who had passed away. Snowball went with the idea of attempting to ensure that all animals on the farm were treated as equals. Napoleon however, was not in agreement with this Animalism policy. He’d rather a more dictatorship-like government, which meant he could rule the farm however he wanted, without listening to the animals. Napoleon abolished the song ‘Beasts of England’, which symbolized freedom of the animals. He selfishly replaced it with a song in his honor, about how great of a ruler he was. Unlike Snowball, who made speeches to encourage the animals to work on the farm, Napoleon had a secret police force of dogs that chased and killed any animal that opposed his wishes. Besides their ways of leading, Napoleon and Snowball also had different ways of enforcing the laws or seven commandments. Snowball focused mostly on reasoning and encouraging the animals that working would benefit everyone on the farm and the farm itself. Napoleon didn't do that. Instead, he threatened with his police dogs, if the animals disobeyed his orders. Napoleon stopped all food rations in order to get the animals back to work. One of the most obvious differences the pigs share is the way that they work. Napoleon was basically lazy and had other pigs do his work for him, for example, Squealer. Squealer presented Napoleon’s speeches for him and enforced his laws. He had the pigeons spread word of rebellions and other news around the farm and surrounding farms. Snowball, unlike Napoleon, spoke to the animals himself, not through another pig, or animal. Snowball put effort into what he did and never presented an idea half-heartedly. He was hard working next to Napoleon.

All in all, Snowball and Napoleon can be thought of as two pigs who are both very alike and very different. They’re both smart, convincing, and eager to lead the farm and the animals on it. Then again, their leadership styles, ways of working, and enforcement of the seven commandments differ greatly. That is why these two characters were highly influential in the book Animal Farm.