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The novel can also be taken as a more general attack on the search of power and the way in which corrupt figures gain and manipulate power for their own purposes. Animal farm is a satire on political power. Lord Acton observed that: ‘power corrupts but absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ As the pigs gain power, it accordingly becomes harder and harder for them to resist the temptations of enjoying an easier life for themselves, especially as the other animals are presented as being too naive to prevent themselves from being manipulated. Napoleon is driven by power and slowly descends into tyranny. He is driven by power and throughout the novel all he does is plan how to take it.

i. We see this first when in Chapter 2 he takes control of the food. His removal of the puppies to ‘educate’ them results in the creation of his own secret police. Napoleon uses the dogs to terrify the animals into obedience. Neither Squealer nor Napoleon is seen without their dogs that growl menacingly whenever the animals ask difficult questions.

ii. The abolition of debates and elections removes a valuable way for the animals to express their opinions. Napoleon sees voting as irrelevant and he easily suppresses it. This directly violates the principle commandment that ‘’all animals are equal’’

iii. The bloodbath in the barn and the subsequent executions remind us of the most effective way of maintaining power and that is terror. This use of murder and intimidation to keep control of absolute power goes completely against the ideas of revolution, ‘’No animal shall kill another animal.’’

iv. The careful management of all sources of information also achieves power. Napoleon uses Squealer’s ability to ‘’turn black into white’’ to brainwash the animals into accepting his decisions and actions. We see this when Squealer defends Napoleon’s decision to build the windmill in Chapter 5 and the way, which throughout the novel we see him, praise Napoleon’s wisdom, kindness and judgement.

v. In addition, history is rewritten to produce a more satisfactory account of the past for the dictator. Squealer completely misrepresents Snowball’s actions during the ‘’Battle of the Cowshed’’ and glorifies Napoleon’s supposed bravery when we know that he was a coward. The animals are therefore reliant upon their own memories, which, as a result of Squealer’s persuasion become less and less reliable.

Napoleon’s farm clearly resembles a totalitarian state; his power over them is absolute. In this way, Orwell is identifying the way in which Stalin came to power in the Soviet Union but also showing the ways in which any dictator gains and maintains power. Orwell seems to suggest that revolutions fail because their leaders, once in power, use the power for their own ends. As they control all the sources of information, which they do through propaganda, they fool the public into trusting them. Any opponents are ruthlessly eliminated in a public way in order to terrorise the others to obey them and in this way, they become corrupt, viscous tyrants.

In Major’s speech we are presented with a utopia, which is a perfect society, but we see that putting such a society into practice is harder. The opposite of a utopian society is a distopian one and Animal Farm clearly proves itself to be the latter. The idea of equality is in itself difficult. Right from the start when watching Major’s speech the animals were seated in a hierarchy with the pigs sitting at the front. The fact that they are the most intelligent of the animals helps the gain power. The pigs are the only ones who can read and write fluently and once they have gained power, the temptations to exploit the less intelligent animals are obvious. We also witness the dogs having to be prevented from attacking the rats. Napoleon and the rest of the pigs take advantage of the faith the other animals have in them. Animals like Boxer perform all the difficult tasks whilst the pigs carry out the less demanding task of organising and managing the work. At the start of the novel we are presented with a society in which equality would be difficult to attain, but equality becomes even less likely once Napoleon seizes power. The abolition of debates and elections removes a valuable way for the animals to express their opinions.

Orwell was concerned about the relationship between language and power. He believed that totalitarianism was achieved by telling people exactly what to think and this was achieved through effective use of language and propaganda. Snowball simplifies Major’s ideas into slogans, in an effort to make the less intelligent animals understand the principles of Animalism. For example Major’s statement that ‘’Whatever goes upon 2 legs is an enemy’’ is reduced to ‘’’Four legs good, two legs bad.’’ This simplification can lead to a loss of meaning and become dangerous when sheep bleat it to drown any opposition to Napoleon in the meeting.

Propaganda = the deliberate and organised spread of information to make sure that people unquestioningly believe what you want them to believe.

I.Squealer is the hypocritical and articulate propagandist. We are told that he can ‘’turn black to white’’ and that he has a ‘’shrill voice’’ and ‘’twinkling eyes’’, which are his assets that he manipulates for his propaganda.

II. He and the general persuasiveness of his character are crucial to Napoleon’s success.

IV. He invents statistics to convince the animals that the pigs should have the apples.

V. He tells them of written evidence, which he never produces that Snowball is in league with Jones, knowing very well that the animals cannot read, (pinpointing the enemy.)

1) RHETORICAL QUESTIONS: A question that does not require an answer but is used to try and emphasise a particular point. One does not have to think for oneself, and so in other words you submit to someone else’s authority: ‘’Surely Comrades you don’t want Jones back?’’

2) PINPOINTING THE ENEMY: Trying to identify an enemy, in this case trying to make the animals believe that Snowball is the enemy so that they can turn to Napoleon and consider him the most suitable. An example being that they blame Snowball for everything including the destruction of the windmill and even the loss of the keys to the shed.

3) LYING: An example being when Snowball says that the only reason the pigs eat the apples and drink the milk is for the animal’s benefit as they contain substances vital for brainwork: ‘’ Many of us actually dislike milk and apples.’’

The pigs are clearly the most intelligent animals on the farm and soon take control of the running of the farm. They are able to do so as they have taught themselves to read and write and therefore they have the knowledge in order to attain the power.

i. The role of education is an important one as the pigs eventually become able to dominate the animals.

ii. Snowball tries to teach the other animals to read and write. Increasingly however the pigs take advantage of them instead of leading and helping them.

iii. Snowball is able to read a book of Caesar’s campaigns and is full of ideas for ‘’innovations and improvements.’’

iv. Orwell presents two contrasting views of education. Snowball seeks to educate all the animals whilst Napoleon is seen to concentrate his efforts on a smaller group when he nurtures the puppies. It becomes clear that this though is not education but indoctrination.

v. Napoleon is also able to use his learning to make lie more enjoyable. The pigs discover how to brew alcohol and appear to enjoy the results.

Few animals are willing to broaden their horizons and this makes them vulnerable to the pigs who are armed with knowledge. The pigs’ exploitation of the other animals is achieved though a skilful use of language.