In this novel Animal Farm written by George Orwell, there is one animal that I dislike and that animal is Napoleon. Napoleon grew up as a little innocent pig that was longing to get out to the hands of the controlling humans. But this, one day changed as Napoleon grew up he started to get greedy and want all of the power and that every animal obey and follow instructions for what he says and does. In this essay I will be discussing all of the incidents that happen throughout the novel and things that make Napoleon a substandard leader. I think that napoleon relates to Adolf Hitler a lot by how he acts and what and what dis- hearting things he does to all of the animals on the farm. Napoleon makes them work long hours and feeds them only just enough to pull through. This helps me to understand the text as a whole because Napoleon relates to a lot of nasty leaders in the real world and so this helps me to understand all of the nasty things he does to the animals and how they feel about this and the way that Napoleon treats them.
It all started with Napoleon and Snowball who were both very greedy. He got all of the other animals into thinking that he is always right and never wrong. Napoleon uses this quote here ” Remember Napoleon is always right.” quite often to remind the animals that he is “always right.” For example he trained up jess’s pups into thinking that he was a good leader he then got all of them to go and chase Snowball off the farm so that he would be higher up in power. I myself think that this is what a very demanding and horrible leader would do. Napoleon wanted all of the animals to know how powerful and controlling he was so he then made all of the animals confess wrongdoings that they didn’t even do, after they confessed Napoleon killed them. This was made very obvious to all of the other animals that Napoleon was very controlling this made them fear him and listen to what ever he says so that they don’t die. Adolf Hitler himself was a very controlling leader who wanted all the people to obey and follow instructions as given in order. I think that Napoleon was a very substandard leader and treated all of the animals except for of course squealer, second rate.
Napoleon took control of the animals by convincing them that he is the best leader, better than Old Major. This is where a very important character comes in called Squealer, Squealer is important because he is the pig who helps Napoleon get all of his very convincing information across to the animals in a way that they can all understand easily. For example Squealer helps with changing the letters in the commandments on the barn only to suit the pigs to make them higher up in power. Napoleon is similar to Adult Hitler himself. Adult Hitler was very demanding, was hungry for power, very controlling and horrible leader who didn’t treat his people right or fairly. Just like when Napoleon didn’t treat Boxer right with his injury. Napoleon said ‘I will treat you to the best hospital and you have have the best nurses be looking after you.” Instead of that he took Napoleon to the Horse slaughter and glue boiler. This was not one bit fair especially after all of the hard work that boxer had done for the farm and helping build the wind mill which he played a big role in he gets treated very unfairly. Just like how Adult Hitler treated his people very low down and second rate.
Napoleon starts to act more and more like humans. Near the start of the rebellion he was very enthused and excited to finally get out of the hands of the controlling humans. But of course this changes as Napoleon gets higher up in power he starts to break and change the commandments that he Napoleon made himself. For example he changes the commandment ” no animal shall drink alcohol” To ” No animal shall drink alcohol in excess”. He changes the majority of all of the commandments. This shows that he is a very hypocritical leader and doesn’t show much consideration or sympathy towards the animals. Adolf Hitler is just the same as treating his people unfairly and been a horrible leader. Napoleon doesn’t show much appreciation at all towards the animals for all that they have done to achieve their goals of running the farm and making it a better place. This is not ok and very unfair. This helps me even more so to understand the book as Napoleon relates to a lot of all of the nasty leaders out there in the real world that we live in today.
In conclusion, this goes to show that there are many poorly chosen leaders out there that do not care enough and treat their people fairly. Just like Kim Jong Un , Napoleon and Adolf Hitler. I think this is a major problem in our world and it all needs to change so that everybody can live a fair and equal life just like they deserve to. Not a horrible, unfair and fearful one. Everybody deserves to get treated the same and I think that Napoleon is a perfect example of horrible leader that shouldn’t be allowed to be one.
3 Comments
Add Yours →Hi Jemma,
Although you have changed the character you are focusing on, at the moment you are only giving a retelling of events that happen in the novel. You need to be writing about how you connected to the character and how that connection helped you understand the novel as a whole. This means elements such as theme, symbolism and setting. Also including all seven commandments in your introduction is not necessary, you only need to say there are seven and refer to one or two. Writing all seven makes it seem as if you are just trying to fill up space with it.
Hi Jemma,
Keep coming back to the question you need to be answering. How did your dislike of Napoleon helped you understand the novel. Avoid giving a summary of the plot as this is not what you are being asked. Remember to include quotes from the novel in each paragraph to reinforce the point you are trying to make. Also make specific connections to the world outside the novel as well.
Hi Jemma,
You are still only giving a break down of what Napoleon does in the novel. You need to say how Napoleon helped you understand the themes of the novel. You’ve got a good connection to Adolf Hitler but you need to make some more connections in other paragraphs as well. The points you are trying to make aren’t always clear either, make sure you can clearly state the point of the paragraph and then just expand and provide more information.