“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Those with the power become corrupted, but so does the people under their authority. The Animal Farm novel portrays exactly how this takes place.
Leaders may start off with the best of intentions but they often become power hungry and corrupt, resorting to all kinds of evilness in order to maintain their new status.
For example, the idea of Animalism, first created by Old Major, in itself is a bright vision. It is only after Old Major’s death that it became a struggle for power. Snowball’s goodhearted attempts to help the animals – especially academically – were not appreciated by the power-hungry Napoleon.
Napoleon's power corrupted the whole idea of Animalism & The Seven Commandments, which the farm first started with. The power that the three pigs obtained had corrupted them, and then Napoleon received absolute power, which corrupted the society as a whole.
While authorities are fighting over power, it is the ordinary people that are suffering. The ordinary people become gullible, believing everything they are told. By not questioning authority, ignorant people can easily be fooled by others to take advantage of them.
For example, Napoleon uses his “mouth-piece” Squealer, who makes use of propaganda, to influence the other animals’ thoughts and feelings. The animals do not question Napoleon or Squealer because they are so gullible.
The ordinary people turn into sheep that blindly follow the instructions given by “their shepherd”. Those that are not fooled by them are too intimidated to stand up to the powerful ones. For example, Donkey, who seems to be the only one that still has a mind of his own. Yet, he pretends to follow them and is too afraid of the consequences to publicly question the pigs.
In conclusion, history has proven that power is the root of all evil. In Animal Farm, the animals tried to be equal, but some animals had different views and opinions and some gradually
Leaders may start off with the best of intentions but they often become power hungry and corrupt, resorting to all kinds of evilness in order to maintain their new status.
For example, the idea of Animalism, first created by Old Major, in itself is a bright vision. It is only after Old Major’s death that it became a struggle for power. Snowball’s goodhearted attempts to help the animals – especially academically – were not appreciated by the power-hungry Napoleon.
Napoleon's power corrupted the whole idea of Animalism & The Seven Commandments, which the farm first started with. The power that the three pigs obtained had corrupted them, and then Napoleon received absolute power, which corrupted the society as a whole.
While authorities are fighting over power, it is the ordinary people that are suffering. The ordinary people become gullible, believing everything they are told. By not questioning authority, ignorant people can easily be fooled by others to take advantage of them.
For example, Napoleon uses his “mouth-piece” Squealer, who makes use of propaganda, to influence the other animals’ thoughts and feelings. The animals do not question Napoleon or Squealer because they are so gullible.
The ordinary people turn into sheep that blindly follow the instructions given by “their shepherd”. Those that are not fooled by them are too intimidated to stand up to the powerful ones. For example, Donkey, who seems to be the only one that still has a mind of his own. Yet, he pretends to follow them and is too afraid of the consequences to publicly question the pigs.
In conclusion, history has proven that power is the root of all evil. In Animal Farm, the animals tried to be equal, but some animals had different views and opinions and some gradually