Their most important role has been keeping the peace. When I made deals with the neighbouring farms to keep our farm running smoothly, I asked that the hens surrender their eggs as part of the deal. The hens refused, and smashed their eggs on the floor. This called for drastic measures, so I called in the newly trained Jessie and Bluebell. I had the hens confess to their crimes, and ordered the dogs onto them. The animals were stunned by what they witnessed; every animal that had committed a crime against the farm confessed, and the dogs punished them.
Create a common and absent enemy
When I assumed leadership of the farm Snowball was long gone. We encountered several problems when we first started work, in particular the windmill. We all knew it was Snowball. He had become jealous of our success, and had come to the farm to destroy our work. In addition, I found various documents that detailed how Snowball was in league with Jones from the beginning – how his acting brave and fearless when we fought with Jones and his men was simply a set up. He had worked with Jones to try and disrupt the Rebellion, but his plans backfired and he left the farm an enemy of the cause.
Over time, the animals forgot Snowball, but I will always remember him, and how he tried to take control, acting brave and fearless whilst being in league with Jones all the time. Now it is common to blame Snowball whenever anything goes wrong on the farm. The animals foolishly thought that Snowball was the one who deserved glory and leadership, and awarded Snowball “Animal Hero, First Class” – rubbish! Snowball could never be a hero, and the animals soon realised that.
Make them work – or worsen their living conditions
The animals knew that after the Rebellion, there was a lot of work to be done. We had to do more work to make the farm run smoothly, and be more productive than we had been under Jones’ reign! The windmill was a big priority, but we had to get the harvest done, and these animals weren’t too happy about all the work. What made it worse was that these animals were now living a life of luxury now that Jones had gone. They had endless supplies of food and they had the farm to themselves. I couldn’t let them run amok, so I had to take control. If the animals didn’t work, they got less food, or they didn’t have straw in their beds.
They knew they had a lot of work to do, and I would have thought they would have done it – but they needed a little encouragement to get it done. In the end, they were all working and thanks to Squealer’s endless lists of figures that showed how well we had done, they knew that the farm would maintain a smooth running if they kept up the work.
Create a leader myth
From the beginning, I was born to lead. I knew that when Old Major spoke about his vision of freedom, a free animal community, something inside me said that I should take command of the activities. I had the dogs to enforce my leadership, and the animals soon followed my lead. They worked by the maxim “Napoleon is always right”, and if they disagreed with anything that was said or performed on the farm, once my name was mentioned, they knew it was for the best. If any animal questioned anything, once they were told that it was me who said it or endorsed it, they took it up and knew that I was right. Minimus even wrote a poem about me, which I heartily endorsed.
The commandments that were established in the beginning could also be summed up in one maxim:
ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL
BUT SOME ARE MORE EQUAL
THAN OTHERS
It is the natural order in life – some are born to lead, others simply follow. I gained control, and it was for their own good – I often hear the animals drop my name in occasionally when they talk about their lives, for example I heard one cow say to another “Thanks to the leadership of Comrade Napoleon, how good this water tastes!” It makes me feel good when the animals appreciate me.
Propaganda is the key – rewrite history
When I took leadership of the farm, I needed to ensure the animals knew who I was and what role I took in the Rebellion. All the animals thought it was Snowball who performed the best in the battle against Jones and his men, but it was I, Napoleon who took charge and lead the animals towards victory. By placing the blame on Snowball for all the bad things that happened, the animals could see who it was who really performed – not that idiot Snowball who thought he could impress the animals by acting so brave.
The maxim that the animals lived by, “Napoleon is always right” as I explained earlier, together with Squealer’s lists of figures that proved that we had worked better than under Jones’ ownership, encouraged the animals to work harder all the time.
I dread to think what will happen to the animals when my time is up and I leave this farm, but I know that they will remember me and they will work harder.
NAPOLEON IS ALWAYS RIGHT
