CRITICAL ESSAY-AHAAN JINDAL

‘Animal Farm’ is an allegory of the Russian Revolution written by George Orwell, whose
main idea was to criticize the ideologies of the Russian Revolution.
‘Leadership’ is a main theme of this novella, and its nature has effectively been
portrayed.

The path to leadership and subsequently maintaining it has been characterized by

brutality and misusing power. Initially, both Napoleon and Snowball were the co-leaders
of the farm, but the cunning Napoleon utilized a number of avenues to oust the fair
Snowball. For example, he plucked innocent puppies and trained them to be ferocious
and loyal to him. He uses them to terrorize the dim-witted animals, also being ruthless
to those who showed any sign of rebellion. This could be inferred from Chapter 7: “......
dogs promptly tore their throats out…..” and “....... all slain on the spot. ….tale of
confessions and executions went on……..” Here Orwell uses a semantic field of
violence (tore throats out, slain, executions) to magnify the barbarism inflicted upon the
animals. Any animal having contrasting opinions to Napoleon, was dealt with with
savagery. Also, Napoleon has employed sophisticated ways to brainwash the animals
and twist the truth. For example, in every chapter, the pigs modify the seven
commandments of Animalism. Orwell uses repetition to convey the fact that the pigs
keep violating the laws. It is in this inequitable manner that Napoleon consolidates his
leadership. Thus, it is clear that Napoleon, instead of being just and enterprising, has
taken a different path to attain leadership. A parallel between this and the Russian
Revolution is evident -just like Stalin overthrew Trotsky, Napoleon ousts Snowball, and
the dogs represent Stalin’s secret police. Also, the cruelty to the rebellious animals
represents how some Russians were treated in the Gulags.

Secondly, Orwell has done an admirable job of portraying the fickleness of leadership.
With time, this gets more evident in Napoleon’s character. For example, in the
beginning, when animalism was first introduced, the main motto was “FOUR LEGS
GOOD, TWO LEGS BAD”, while at the end it becomes “FOUR LEGS GOOD, TWO
LEGS BETTER”! With time, however, Napoleon’s sole aim was to remain in power. He
realized that the only way to do so was to interact with humans:. “.......agreement either
with Mr Pilkington or with Mr Frederick,” Thus, a contrast has been created- earlier,
Napoleon agreed that humans were enemies of the animals, but later, contradicted this
principle by interacting with them. Another example of the fickleness of leadership can
be seen in Chapters 4 and 5. In Chapter 4, Snowball’s valiance in the Battle of the
Cowshed has been rewarded: “The animals decided unanimously to create a military
decoration, ‘Animal Hero, First Class,’ which was conferred then and there on
Snowball…..”. However, Snowball’s valor, which was glorified, was put to question in
Chapter 5: “Snowball, who, as we know now, was no better than a criminal?” Here,
another contrast has been created by Orwell. A rhetorical question has been used by
Napoleon to coerce the animals to change their perspective.Snowball, who was
regarded to be a braveheart, has now been called a ‘criminal’ by Napoleon. Napoleon
also seemingly collected ‘evidence’ to prove that Snowball was at fault. This
emphasizes to what extent the shrewd pig would go to consolidate his power and
undermine any potential opposition to his leadership. Thus, it is evident that leadership
is fickle. This is especially true in the case of Napoleon, who went from supporting an
ideology, to contradicting it. Parallels to the Russian Revolution are again evident:
Napoleon’s interaction with humans represents Stalin’s negotiating with Germany and
England, which fails.

Thus, Orwell has done a commendable job of portraying leadership. Napoleon’s

misuse of leadership (a notable one being the name of ‘Animal Farm’ being changed
back to ‘Manor Farm’) eventually finally represents what Orwell wanted to convey-the
fall of Communism in Russia,and has efficaciously done so with the characterization of
Napoleon and Snowball while using literary techniques.