Animal Farm notes (Characterization and Themes) Napoleon

Ruthless Has no qualms about killing other animals to advance his cause Kills even a worthy hero like Boxer after he is no longer useful Eliminates potential rivals and Snowball and intimidates other animals by forcing public confessions and executions Dogs are used to menace the animals into blind obedience Solely concerned with his own power and comfort, achieving this using methods like mass murder, starvation, lies and the rewriting of history Has no conscience or morals, has the means to do whatever he wants, changing the Commandments to suit him

Manipulative/ Understands the masses/cunning He understands mob psychology, faking his own death to gain sympathy and attention Knows that the young are easier to brainwash then the old, as a result, takes the pups away for private education Leaks stories to play on emotions of the masses Knows that knowledge is power, so he does not believe in educating the masses, would rather to keep them in blind ignorance and stupidity, so that he would be unopposed His force of personality and power inspire blind devotion, which he exploits fully Defeats Snowballs eloquence

Has a short term outlook Focuses on immediate needs, like to increase current food production and alcohol Sees the problem of defense within the narrow framework of battle Gains support by canvassing , brainwashing the stupid animals like the sheep to vote for him no matter how good the opposition is Is very pragmatic, focuses on safeguarding immediate gains

Completely dictatorial Very competitive, opposes anyones else ideas Brooks no opposition, ruling by terror and force (e.g. when the 4 young porkers protest, he kills them in a public spectacle, sends the dogs to attack Boxer when he tries to defend Snowball) After the expulsion of Snowball, he dismantles the apparatus of democracy so that free speech will no longer hinder him , the questions relating to the working of the farm would be settled by a special committee of pigs, presided over by himself

Enjoy the trappings of power Awards himself medals (which is pointless)

Starts a personality cult in which he has the credit for every successful achievement and every stroke of good fortune Lives sumptuously, names the windmill after himself, elects himself President

Has leadership ability Is astute, intelligent, single-minded, knows how to exploit the weaknesses in others ( fear , ignorance, stupidity) Recognises that simple animals need simple arguments, reduces complex issues to simple and easily remembered slogans Like a politician, always has answers for the common animals , first a pseudo-scientific answer (confusing them with fanciful words like tactics ), then a scare story which has absolutely no relation with the main issue (giving the pigs apples and milk to prevent Jones from coming back), then a scapegoat to blame for the troubles Can see the benefits of having Moses to preach about Sugarcandy Mountain which urges the animals to work hard in this life so as to enjoy the benefits after they die in Sugarcandy Mountain Dominates other animals, managing to distort a whole philosophy of equality and cooperation into its very opposite

Snowball
Idealistic/visionary Has inventiveness of his imagination, envisions a long-term vision of a golden age ( In glowing sentences, he painted a picture of Animal Farm as it might be when sordid labour was lifted from the animals backs) Advocates the building of the windmill, although this means less food for a while, it will mean less labour and more food and comfort in the long run Sees that Animal Farm will always be under siege, wants to stir rebellion in other farms as they would have no need to defend themselvesif rebellions happened everywhere Some schemes are idealistic and impractical such as the Whiter Wool Movement and the Wild Comrades Re-education committee Superb organisation is demonstrated in his successful motivation and organisation of animals, and attempts at modernisation and clever turning of abstractions like freedom into intelligible symbols May not have been a complete idealist but he did try to make life better for all the animals, thus deserving recognition and praise

Good leader and strategist(due to his vast intellect) Reads widely and brings up many futuristic concepts Leads well in peace and war, (organising the harvest), leading the charge against the humans, associated with Julius Caesar, outwitting the humans and shows outstanding courage

Produces ideas, organises practical work, finds solutions, leads the defence of the garm by clever strategy and personal bravery

Too ambitious and a bit corrupt He is not as incorruptible as he approves of the pigs exclusive right to the apples and milk, All the pigs were in full agreement on this point, even Snowball and Napoleon but he is much better than Napoleon in terms of his character and outlook Wants too much too soon, and would have been more successful and survived if he had proceeded ore cautiously Defeated by Napoleon because he has not secured his power base, has no groups with blind obedience to him as Napoleon has in the dogs and sheep, Lacks the basic understanding of the stupidity and selfishness that can be exploited by crude power Is too much of an intellectual to get down to the basic level of self-protection

Discrediting Branded a criminal, held responsible for the destruction of the windmill and every trivial thing that goes wrong Pigs spread lies about his movements and set about denigrating his contributions to the success of Animal Farm, such as the idea of a windmill was adopted by Napoleon History is rewritten , from being a great hero in the Battle of the Cowshed,, from there onwards, his role is greatly debased Later accused of being Jones agent, and had been openly fighting on the humans side, was planning to help Frederick recapture the farm

Boxer
Self-sacrificial and noble

He gets up earlier than anyone else to go to work and even works by moonlight, despite pain and old age. Refuses to take even a day off work and made it a point of honour not to let it be seen that he was in pain Even during battle ,is generous towards enemies, is regretful for the stable lad that he had supposedly killed Does not use his own strength for his own benefit but in the service of others, inspiring them Ambitions are not for himself but for others, only one real ambition, to see the windmill well under way before he reached the age of retirement

Morally and physically brave and stupid Displays outstanding courage during both battles with humans Morally brave as he stands up for Snowball, claiming that he fought bravely during the Battle of the Cowshed when Squealer was discrediting him

Easily exploited and manipulated by Napoleon due to his lack of intelligence Believes in obeying authority and thinking that a leader must be completely trustworthy thus coming up with the motto Napoleon is always right . He assumes that because Napoleon ought to be always right, he is always right Inability to learn past the first 4 letters of the alphabet Does not use an intelligent approach to problems which is to analyse and try to find the problems cause

Gentle, respected and exploited