In every story there is power that everyone wants to get a hold of. In Animal Farm by George Orwell, Napoleon happens to get his hands on all the power. He uses fear, ideology, and propaganda as his best tools in order to keep everyone away of this power. These tools allow him to stay on the top. Napoleon uses fear to show the animals that he is the only one in charge and his commands can not be questioned by anyone or anything. One way that Napoleon uses fear with the animals is by his guard dogs. He used them as his army and to do his bad work for him.
As Napoleon was giving a speech to his fellow comrades, he makes a horrible noise and out of nowhere, three horrifying dogs come in behind Napoleon and wait for his commands. “They dashed straight for Snowball, who only sprang from his place just in time to escape their snapping jaws… ” ,(Doc. B, Chapter 5). Once Napoleon makes his final command to get Snowball out of the farm, the dogs growl and chase Snowball without stopping. From that moment on, the animals became afraid that if they do one little mistake against Napoleon, the three dogs will be the first ones right there ready to chase them out.
Another example of how Napoleon uses fear is when the hens decide to stop laying eggs in their nesting boxes and go against his commands. They end up not getting fed or helped by any other animal. “He ordered the hens’ rations to be stopped, and decreed that any animal giving so much as a grain of corn to a hen should be punished by death”,( Doc. B, Chapter 7). The hens immediately saw what Napoleon was doing and were scared that they would starve to death. They finally stopped rebelling after five days and went back to their nesting boxes to continue laying eggs where they would not smash into pieces.
Last but not least, Napoleon uses execution and confessions as his best tools for fear to take over the animals. After the hens’ rebellion. Napoleon brings all the animals together and fo each one to confess. Many animals that had confessed got their throats ripped by Napoleon’s guard dogs. “And so the table of confessions and executions went on, until there was a pile of corpses lying before Napoleon’s feet and the air was heavy with the smell of blood,which had been unknown there since the expulsion of Jones’,'(Doc. B, Chapter 7).
Napoleon becomes a murder and orders many animals to be killed just to prove his power and how it could go for any animal that disobeys or goes against him. After this series of confessions all the animals who weren’t executed became very honest with Napoleon and followed all his wishes. Each animal had now started living in the fear of waking up and being executed for any reason that Napoleon claimed. After Napoleon takes full power of Animal Farm, one of his most successful tools to keep the animals in order is fear.
This allows him to keep everyone under control without having any problems against him. Napoleon manipulates the ideology of Animalism to keep power and all the animals under control. Napoleon comes up with a different meaning to Animalism and maintains it in full use to keep Totalitarianism in Animal Farm. He uses Squealer as a tool to keep the animal’s beliefs in him and the idea that he’s the best leader and the only one who can rule Animal Farm. When Napoleon comes into charge, Squealer reminds all the animals about how Napoleon was a hero at the Battle of Cowshed and how he defeated Jones. When panic was spreading and all seemed lost, that Comrade Napoleon sprang forward with a cry of “Death to Humanity! ” and sank his teeth in Jones’s leg? “, (Doc. E, Chapter 7). In this quote, it’s explaining how Napoleon makes his beliefs against humans and that is what matters most to the other animals because each one believes that humans are cruel and are horrible people that want to hurt every animal they see in their way.
Since Napoleon became the new leader and the one in charge, he made all the animals think he was like a lord and no longer was just Napoleon. Napoleon was now never spoken of simply as ‘Napoleon’. He was always referred to in formal style as ‘our Leader, Comrade Napoleon’, and the pigs liked to invent for him such titles such as Father Of All Animals, terror of Mankind, Protector of the Sheepfold”, (Document E, Chapter 8). Napoleon was now in full command and he no longer was seen as one of the other pigs. He was more smart and had good leadership according to Animalism. Napoleon had now become the most powerful and didn’t want to be seen as just one of the other pigs, but instead a higher class leader.
Finally, another example that Napoleon manipulated ideology is by creating the seven commandments along with Snowball. The seven commandments was the most important part of Animalism. “… Snowball declared that the…. Commandments could in effect be reduced to…. Four legs good, two legs bad. ‘ This, he said contained the essential principle of Animalism”, (Document A, Chapters 2-3). Napoleon allowed all of the animals to use these commandments as a way of life.
They would only get along with other animals and humans were mean and didn’t want to make agreements with animals or help them out. As the days went on, the animals realized that all animals were equal and they shouldn’t evolve into the ways of humans or they would become like Mr. Jones, who was not a good farmer. Napoleon manipulated the ideology of Animalism just enough that the animals saw him as the best leader and treated him like a god. Napoleon maintains propaganda as one of his tools to make the animals believe he is the main focus of Animal Farm.
Napoleon uses Jones as the animals way to do what he wants them to do because he makes them think he will come back for them and the farm. “One false step, and our enemies would be upon us. Surely, comrades, you do not want Jones back? ” ,( Document C, Chapter5). In this quote, napoleon convinces the animals that if they don’t follow the commands of the pigs, who are the brainworkers, then surely Jones will come for revenge. Because of this, all the animals get scared and begin following orders.
Another way that Napoleon uses propaganda, is when he makes every animal believe that Snowball was a traitor and he had everyone believing in him just so that he could take over the farm and everyone in it. ‘Comrades,’ he said quietly, do you know.. the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown our windmill? SNOWBALL! “. Snowball has done this thing. This traitor has crept here under cover of night and destroyed our work of nearly a year”,( Document D, Chapter 7). Napoleon makes everyone believe that Snowball was after them and the farm.
With this being said all the animals were scared of Snowball and they absolutely hated him. Last but not least, Napoleon lets Squealer talk to the animals and make him seem like he’s a good leader and if it wasn’t for them, Snowball would have taken over and that wouldn’t have been good for the farm. “…….. Comrade Napoleon… would be… happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But…. you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be? Suppose you have decided to follow Snowball.. who, as we now, was no better than a criminal? “,(Document D, Chapter 5).
In this quote, Squealer is explaining to the animals that if it wasn’t for Napoleon, then they would be in charge of a traitor and someone who didn’t really care about the animals rights and the farm. He is making them believe that Napoleon is someone who saved their life and should have all the power and happiness. What happens when there is free power flowing around? There is competition over it and there is always someone who will win. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Napoleon rises to power and becomes the example of how power can overtake someone. Napoleon takes advantage of such power and uses it to govern every animal he knows.