Snowball is considered to be the most intelligent of the pigs. It is evident that this is true when he plans to build a windmill to supply electricty on the farm. "He was closeted there for hours at a time." This quote shows again Snowball's strong passion for the farm as he spends hours working on plans for innovations and improvements. Napoleon cannot accept that Snowball is the cleverest out of them both and this is proved to us again when Snowball makes Animal Comittees to teach the animals to read and write as Napoleon claimis that the education of the young is far more important than that of the older animals. He says this clearly because he is jealous of Snowball and wants power and glory all the time.
Orwell describes Napoleon as "large" and "fierce-looking". From this description we picture him to be extremely intimidating and he uses this throughout the novel to control the other animals. It is obvious that Napoleon wants to be the only animal that has power over all of the others so that he can benefit himself, without having to do a great deal. His fierce side shows when he takes as litter of puppies away and without anyone knowing trains them as his secret police. He uses these dogs to protect him and do gruesome jobs for him. This shows his selfishness again as he believes that he has the right to have these dogs to do all the dirty work for him. Napoleon wants to be the only pig to rule the farm and is clearly jealous of Napoleon and so uses his secret police to attack Snowball and chase him off the farm. This supports Orwell's description of Snowball saying that, "he has a reputation of getting his own way." Unlike Snowball, Napoleon uses brutal force to control the animals and get them to do what he wants. This frightens the animals and they start to confess to crimes that they haven't even comitted. "They were all slain on the spot. The tale of confessions and executions went on, until there was a pile of corpses lying before Napoleon's feet." Here Napoleon has played mind games with the animals so much that they even confess to being in league with Snowball when really they are not. Napoleon again is jealous and cannot handle the fact that some of the animals would want Snowball as their leader instead of him so he kills them.
Throught the novel Napoleon is constantly blaming all the problems that happen on the farm on Snowball and reminding them that he is a traitor. He says, "Snowball was in league with Jones from the very start!" Napoleon is able to trick the animals into thinking anything and they believe him. This makes the novel full of irony as we can see what the pigs are doing but the animals are totally oblivious to it. It is quite clear that Snowball was never in league with Jones as he was heavily dedicated to Animalism. The animals have been convinced so much that every problem is due to Snowball that when Napoleon is ill, rumours fly round the farm that Snowball poisened his food when really it was because he had drank too much alcohol. This leads to thw pigs changing yet another commandment from "No animal shall drink alcohol" to "No animal shall drink alcohol to excess". The animals go along with this as Napoleon has threatened them into doing so much that they don't dare speak their minds or disobey his rules. There is a huge sense of irony here again as one of the commandments is supposedly "all animals are equal".
Orwell also describes Napoleon to be "not much of a talker". This is shown throughout the novel as his speeches are always short and to the point and further on he is never seen around the farm and gives his orders through Squealer. Napoleon appears to be a good leader at the start of the novel but is soon overcome by greed and becomes extremely power hungry. Boxer says, "If comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right." This is another example showing how the animals have been threatened and tricked into thinking that everything Napoleon says will benefit them. This is shown hugely through Boxer as he believes that by doing extra work and working harder he will improve the farm greatly for all the animals but is completely unaware that by working hard he is only allowing the pigs to gain more and more luxuries not anyone else.
Squealer is described to have "very round cheeks", "twinkling eyes", and also "a way of skipping from side to side which is somehow very persuasive". This could possibly be why he is so persuasive as his feautures and actions may charm and win round the animals but the animals cannot see that he uses sly and crafty ways to control them. Orwell also says, "the others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white". This is probably because Squealer is such a good talker and is able to persuade the animals very easily and so Napoleon uses him to spread propaganda and also gives orders to the animals through him. Squealer uses propaganda to threaten them and as an attempt to maintain order.
His brilliant use of persuasion is extremely useful when the animals are in doubt about things, for example he uses statistics whilst talking about the harvest produce. This makes the animals believe that they are getting more food now than they did in the time when Jones owned the farm and so they won't rebel against Napoleon's ways. Squealer says "The whole management and organization of this farm depend on us...It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples." Here Squealer is using his persuasive ways to convice the animals that they need milk and apples because they are good for pigs' health. This is obviously lies and is just purely greed. Squealer also threatens the animals by saying that if the pigs fail then Jones will come back and so this keeps the animals under control.
By misleading the animals, the pigs are able to obtain whatever they want and manipulate them into believing things. Also when Frederick and his followers blow up the windmill, Squealer twists it around to show that they have not failed but have won a battle. "You do not appreciate, the mighty thing we have done. The enemy was in occupation of this very ground that we stand upon. And now-thanks to the leadership of Comrade Napoleon-we have won every inch of it back again!" Squealer is making it out to be a good thing maybe because Napoleon wants the animals to still think of him as a great leader. The animals soon believe that what they have done is great and so join in with the celebrations. Another use of Squealer by Napoleon is to increase the belief that Snowball is a menace so they think of Napoleon as a better leader and Snowball as a traitor. Napoleon is always maintaining his power throughout the novel and also uses Squealer to do this by giving credit to Napoleon for everything and reminding the animals that he is a great leader even if what he is doing is wrong. This way the pigs are able to benefit greatly from communism which is what they wanted from the rebellion. They show no interest in improving the farm itself but only in the strength of their power over it.