E. Webb

N. Hollister

English

11/29/16

                                Themes in Animal Farm

        Many themes can be drawn from the book Animal farm but a select few really stand out. The animals follow leaders that lie to them, cheat them, and steal from them. Yet somehow the pigs justify themselves. They twist what they say in order to get their way. This is false allegiance. The animals start out fearing Mr. Jones, but once the pigs get a taste of power they fear him no more. They start to crave control and power. Napoleon is cruel. He has done so many hurtful things to the animals. He’s a tyrant, who lies to the animals he leads.

        Ten specific commandments were painted on the side of the barn. The animals had to live by these rules. The pigs would sometimes break these commandments and then when they were caught, Squealer would make up an excuse and then change the commandments. The pigs vowed to live by what Major said in his speech, but in the end they disregarded him, and basically treated the animals the same way they were treated by Mr. Jones. They created animalism and set principles and promises for it, but Napoleon didn’t keep to the principles. Napoleon claimed they would never associate with humans again, but he lied because he established trade with them. He had Boxer slaughtered and used the  money he got from the slaughter for himself and the farm. He would do anything to keep himself and his way of leadership in power. He wanted everything his way or no way. “Four legs good, two legs bad”, a phrase taught to the animals in order to get them to understand they deserve freedom. At the end of the book the pigs walked on two hooves. Though the animals didn’t know, they falsely follow Napoleon and the other pigs.

        Napoleon craves power. He would do anything to make sure he keeps his position. He makes the animals fear him in order to keep them from arguing  about what he says. This allows him to run the farm in his own manner and gives him a more comfortable life than the other animals. Early on in Animal Farm, Napoleon takes Jessie and Bluebell’s nine newborn puppies. These puppies become the forefront of his campaign of fear. He uses them to gain power by eliminating his nemesis, Snowball. Boxer was the most loyal, hard working "comrade" on the farm. Napoleon abuses his loyalty by getting all the work out of him that he can, then selling him to the slaughterhouse to get the last possible amount of money out of him. He uses Squealer by making him make convincing speeches to prevent the animals from being enraged by the killing of Boxer. Napoleon again used Squealer to maintain control of the farm and did not give any of the other animals a say in what went on. He used “dumb” animals for his dirty work and labor. The pigs never helped with anything that involved physical work.

        Napoleon was a cruel leader. He cheated the other animals and lied to them about most of the things he’d done.  He tried convincing the animals that they had a better life than before but they didn’t. Their lives were just as bad if not worse. Napoleon stole apples and milk from the other animals, but claimed that it was because the pigs needed it to fuel their brains for thinking. What about the animals that worked hard labor to keep the farm running? They were the ones who needed the extra milk and apples. Napoleon even killed animals that questioned him. He did so to get point across to other animals that HE was the boss. He got drunk, which is irresponsible for a leader. He stole and sold chicken eggs for profit and killed the hens when they tried to protest against it. Napoleon even slept in the house when it was cold but refused other animals including young animals.

        The themes that I thought were most important were harsh. The book was harsh. These themes all possess characteristics including cruelty, selfishness, and bad leadership. Napoleon was a hypocrite. He said he was going to lead one way but did the exact opposite.  The animals weren’t smart enough to realize that they were living worse lives than before. Napoleon knew this, but chose to take advantage of them. He is a tyrant who doesn’t worry himself with the well-being of the other animals. He lusts for power and causes everyone to falsely follow him.