What Is The Abuse Of Power In Animal Farm

As William Pitt once said, “ Unlimited power corrupts the possessor.” This quote represents the main theme of Animal Farm By George Orwell. In the novel the animals from a farm want to have freedom from the humans, after they get their freedom it does not turn out as how they imagined it. George Orwell gives the the theme of how power corrupts people or in this case animals in his novel.

At the beginning of the novel the animals established Seven Commandments that they were going to live by but over time the commandments seemed to have changed. “They had thought the Fifth Commandment was “No animal shall drink alcohol,” , but there were two words they had forgotten. Actually the Commandment read: “No animal shall drink alcohol to excess.”
For instance, at the beginning of the novel the animals were taught a song called Beasts of England, that did not last for long after Napoleon took over. “The general feeling on the farm was well expressed in a poem entitled Comrade Napoleon, which was composed by Minimus and which ran as follow...Comrade Napoleon!”( Orwell, 94). This quote shows that Napoleon did not care of what others thought about changing the meaningful songs that were brought up in the beginning of the rebellion. Which he was being corrupt to the animals because they may of not agreed which his choice. Another way that Napoleon was being corrupt to the animals was to make them call him in more formal ways than just “Napoleon”. “Napoleon was now never spoken of simply as “Napoleon” He was always referred to in formal style as “our Leader, Comrade Napoleon,” (Orwell, 93). This example explains that Napoleon did not really believe that all animals are equal because if he did he would not want to be called, Leader. This is corrupt to the animals because he told that every animal was equal and to him this is not