Old Major's Role In Animal Farm

Improved Essays
Viciously dragged by the ear as blood ran warm from the pig’s body where they dragged by Napoleon’s dogs. On page.82 of Animal Farm Orwell writes “Then he uttered a high-pitched whimper. Immediately the dogs bounced forward, seized four of the pigs by the ear and dragged them. Squealing with pain, terror to Napoleons feet.” Napoleon abuses the power that he has over the other animals and eventually changes, the seven commandments that Old Major originally wrote Napoleon then trains the dogs in secret so they can obey him when they are needed. Napoleon intrudes corruption through his power and that was something Old Major would not have done. In Animal Farm George Orwell clearly shows that Old Major would have been a better leader than Napoleon. …show more content…
Old Major gives the animals of the farm the song called “Beasts of England” and leads the animals into singing the song. Old Major teaches those animals about a life without the humans or the work of man. What Old Major tells the animals about the world without humans makes the animals sing the song five times. The reader is able to tell that Old Major does not need to use force to get his point across or to even get other animals to follow him. Old Major is greatly influential toward the animals and is looked toward as a natural born leader contrary to Napoleon who imposes his leadership with conscious actions. Old Major made the statement saying “remember also that in fighting against Man, we must not resemble him.” Napoleon eventually leads the farm directly to what Old Major spoke exactly against. Napoleon ends up having the animals walking on two legs and talking through windows and drinking alcohol. This is exactly what Old Major spoke out against. By following Napoleon some animals become humans as Napoleon turns into Mr. Jones but a more strict Mr. …show more content…
The truest happiness, he said, lay in working hard and living frugally.” Napoleon is a hypocrite and gives the animals bad advice about living frugal. By Napoleon making this statement the animals automatically listens to him but Napoleon did not live a frugal life as he allowed the other pigs to steal the milk and apples from the other animals. Napoleon ends up at the ladder part of the book telling the humans that all they wanted to do from the beginning is pretty much co-exist with the humans. This completely defeats the purpose of Old Major making animalism and Old Major having major impacts on the other animals with such force as he had. Napoleon completely destroys the purpose of Old Major leading the rebellion, because Napoleon ends up trading with the humans and having toast and then changes the seven commandments into a commandment that says all animals are equal/but some are more equal than others. George Orwell portrays in Animal Farm that Old Major would have indeed been a better leader than Napoleon since Napoleon abuses his power by allowing the dogs to drag the pigs by the ear and cause blood to flow. Napoleon has multiple occasions where he shows that he is not clearly fit for being the leader of the rebellion as Old

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Although Napoleon manages to gain the farm animals' trust at the beginning of the story, it is later evident that he is a ruthless and cunning dictator. Napoleon, along with the other pigs, assume leadership position a few days after old Major's death. They turn Old Major's dream into a philosophy and vow to make life better for the animals on Manor Farm. Eventually, Napoleon becomes corrupted by greed and breaks his promise. He takes away the animals' freedom by taking away the weekly debate so that no one may voice their opinion or turn the animals against him, living in luxury in his barn while the animals live outside, not doing any actual work on the farm, persuading the other animals to labor on the farm while he supervises, reducing…

    • 250 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dystopia In Animal Farm

    • 852 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Anthem by Ayn Rand, Animal Farm by George Orwell and 1984 by George Orwell are all dystopian literature. Dystopia is the antonym of a utopia, which is a perfect society, government, or civilization. Most people consider dystopian civilizations have oppression, disease and misery. Dystopian literature often has common characters, they in struggle in the dystopian society, governing structures are alike, example governments are normally controlling, people in dystopian societies aren't happy and societies are normally dull and writing structures are similar through the tone or the theme.…

    • 852 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Napoleon violence to keep his authority. He never likes animals to question him or disobey his statements. For instance; Napoleon wanted hens to give their eggs to pigs and he wanted 60 eggs per a week. He told that the need to sell eggs to get enough food for the farm. At first hens didn’t wanted to give their eggs but Napoleon threatten hens to cut off their meal.…

    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    NAPOLEON “Napoleon is always right!”(p.64) Napoleon represents, in a general sense, the political tyrants that have emerged throughout human history. He forcefully expels Snowball in order to become the “Big Brother” of Animal Farm. The quote above shows the total, complete control he exerts over Animal Farm and how he justifies it to the animals. From the start, Napoleon emerges as a budding powermonger.…

    • 168 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Do you ever want someone who will treat you fairly and not make up any crazy rules for you to follow, then you should vote for Snowball. He will protect the rights for the animals better than anyone else. I believe Snowball will be the best for animal farm because of all the ideas he can come up with, like his idea for the windmill. Snowball will not take things from the animals, like milk from the cows or eggs from the chickens. You see Napoleon is trying to take over because he thinks he can fix our problems, when really he is the problem.…

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    But Some Are More Equal Than Others" (118). COMMENT: This showed just how much napoleon has ignored the words of old major. -all the rules seems forgotten as the pigs no longer care about the other animals - Old major’s words and his dream of rebellion while sticking together is also forgotten as Napoleon has the power to do anything. CONCLUDING STATEMENT (try and link points made in paragraph back to…

    • 1513 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At the beginning of the novel, the respected pig Old Major utilizes the technique of pathos to incite fear into the animals, persuading them to accept his ideas. In his speech, he explains to the animals how their “lives are miserable, laborious, and short” (Orwell 5). With this line, in addition to an elaborate explanation of their soon-to-be deaths, Old Major employs pathos by using idea of misery and violence to incite fear, which helps promotes his idea of animalism. As the novel continues, the pigs continue to gain power by threatening the other animals, furthering their corruption. Napoleon forces several animals to admit to crimes of treason, despite their innocence, and “when they had finished their confession, the dogs promptly tore their throats out” (Orwell 84).…

    • 1003 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This challenges his beliefs and what the animals truly believe through his control Napoleon is able to implement the idea that he has power over manor farm, this of which is disregarded as a familiar…

    • 142 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm, he proves that it is inevitable for humans to equate everyone. Orwell explains this by his story which is about a group of farm animals that rebel against their farmer. After he gets kicked out, Napoleon, a pig, takes power and corrupts the farm. His power gets to the point where they were better off with the farmer, Mr. Jones. Orwell also illustrates how it is human nature to make mistakes and take control of power.…

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The perception Napoleon had with this shaped his actions because he felt powerful more than ever and it also shaped his decisions that were somewhat bad for Animal Farm. For example, Boxer knew that the things that were happening were not right but he did not want anything bad to happen to him so all he ever said was “I will work harder” and “Comrade Napoleon is always right”. With boxer saying this, a lot of the animals went along with even though some of them should have spoken up when things weren’t right at all. Another example is when the pigs started acting like humans pretty quickly once the power got to his head, the pigs started drinking, the pigs started sleeping in the farmhouse and in beds, and etc.…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Napoleon is a pig from the book Animal Farm by George Orwell. Napoleon has gone through one of the largest dynamic changes in the book. He started off as a quiet pig in support of the rebellion, but his desire for power turned him into to a dictator leading a totalitarian state. He has changed by becoming more oppressive, more like humans, and corrupt throughout the book.…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell, Orwell expresses how the utilization and abuse of power can affect a union. In the novel he expresses the Russian Revolution in the form of an allegory in which important figures are portrayed as animals. His main characters Napoleon and Mr. Jones illustrate how the misuse of power can lead to corruption and oppression, while Old Major shows that not everyone with power will abuse that responsibility. At the start of the novel, readers are introduced to Mr. Jones, who represents Tsar Nicholas II, as he drunkenly stumbles home after a long night.…

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Literary Analysis The corruption inside shows Corrupt people who abuse their power often break their own rules. In the Russian Revolution a man by the name of Stalin assassinates Trotsky and becomes a powerful dictator. When Stalin gains complete control as dictator he abuses much of his power. The abuse of his power leads to many deaths and sufferings.…

    • 1080 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Animal Farm People are fascinated by power. The reason for this is because power gives people authority over others, creating an inevitable imbalance. This imbalance has caused abuse throughout history. Books often illustrate inequality to show the flaws in human society. A book that demonstrates power is Animal Farm.…

    • 421 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The animals were able to live freely until Napoleon corrupted the farm. Old Major’s speech before the rebellion allowed animals to view the negative changes that occurred under Napoleon's rule. Old Major’s inspirational speech resembles people who implanted ideas of the revolution, the Marx, in the Russian Revolution. The animals adopted the ideals of Animalism due to the respect they had for Old Major. Orwell reveals how one moment of bravery can alter the lives of an society since Old Major’s speech installed confidence within the animals to aim for a more hopeful life.…

    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics