Napoleon, From Revolutionary to Murderer
Over ten million people were put into the Russian gulags under Stalin’s rule. Stalin was one of the most horrible dictators of all time. How could Orwell represent such a terrible dictator? In Animal Farm, he represents Stalin with Napoleon. Napoleon displays a large variety of tyrannical qualities, but he was not always like that. Napoleon evolves as a tyrant over the course of the book, largely because he gains more power. At the beginning of the book, Napoleon was not a tyrant. We see Napoleon as an idealistic pig willing to give his life to free the animals at the beginning of the book. Napoleon appears to be a great person until he gains power. Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer sought to create …show more content…
One of the commandments of animalism is “no animal shall kill any other animal”. Napoleon is no stranger to breaking his own laws, he did it before and he does it again. Orwell writes, “They were all slain on the spot. And so the tale of confessions and executions went on, until there was a pile of corpses lying before Napoleon's feet and the air was heavy with the smell of blood, which had been unknown there since the expulsion of Jones” (Orwell 36). Napoleon continues to betray his own principles. He even has the rules changed in the dead of night so that nobody realizes the horrible things that he has …show more content…
We realize how evil Napoleon is when he becomes indistinguishable from the humans. “After that it did not seem strange when next day the pigs who were supervising the work of the farm all carried whips in their trotters. It did not seem strange to learn that the pigs had bought themselves a wireless set, were arranging to install a telephone, and had taken out subscriptions to John Bull, TitBits, and the Daily Mirror. It did not seem strange when Napoleon was seen strolling in the farmhouse garden with a pipe in his mouth—no, not even when the pigs took Mr. Jones's clothes out of the wardrobes and put them on” (Orwell 57). Napoleon hated everything about the humans at the beginning of the book. There is little difference between the pigs and the humans by the end of the book. When Napoleon has broke every one of his commandments and become the thing he most hated, that is when we see him as a true tyrant. Napoleon’s tyrannical qualities develop over the course of the book. He was once a noble idealist, but became a murdering tyrant. Napoleon represents the worst parts of human nature as he becomes a human. Napoleon is hypocritical and does not hesitate to kill those who disagree with him. Napoleon represents all the tyrants and dictators who would twist ideals and morals for their own gain. Napoleon, and all the other tyrants, would have others suffer for their own
Over ten million people were put into the Russian gulags under Stalin’s rule. Stalin was one of the most horrible dictators of all time. How could Orwell represent such a terrible dictator? In Animal Farm, he represents Stalin with Napoleon. Napoleon displays a large variety of tyrannical qualities, but he was not always like that. Napoleon evolves as a tyrant over the course of the book, largely because he gains more power. At the beginning of the book, Napoleon was not a tyrant. We see Napoleon as an idealistic pig willing to give his life to free the animals at the beginning of the book. Napoleon appears to be a great person until he gains power. Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer sought to create …show more content…
One of the commandments of animalism is “no animal shall kill any other animal”. Napoleon is no stranger to breaking his own laws, he did it before and he does it again. Orwell writes, “They were all slain on the spot. And so the tale of confessions and executions went on, until there was a pile of corpses lying before Napoleon's feet and the air was heavy with the smell of blood, which had been unknown there since the expulsion of Jones” (Orwell 36). Napoleon continues to betray his own principles. He even has the rules changed in the dead of night so that nobody realizes the horrible things that he has …show more content…
We realize how evil Napoleon is when he becomes indistinguishable from the humans. “After that it did not seem strange when next day the pigs who were supervising the work of the farm all carried whips in their trotters. It did not seem strange to learn that the pigs had bought themselves a wireless set, were arranging to install a telephone, and had taken out subscriptions to John Bull, TitBits, and the Daily Mirror. It did not seem strange when Napoleon was seen strolling in the farmhouse garden with a pipe in his mouth—no, not even when the pigs took Mr. Jones's clothes out of the wardrobes and put them on” (Orwell 57). Napoleon hated everything about the humans at the beginning of the book. There is little difference between the pigs and the humans by the end of the book. When Napoleon has broke every one of his commandments and become the thing he most hated, that is when we see him as a true tyrant. Napoleon’s tyrannical qualities develop over the course of the book. He was once a noble idealist, but became a murdering tyrant. Napoleon represents the worst parts of human nature as he becomes a human. Napoleon is hypocritical and does not hesitate to kill those who disagree with him. Napoleon represents all the tyrants and dictators who would twist ideals and morals for their own gain. Napoleon, and all the other tyrants, would have others suffer for their own