Napoleon (Animal Farm)

This boar is the breed, a Berkshire, that Napoleon is described as

Our Leader, Comrade Napoleon, Father of All Animals, Terror of Mankind, Protector of the Sheep-fold, Ducklings' Friend is a fictional character and the main antagonist in George Orwell's Animal Farm.^[2] He is described as "a large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar" which is "not much of a talker" and has "a reputation for getting his own way". While he is at first a common farm pig, he gets rid of Snowball, another pig which is his rival for power and then takes advantage of the animals' uprising against their masters to eventually become the tyrannical "President" of Animal Farm, which he turns into a dictatorship. Napoleon's greatest crime, however, is his complete transformation into Mr. Jones (original owner of Animal Farm)—although Napoleon is a much more harsh and stern master than Mr. Jones is made out to be. ^[3][4]

In some early French-language versions of Animal Farm, the pig is named César. More recent translations keep the original name.

Napoleon in the allegory

Napoleon was based on Joseph Stalin^[5] who ruled the Soviet Union from 1929-1953. He is presumed to be named after the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (who also took power after a peoples' revolution). He begins his treachery by taking Bluebell and Jessie's puppies for himself with the intention of turning them into a secret police.

Napoleon chooses the date of the meeting concerning the farm's new windmill to turn on his former comrade, Snowball, to seize control of the farm. The relationship between Napoleon and Snowball mirrors the relationship between Stalin and Leon Trotsky. Trotsky supported Permanent Revolution (just as Snowball advocated overthrowing other farm owners), while Stalin supported Socialism in One Country (similar to Napoleon's idea of teaching the animals to use firearms, instead). When it seems Snowball will win the election for his plans, Napoleon calls in the dogs he has raised loyally to chase Snowball from the farm. This is the first time the dogs have been seen since Napoleon took them in and proceeded to raise them as his secret police.

Later on, after ostracizing Snowball, Napoleon ordered the construction of the windmill, which had been designed by Snowball and which he had opposed vigorously (just as Stalin opposed Trotsky's push for large scale industrialization, then adopted it as a policy when Trotsky was in exile), so as to show the animals that he could be just as inventive as Snowball. The other animals are told it was Napoleon's idea, but that Snowball stole it. When the primitive windmill collapses, due to Napoleon's poor planning, after a storm,(a reference to Stalin's backward approach to the Five-Year Plans), he blames Snowball and starts a wave of terror (a reference to the Great Purge) During this period, he orders the execution of several of the animals after coercing their "confessions" of wrongdoing. He then commands the building of a second, stronger windmill while severely cutting rations of the animals, except the rations of the pigs and dogs.

He later makes a deal with Frederick (similar to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact shortly before World War II); Frederick tricks Napoleon by paying him for the timber with counterfeit money and then invading the farm, much as Germany broke its pact with the Soviet Union and invaded. During the Battle of the Windmill, the windmill is destroyed; although the animals win, they pay a high price. Napoleon attempts to cover the losses by stating it was a grand victory for the animals.

While Napoleon exhorts the other animals to fight and die for the good of the farm, he himself is a coward and a lazy one at that, in contrast to Snowball, which was more concerned with the welfare of his animal friends than his power. Nonetheless, Napoleon's corrupt historical revisionism rewrites himself as a hero, claiming responsibility for the animals' victory during the Battle of the Cowshed, when in reality Snowball had performed heroic acts in this battle, though his acts are denigrated to bold-faced lies of him collaborating with Jones all along, and openly supporting them during the battle. Snowball was wounded in the back from buckshot, but it is claimed Napoleon inflicted the wounds with his teeth. Napoleon spends most of his time inside, giving his orders through other pigs, like the cunning orator Squealer, which helps spread support for him and changes the commandments. Napoleon declares the farm a republic, and a president is elected; Napoleon is the only candidate and elected unanimously.

During his time in power he also, through Squealer, secretly changes the Seven Commandments' prohibition against killing, drinking, and sleeping in beds, allowing his followers and him to break the original commandments, because the other animals (except for Benjamin, the cynical donkey) are not clever enough to notice, or blame their own memories if they think they have noticed.

Ultimately, Napoleon becomes an oppressive dictator and seems to become one of the cruel humans through his adoption of human ways. The pigs start walking on their hind legs and wearing clothes near the end of the book. The commandments are changed to say: All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.

The novel ends with Napoleon meeting with Pilkington of Foxwood farm and other farmers, who claim the animals here work longer for less food than on other farms they have seen. Napoleon tells the other farmers that he has decided to abolish the use of "comrade" and declares that the farm shall revert to its original name of Manor Farm. Pilkington and he, just after declaring their similarities, fight after they both draw an ace of spades at a card game. The pigs have become so much like humans, both in behavior and appearance, that the animals watching through a window from the outside cannot tell man and pig apart.^[6]

Films

In the ending of the 1954 film, Napoleon wears dictator-like clothing and pictures of him are put up signifying a cult of personality. In this version, the story ends with a mob of animals led by Benjamin seemingly killing Napoleon and the other pigs when they destroy the farmhouse's dining room, where the other pigs and he are having a meeting. This rather unsubtle change to a "happy" ending was done to make the story more politically correct, while at the same time abandoning Orwell's overall theme, which is the inevitability of mass uprisings that remove one dictator, put another in his place. The 1999 film did not feature a specific revolution against Napoleon, but it did feature several animals fleeing his regime to hide in an area outside the farm, returning only after Napoleon's madness resulted in the destruction of the old farm and his own death.

References