Character Study of Animal Farm
Literature Essay
Character Study of Napoleon and Snowball. (Compare and Contrast) Both Napoleon and Snowball play pivotal roles in Animal Farm after the rebellion. They are both highly regarded by the animals and are seen as leaders of Animal Farm. However, both Napoleon and Snowball are very different in their personalities and leadership styles.
Napoleon prefers to work behind the scenes to build his power through manipulation and deal-making, while Snowball devotes himself to winning popular support through his ideas, passionate speeches, and success in debates with his opponent. This can be seen clearly in the earlier chapters whereby Snowball is described as ‘quicker in speech’. He is able to convince the birds that ‘a bird’s wing is an organ of propulsion’ unlike man’s hand, which is ‘the instrument with which he does all his mischief’. On the other hand, the novel depicts Napoleon as a pig with ‘a reputation for getting his own way’. His training of the puppies secretly and grooming them into vicious bodyguards as well as the scheming manner in which he traded with both Pilkington and Frederick illustrates his character clearly.
In addition, Snowball seems to work within the system, while Napoleon willingly circumvents it. Napoleon, for instance, understands the role of force in political control, as is made clear by his use of the attack dogs to expel Snowball from the farm. In the later chapters of the book, Napoleon also uses the power of fear to terrorise the animals in the farm into total submission. This point is clearly exemplified in the execution of the pigs and hens who showed signs of rebellion.
Despite Napoleon’s clearly bullying tactics, Orwell’s text does not allow us to perceive Snowball as a preferable alternative. Snowball does nothing to prevent the consolidation of power in the hands of the pigs, nor does he stop the unequal distribution of goods in the pigs’
Character Study of Napoleon and Snowball. (Compare and Contrast) Both Napoleon and Snowball play pivotal roles in Animal Farm after the rebellion. They are both highly regarded by the animals and are seen as leaders of Animal Farm. However, both Napoleon and Snowball are very different in their personalities and leadership styles.
Napoleon prefers to work behind the scenes to build his power through manipulation and deal-making, while Snowball devotes himself to winning popular support through his ideas, passionate speeches, and success in debates with his opponent. This can be seen clearly in the earlier chapters whereby Snowball is described as ‘quicker in speech’. He is able to convince the birds that ‘a bird’s wing is an organ of propulsion’ unlike man’s hand, which is ‘the instrument with which he does all his mischief’. On the other hand, the novel depicts Napoleon as a pig with ‘a reputation for getting his own way’. His training of the puppies secretly and grooming them into vicious bodyguards as well as the scheming manner in which he traded with both Pilkington and Frederick illustrates his character clearly.
In addition, Snowball seems to work within the system, while Napoleon willingly circumvents it. Napoleon, for instance, understands the role of force in political control, as is made clear by his use of the attack dogs to expel Snowball from the farm. In the later chapters of the book, Napoleon also uses the power of fear to terrorise the animals in the farm into total submission. This point is clearly exemplified in the execution of the pigs and hens who showed signs of rebellion.
Despite Napoleon’s clearly bullying tactics, Orwell’s text does not allow us to perceive Snowball as a preferable alternative. Snowball does nothing to prevent the consolidation of power in the hands of the pigs, nor does he stop the unequal distribution of goods in the pigs’