Animal Farm Joseph Stalin Analysis

As centuries pass and time continues to lapse, more and more countries are handing in their older systems of government for new ones such as democracy. Some countries, however, continue with the dictatorship model, even though logically, this system is as fallacious as it gets. In Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” and Orwell’s “Animal Farm”, there are plenty of superb examples of dictatorship leading to the downfall of entire communities. Brutus and Caesar from “Julius Caesar” and Napoleon from “Animal Farm” are three great examples of dictatorship causing problems.

The name Josef Stalin is very often brought up when talking about dictatorship. In George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”, Napoleon is meant to be an allegory for Stalin. He shows the natural desire for power present in people. Firstly, he kicks out Snowball. Right off the bat, Napoleon is going out of his way to make himself a single dictator. Napoleon knows the power a single dictator
holds, so he does everything he can to make sure he becomes one. He also silences dissent. When other pigs try to stand up to him, Napoleon brutally murders them. In this scene, Napoleon attempts to make sure he is the only one with an opinion, so he gets rid of anybody with a different one. One more thing, he uses the sheep to spread is rhetoric. Napoleon tells the sheep to repeat the same line over and over. By doing this, the sheep not only become walking advertisements for their leader, but also lose their own agency over their lives.

Julius Caesar is an excellent example of a single dictator attempting to seize power.
While he never actually became a dictator, he showed many of the qualities that describe a powerful dictator. The main aspect of leadership he shows is the opportunity for corruption in people. In Brutus’s words: “He would be crowned. How that might change his nature, there's the question.”(Shakespeare) There is no way to tell what Caesar will become if he does take the Roman crown. Caesar also uses manipulation. During the scene where Caesar refuses the crown, he is manipulating the audience into thinking he doesn’t want the crown and surveying the audience as to whether or not they want him to be emperor. Lastly, he holds himself in high esteem. Quotes like, “I am as constant as the northern star,” (Shakespeare) and “Danger knows full well that Caesar is more dangerous than he.” (Shakespeare) really explore the mentality of Caesar. This narcissistic mentality is something that would show even brighter in a single dictator
situation.

Brutus from is an example of dictatorship leading to poor decisions. In Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”, Brutus may not be a dictator in that he rules a country, but nearly all of his decisions are heeded without any argument. One of his poor decisions was deciding not to have the conspirators take an oath of silence. This decision ended up causing word to get out about the plot to kill Caesar. People tried to argue with Brutus on his decision, but Brutus still had the last word. Another one was when Brutus chose not to kill Mark Antony. Again, most of his peers wanted to kill Antony, but Brutus chose to make the decision which would lead to ruin. If others had had say in this decision, a much more favorable result would have occurred. Brutus and Cassius probably wouldn’t have died in a war with Antony. Lastly is his decision to come down from the hill during the war with Mark Antony. This is The crown jewel of awful decisions by Brutus. Cassius had the right decision to retain the high ground, but since everyone trusts Brutus, his poor decision puts his entire army at a disadvantage.

Napoleon, Julius Caesar, and Brutus all show reasons why a single dictator is a dreadful system of government. Greed, corruption, and poor decision-making are all results of an unchecked system of government which lets a single person control many people’s lives for better or for worse.