Power Corrupted In George Orwell's Animal Farm

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Animal Farm is a satirical and dystopian novel written by George Orwell heavily influenced by Russian Revolution in 1917 and the events which led to the downfall of its dictatorship government. Based upon the themes of communism, propaganda, corruption and inequality, Animal Farm tells the story of a group of animals who rebel against humans with the hopes of living in equality, freedom and happiness. This essay will explore the topic of how power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely and the effects corruption has on the various behaviours depicted in this book. When power is gained, authority allows contestant manipulation of others, people are more likely to become corrupted within environments that are already power corrupted and…show more content…
A major theme within the book which also the political strategy of propaganda which is an idea to spread biased or misleading nature used to promote various causes. For instance, one example of the use of propaganda within the storyline was Napoleon’s mouthpiece, Squealer, a clever pig who told the animals on the farm what they wanted to hear and is able to convince the animals the animals that Napoleon is only doing what’s right. During the time of Snowball’s exit, the animals struggled to believe that he was capable of destruction upon Animal Manor and because of the use of propaganda, Squealer was able to sway the animals into thinking that Snowball was the traitor. “And as to the Battle of the Cowshed, I believe that the time will come when we shall find that Snowball’s part in it was much exaggerated… One false step and our enemies would be upon us.” – (Page 41). With the animals working towards their false perception of freedom, another use of propaganda is used by Moses, the mysterious and tame raven who spreads lies about Sugarcandy Mountain, a make belief place to make the animals accept their current, hungry and laborious lives. “He claimed to know of the existence of a mysterious country called Sugarcandy Mountain, to which all animals went when they died. It was situated somewhere up in the sky, a little distance beyond the clouds… In Sugarcandy Mountain it was Sunday seven days a week, clover was in season all the year round, and lump sugar and linseed cake grew on the hedges Moses said. The animals hated Moses because he told tales and did no work, but some of them believed in Sugarcandy Mountain.” – (Page 12). With the ongoing role of propaganda throughout the book, Napoleon led on the members of Animal Farm through a false sense of hope as he started to get comfortable with the idea of power and became corrupted
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