How Napoleon Obtains And Maint
...is Orwell conveying to the reader through these processes?”
There are many ways in which Napoleon obtains and maintains power on Animal Farm. Napoleon obtains power fundamentally by elimination of all opposing him. He obtains and maintains power by turning other animals weaknesses into his opportunities. He also uses his education and knowledge to obtain and maintain power, as well as his ability to defeat the resistant feelings in other animals. To obtain and maintain power Napoleon uses various degrees of manipulation. He also uses persuasion and propaganda, brainwashing techniques and violence to help him obtain and maintain power. Napoleon maintains power by elevating himself over the other animals, and taking on the characteristics of man. Through these processes, Orwell is trying to convey simply the message of the Russian Revolution. Orwell is also trying to convey a warning about propaganda, and a warning about absolute power through the ways in which Napoleon obtained and maintained power.
Napoleon obtains power primarily by elimination. He believes that if he eliminates all the people standing in between him and ultimate domination, then he can govern the animals in any way that he sees fit. His first step of eliminating is to divide the animals into two classes. Napoleon, along with the other pigs, became of a privileged class, while the rest of the animals were inferior. This division of the animals is first seen when “the order went forth that all the windfalls were to be collected and brought to the harness-room for the use of the pigs”. When the other animals question this decision Napoleon’s propagandist, Squealer, assured the animals that “it is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples…if we pigs failed in our duty…Jones would come back”. This answer satisfies the animals,...
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