The Power of Ambition
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, an American poet, once said, “Ambition is so powerful a passion in the human breast, that however high we reach we are never satisfied”. This quote expresses the danger of ambition, and greed could become so powerful that mankind can never be satisfied with their goals. In a society, absolutism makes one person have a supreme power over others. An individual will do anything for personal gain even if he is forced to use insensitive movements. Throughout time, human ambition can have positive and negative effects among individuals of the human race. Ambition is what keeps people wanting to walk toward their goals, but it can be the root of a person’s downfall due to the desire for power. …show more content…
As the result, the rebellion from the animals starts and signals the rising of ambitious rulers. Napoleon's ambition is for sovereignty after Old Major, the grandfather pig philosopher died. In chapter 6, Napoleon lied to the innocent animals, "Comrades, ' he said quickly, 'do you know who is responsible for this? Do you know the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown our windmill? SNOWBALL!... pronounce the death sentence upon Snowball...captures him alive"(Orwell 63-64). This speech from Napoleon indicates how Napoleon accuses the windmill’s accident on Snowball, because Napoleon wants to take credit for the windmill and gains trust from other animals. Ambition could lead to dishonesty by creating fictitious personality on the victim. Not only Napoleon is a masterful liar to his ‘comrades’, but he is also a self-absorbed leader. Squealer, a pig who serves as Napoleon’s agent tells all the animals on the farm apart from the pigs,“Do not imagine, comrades, that leadership is a pleasure. No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal… But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?”(Orwell 50). Through Squealer, his speech sounds like Napoleon is a great leader who takes care of his people. However, this only happens since Napoleon wants to assure that no one could against him and this new …show more content…
The Honors World History book talks about how Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party who takes cruel actions to ensure his power,“Hitler wanted more than just economic and political power—he wanted control over every aspect of German life. To shape public opinion and to win praise for his leadership, Hitler turned the press, radio, literature, painting, and film into propaganda tools,”(Beck, Black, Krieger, Naylor, and Sjabala 479). This example explains how Hitler supports the use of propaganda to spread his ideas on Nationalist Socialism and uses that system to be able to control his Nazism society. This is important because it represents his human ambition for corruption and absolute power. On a similar note, Joseph Stalin, leader of Soviet Union who also enforced threats to gain his position. In the same book, the text states,“Dictators of totalitarian states use terror and violence to force obedience and to crush opposition”(Beck, Black, Krieger, Naylor, and Sjabala 440). This evidence demonstrates the way that Stalin assumes absolute power to control his supporters and destroys his real and imagined enemies, just like how Napoleon in Animal Farm uses his ‘comrades’ to gain more power in the farm. This is significant because it portrays the peak of Stalin’s dictatorial ambitions in the Soviet Union, in which he
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, an American poet, once said, “Ambition is so powerful a passion in the human breast, that however high we reach we are never satisfied”. This quote expresses the danger of ambition, and greed could become so powerful that mankind can never be satisfied with their goals. In a society, absolutism makes one person have a supreme power over others. An individual will do anything for personal gain even if he is forced to use insensitive movements. Throughout time, human ambition can have positive and negative effects among individuals of the human race. Ambition is what keeps people wanting to walk toward their goals, but it can be the root of a person’s downfall due to the desire for power. …show more content…
As the result, the rebellion from the animals starts and signals the rising of ambitious rulers. Napoleon's ambition is for sovereignty after Old Major, the grandfather pig philosopher died. In chapter 6, Napoleon lied to the innocent animals, "Comrades, ' he said quickly, 'do you know who is responsible for this? Do you know the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown our windmill? SNOWBALL!... pronounce the death sentence upon Snowball...captures him alive"(Orwell 63-64). This speech from Napoleon indicates how Napoleon accuses the windmill’s accident on Snowball, because Napoleon wants to take credit for the windmill and gains trust from other animals. Ambition could lead to dishonesty by creating fictitious personality on the victim. Not only Napoleon is a masterful liar to his ‘comrades’, but he is also a self-absorbed leader. Squealer, a pig who serves as Napoleon’s agent tells all the animals on the farm apart from the pigs,“Do not imagine, comrades, that leadership is a pleasure. No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal… But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?”(Orwell 50). Through Squealer, his speech sounds like Napoleon is a great leader who takes care of his people. However, this only happens since Napoleon wants to assure that no one could against him and this new …show more content…
The Honors World History book talks about how Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party who takes cruel actions to ensure his power,“Hitler wanted more than just economic and political power—he wanted control over every aspect of German life. To shape public opinion and to win praise for his leadership, Hitler turned the press, radio, literature, painting, and film into propaganda tools,”(Beck, Black, Krieger, Naylor, and Sjabala 479). This example explains how Hitler supports the use of propaganda to spread his ideas on Nationalist Socialism and uses that system to be able to control his Nazism society. This is important because it represents his human ambition for corruption and absolute power. On a similar note, Joseph Stalin, leader of Soviet Union who also enforced threats to gain his position. In the same book, the text states,“Dictators of totalitarian states use terror and violence to force obedience and to crush opposition”(Beck, Black, Krieger, Naylor, and Sjabala 440). This evidence demonstrates the way that Stalin assumes absolute power to control his supporters and destroys his real and imagined enemies, just like how Napoleon in Animal Farm uses his ‘comrades’ to gain more power in the farm. This is significant because it portrays the peak of Stalin’s dictatorial ambitions in the Soviet Union, in which he