Who Is Napoleon A Good Leader In Animal Farm

In the book Animal Farm, you see many examples of leaders, although they are not all great. One of the worst leaders would be a character named Napoleon. It is possible to view him as a great leader, but I choose to do otherwise. Napoleon is an awful leader; he breaks his own laws, he’s fearful and uses propaganda to manipulate animals in a negative way.

Napoleon on numerous accounts has “broken” his own rules. When I say broken, he technically didn't break the current rules in place, he broke old rules that he had changed through propaganda and lies. A leader who cannot follow his own rules cannot expect his disciples to follow him or his rules. He sleeps in beds, is willing to kill, and trades. These are the things that animal farm’s revolutionist, Old Major, viewed as the worst things possible. These are the things that resemble humans. The one thing that animal farm is supposed to not be; human-like. The worst part about all of it is that he covers it up through propaganda.
Via a pig named Squealer, Napoleon spread lies in the form of propaganda around the farm.
He manipulates the people and alters their memory. He changed the sacred commandments, to better benefit him and his immediate cohorts. A great example of this phenomena is a horse named Boxer. There was an event that resulted in the collapse of a windmill that was in midst of being built. Being true to who he is, boxer stood up to the challenge and was the main worker in the rebuilding of the windmill. This took a heavy toll on him and, and eventually, he was shipped off to a glue plant. Boxer believed that Napoleon was always right and died because of
it.

This leads into how Napoleon retains control over the farm. He uses fear. With propaganda and power, he can remain the authority. Boxer gives an example of what happens when you can’t work or when you displease him. On another account, he had taken the dogs offspring and raised them in seclusion and forged them into his bodyguards. The dogs are quite petrifying. They even literally chased the farm’s old leader, Snowball, from office.

Some would argue that all these things simply make him an effective leader. That's true to an extent. I do agree that control is ultimately the most important aspect to have as a leader. Napoleon does have control, but that control is not based on trust, it's based on lies. This is his hamartia. What will happen when the truth is revealed? He will no longer have control over the farm, no animal will follow his word and he will eventually be overthrown.

In the end, Napoleon has become human, precisely what the farm overthrow in the first place. He has used too many lies and they will eventually come crashing down upon him. He will not have the needed support of the animals because they are too afraid. Napoleon has since day one set himself up for failure. One day the animals will find the truth.