After the rebellion and the sudden victory of the animals over the humans, the pigs assumed the control as they were the cleverest of all and undertook the administration of the farm. At first things went pretty well with Snowball as leader. Snowball really wanted to make life easier for al the animals on the farm. Meanwhile while he was in control, Napoleon, another pig who would become a tyrant, used to be away with some dogs. And after some days he came out and used these dogs to drive out Snowball from the farm who got away in time. Snowball was never seen again. Obviously after this incident Napoleon gained control and began a reign of terror. He used his dogs to support him whenever he needed them and imposed forced labour on the animals with the help of these dogs. Surely the animals were afraid of the dogs. Napoleon had also appointed Squealer, a pig to spread his propaganda. Squealer with his talkative mouth convinced the animals on any of their doubts. The animals not being so clever believed in every one of his lies. One of his lies says, “ Snowball, as we know, was no better than a criminal…….. Bravery is not enough, Loyalty and obedience are more important”. In these words he convinced the animals that Snowball was not loyal. He told the animals that in the ‘Battle of the Cowshed’ Snowball tried to betray the animals by leading them towards the humans so that they could kill them with ease. The animals that were not so clever thought this was right. This foolishness of the animals led them to the belief that ‘Napoleon is always right and whatever he does is good for them’. Boxer was a great believer in these words and made it his motto. Later on he will find out that he was betrayed by Napoleon who used his strength to build the windmill. In this way power was gained by Napoleon. This kind of power may be described as a power in the hands of Hitler and Mussolini, a power in the form of dictatorship in which the dictator can do anything. But in Animal Farm, dictatorship did not rise to the level at which it prevailed in Germany or Italy, it was rather like a democratic-dictatorship in which propaganda played a vital part.
With the start of this dictatorial rule anything said by Napoleon was done whether the animals liked it or not. The first move that Napoleon did when he came to power was to begin the construction of a windmill. He believed that it would ease the workload on all the animals. The abuse of power started from here. As the construction of the windmill went on, the animals became hungrier and hungrier and hence Napoleon introduced rations. These rations were low for the animals that worked on the farm and were high for the pigs who did nothing but eat and hence became fat. When the animals asked why they were given such low food? Squealer would threaten the animals and tell them that the pigs would not be able to do their job correctly and that Jones would come back. The animals did not want Jones to come back as they knew that life was terrible under his hands. After some time, the pigs violated one of the commandments and started sleeping on beds. To this Squealer said “…. We pigs now sleep in the farmhouse? And why not? You did not suppose surely, that there was a ruling against beds? …. The rule was against sheets, which are a human invention…But not more comfortable than we need, I can tell you comrades, with all the brainwork we have these days…You would not have us too tired to do our job, would you? Surely you do not want to see Jones come back?”
As the power of the pigs grew stronger day-by-day, so did their treatment of animals worsened. When the windmill fell down due to a storm, Napoleon accused Snowball of it and said that he had spies lurking in the farm and hence one day asked the animals to confess to any crimes they had committed. This time Napoleon had the dogs with him. ‘The three hens who had been the ringleaders in the attempted rebellion over the eggs came forward and stated that Snowball had appeared to them in a dream and incited them to disobey Napoleon. They were slaughtered. Then a goose confessed to have secreted six ears of corn and ate them during the night… Then a sheep confessed to have urinated in the drinking pool, urged to do this by Snowball… and other two sheep confessed to have murdered an old ram…. They were all slain on the spot. When it was over the animals crept away. They were shaken and miserable’. This quote tells us that the animals went under executions and confessed to crimes they had not committed. It shows us that Napoleon’s power was absolute. As a result of these consequences, many of the commandments were altered. Many of them were no the same or least meant the same. It shows us that the pigs had a lot of power and used it to their own comfort.
As time passed, the conditions of the animals worsened. Their food supply was reduced while the food of the pigs seemed to increase and they seemed to become fat. Even the rations of oil were reduced to conserve oil for the future. But the condition of the farm from post-war and famine caused many of the animals to die out. But not even one pig had died. When another windmill was being constructed, Boxer fell down due to overwork. Napoleon had immediately sent Squealer who told the animals that Napoleon had organised Boxer to be sent to the hospital in Willingdon. But the next day Benjamin, the intellectual donkey had seen that on the cart it was written ‘Alfred Simmonds, Horse slaughter and glue-boiler…and bone-meal’ and informed the other animals about it. But it was too late and all the animals doubted Napoleon. But Squealer reassured them that the hospital man had just bought the cart and had not yet painted it. He also said to have been present during his last moments. “ It was the most affecting sight I have ever seen…at the end, too weak to speak he whispered in my ear ‘ Forward Comrades! Long live Animal Farm... Napoleon is always right”. It shows us the power that Napoleon had and how he betrayed the animal that worked the hardest on the farm.
In time, the pigs began to adapt human behaviour. They started wearing human clothes and even started walking on their hind feet. They faced no opposition even though they had violated the Commandments. This shows that their power was now absolute and that every animal had to listen to them.
Animal farm is a story written in opposition to the Russian Revolution and is based on the history during the period from 1917-1943. During this time Stalin rose to power. Animal Farm is an Allegory of the Russian Revolution. Orwell's reputation rests not only on his political shrewdness and his sharp satires but also on his marvellously clear style and on his superb essays, which rank among the best ever written. Animal Farm was written at a very inopportune time everywhere even in the , respect for the communist government was growing, after their valiant defeat of Nazi Germany and the Axis countries. Later however, Orwell's Animal Farm was caught up in a ‘’ of anti- communist sentiment and soon even encouraged this outrage, although this was not Orwell's intent. Orwell was neither a party-hardliner nor a capitalist at heart. Infact, he despised all systems of that he considered hypocritical. Surprisingly, Orwell was a socialist. The reason he hated communism so much is because it was not pure -he distrusted the leaders who lived in mansions while the common folk slaved and worked in the fields. , he thought, was just another way for the elite to control the majority of peasants. Hence his writings revolutionized the world. These kinds of writings are quite rare as they arouse public attention. Most of the writings of the 20th century were based on World Wars. But this story was more than that. It was a piece of literature, which was an Allegory.
Jameel Qureshi 10R Essay- Animal Farm -