Napoleon’s actions and reactions to certain events were extremely . In the beginning, he was 100% Berkshire boar pig, wanting the same thing that everyone wanted; freedom from the tyranny of men. After that was accomplished, Napoleon eventually becomes the sole leader of the farm. He begins to use his powers to change the rules; such as drinking alcohol, sleeping in human beds, killing "traitors", walking on hind legs, and finally, wearing clothes and bearing a whip, just like a human. "…and out came Napoleon himself, majestically upright, casting haughty glances fro side to side, and with his dogs gamboling round him. He carried a whip in his trotter." (132) This change occurred gradually and it is mostly due to his manipulative powers, curiosity, and greediness. Napoleon had despised the humans very much. But soon enough, he became what he had despised before. He was just another cruel, malicious, and greedy master that the animals would have to slave under now.
The key to Napoleon’s success was his cunning mind. Napoleon was a very cunning and clever pig, smarter than Snowball, who had only concentrated on the present. Napoleon had planned everything out beforehand, trying to be kind and impress the animals from the start. He knew what the future would contain and prepared himself for it, "He said that the education of the young was more important than anything…Napoleon took them away from their mothers, saying that he would make himself responsible for their education…kept them in such seclusion that the rest of the farm soon forgot their existence." (51) This displays his cunningness because later on, these puppies become his bodyguards and chase Snowball off the farm. With the help of these dogs, Napoleon establishes order and a dictatorship that he had been longing for since the expulsion of Jones.
As seen above, Napoleon was a very manipulative (well-rounded) character, unlike most of the lower animals. He subtly grew in power and changed the world around him. He was very cunning and clever and he knew that if he changed and abused his power slowly, the animals would feel no significant change even after the whole farm was entirely under Napoleon’s power. He had been able to use the dogs to his own benefit by using them as a reinforcement to seize power with no one else realizing it. He had also used Squealer to spread propaganda in favor of himself; Napoleon was thorough and brainwashed the animals to believing he was the most superior animal on the farm so there would never be a rebellion against him. His greediness and maliciousness had caused great negative changes within the animals’ lives. He had become a harsh dictator of a totalitarian government as he changed the Seven Commandments the final time, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." (133) Napoleon had become what Old Major had spoken strongly against and what he himself had originally despised. Under Napoleon’s , the animals ended up worse off than serving for Mr. Jones.
Character of Old Major:
Old Major was Jones’ prized white boar. "He was twelve years old had had lately grown rather stout, but he was a majestic looking pig, with a wise and benevolent appearance in spite that his tushes had never been cut." (26) With the exception of perhaps Benjamin, the pigs were the most intelligent of the animals. Old Major was highly respected and seen as a leader by the others. Nearing the end of his life, he had become very wise and wished to communicate a dream with the other animals. Every animal was looking forward to what he was about to say.
"We are born, given just so much food as to keep the breath in out bodies, and those who are capable of it are forced to work to the last atom of their strength. … No animal in England is free. The life of an animal is slavery and misery … but is this simply part of the order of nature? … NO, comrades, a thousand times no! … Why then do we continue in this miserable condition? Because nearly the whole of the produce of our labor is stolen from us by human beings … Man is the only real enemy we have." (27)
He realizes his life was miserable; all of the animals’ lives were miserable because of man. His hope for the freedom of future generations gave the animals a new outlook on life.
Squealer:
The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white." (36)
In the novel, three main pigs are introduced in the exposition and one of them is Squealer. Squealer does not play a vital role in the novel until Napoleon takes over the farm. He becomes Napoleon’s sidekick and represents him in most of the meetings with the animals, for Napoleon rarely appeared in public. Squealer was responsible for spreading in favor of Napoleon since Squealer was extremely persuasive, "The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white." (36) He constantly lessened the importance of Snowball by using him to blame all the misfortunes in Animal Farm. He displayed Napoleon as a brave, clever, and caring leader of the animals and brainwashed the other animals to believe so also. The reason he had done all this was to control the animals’ minds and to prevent another revolution against Napoleon, Squealer’s boss and dictator of Animal Farm. Squealer made up countless lies, often carrying a lot of emotion and vivid description of past events that are completely false. This was Squealer’s effective propaganda and it persuaded the other "ignorant" animals to believe Napoleon is the most superior leader they’ve ever had without question.
Squealer was extremely useful to Napoleon due to his persuasiveness, portrayed by the following quote: "He was a brilliant talker, and when he was arguing some difficult point he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail which was somehow very persuasive." (36) With this advantage, Squealer was a walking propagandist in favor of Napoleon and opposing Snowball.
Squealer was extremely obedient to Napoleon. Whenever Napoleon wanted to deliver a message to the animals, Squealer was sent out to represent him and announce whatever Napoleon had told him to announce. This quote: "All orders were now issued through Squealer…" shows that Squealer was very obedient and loyal to his master, Napoleon. He was a good representative for Napoleon because he would always twist his words to convince the animals that Napoleon is always right and that the farm was not going towards a bad end. He was very clever indeed and his cleverness saved Napoleon a lot of trouble.
To convince the animals solidly without doubts, Squealer had to use his taste for acting. Throughout the novel, Squealer was obliged to act in a certain way to match his lies. For example, when Boxer was taken to the and the "rumor" spread around the farm, Squealer had to step in and explain that Boxer was not slaughtered but that he was well taken care for until his death in the veterinarian’s office. He spoke so vividly about the event and with so much emotion, the animals had no choice except to believe him, as displayed in the following quote: "…said Squealer, lifting his trotter and wiping away a tear." (125) Besides this speech, there were numerous others in which Squealer had convinced the animals with lies about certain events, such as the bad fortunes that have happened in Animal Farm. Due to the fact that Squealer had inserted so much emotion into his stories, his propaganda was extremely effective.
Squealer’s propaganda techniques were very creative. To create a great number of lies over countless times is not a simple thing. But, Squealer was very clever. He always managed to create reasonable stories to cover up the misfortunes on Animal Farm by blaming everything on Snowball, the "traitor": "‘Comrades!’ cried Squealer, making little nervous skips, ‘a most terrible thing has been discovered. Snowball has sold himself to Frederick of Pinchfield Farm, who is even now plotting to attack us and take our farm away from us!’" (89) This long-expected attack came later on and Squealer, using his cleverness, blamed it all on Snowball and Frederick so that Napoleon’s faults to sell the timber to Frederick for counterfeit money would not be discovered. It was also to portray Napoleon as the good guy, since many animals had thought that Napoleon had done wrong by chasing Snowball off the farm. His cleverness and Napoleon’s devious plans eventually took over the farm and the minds of the animals.
Squealer was proud of his boss, Napoleon. His propaganda worked beautifully, just like Napoleon had wanted. He obeyed Napoleon without question, like the other lower animals. But, he was clever at tricking the animals with his talent of acting and good mind. Squealer, spreading propaganda and being a of others, played a vital role in the novel.