George Orwell’s Animal Farm

In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the main idea of Animalism as explained by Old Major was not only to have animals successfully run a farm, but to live by certain rules. Animalism stressed the importance of equality which was disrespected when Napoleon obtained power. In addition, it was said that no animal should adopt human vices; however, such was not obeyed by Napoleon as the pigs quickly adopted a human-like lifestyle. Moreover, Animalism stated that no animal shall kill any other animal, yet, Napoleon’s greed and urge to obtain absolute power forced him to do otherwise. Consequently, the dream of Animalism as explained by Old Major, failed due to Napoleon’s selfish nature and inability to abide by the rules that he found inconvenient.
Animalism as defined by Old Major stated that all animals should have been equal. Unfortunately this idea of equality was disrespected when Napoleon gained control of Animal Farm due to his selfish nature. From the very beginning it was clear that Napoleon wanted absolute power. He firstly had all the milk and apples set aside for the pigs and for none of the other animals. This shows that he is selfish by nature, and is not able to properly follow the guidelines. Furthermore, inequality is observed in Animal Farm when the pigs suddenly decided to move into the farmhouse. The usual excuse was given, that the pigs “should have a quiet place to work in” (45). The end result was obviously in favour of the pigs as they slept in comfortable beds, while the rest of the animals slept on hay in the barn. Moreover, the biggest inequality on Animal Farm was certainly that none of the animals had any say against Napoleon’s word for he was always in control which clearly frightened the animals. For instance, after Snowball was chased off the farm, Napoleon announced that he would abolish Sunday meetings, in which decisions had always been debated. The animals did not want this; however Napoleon got what he wished for. When some of the...