The Power Struggle of Napoleon

The Power Struggle of Napoleon

Napoleon uses the ignorance of the other animals to his advantage during his rise to power. The other animals are not smart like Napoleon, so they cannot make decisions regarding the running of the farm after it is taken over. Napoleon takes full control of the farm and gains more and more power every day. He ensures this power by making sure that no one gets in his way. In Animal Farm, a story by George Orwell, Napoleon is able to take control of the farm and rise to power because he is able to manipulate the other animals.

Napoleon makes sure that no one opposes him or his ideas during his rise to power; if they do oppose him, he uses any means necessary to remove them. Snowball's ideas about building the windmill are different from Napoleon's. Napoleon realizes that if Snowball's opposition continues he will never be able to take complete control of the farm. Since he needs to get Snowball out of the way, Napoleon tells the animals that Snowball is causing all of the problems that the farm is having. By doing this, he is able to unite them all against a common enemy and trick them into believing things that are not true. Also, Jessie's puppies are taken away from her and used as a private security force for Napoleon. He takes them so he can train them and educate them so that if anything ever comes between him and power, the trained dogs will be there to remove the obstacle and let Napoleon continue to gain power without opposition. Another time Napoleon removes those who get in his way is when he massacres all of the animals suspected of being involved in Snowball's plot to bring down Animal Farm. Napoleon is a bad power-hungry ruler who will not let anything get in his way during his rise to power.

Napoleon and his close comrades blind the other animal with a swirling wall of propaganda. Squealer, Napoleon's close comrade and propagator, tells the other animals a lot of false things about the pigs. When asked why the pigs get to eat all of the apples and milk, Squealer responds by saying that it isn't because the pigs want to eat them, it's because they have to eat them to stay healthy and well. Squealer uses this made-up story to convince the animals into believing the lies of the pigs. He also makes sure the animals know that they are in perfect health as well; the pigs just need to eat the apples because science has proven that it is good for them. Since the animals are so ignorant, they will believe almost anything. Squealer uses glittering generalities when talking about Napoleon as a great leader and talking about how selfless and nice he is. When Squealer tells the animals that Napoleon is taking extra burdens upon himself and they should be thankful, he is really lying. He is telling them that Napoleon doesn't want to be the ruler, when really, he does. Squealer convinces the animals that Napoleon fully believes in animal equality and is just taking on the extra responsibilities to better the farm animals' lives. He tricks all of the farm animals in a mean cruel way. Napoleon plays