Animal Farm, by George Orwell Essay -- Animal Farm Essays

In the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell, the pig Napoleon uses specific tactics to gain cause and control over the wildcat farm. Some of these techniques include controlling information through education, scapegoating, use of fear, swaying public opinion and blind obedience.     Throughout the novel, the most prominent way that Napoleon gained power was through controlling the education that the animals received. In the beginning of the novel, Snowball believes in educating all of the animals on Animal Farm, young and old, by trying to organize committees and instituting classes accustomed to reading and writing (page 39). However, Napoleon openly states that educating the young is more important that the old. When Jessie and Bluebell have puppies, Napoleon takes them away and secludes them from the rest of Animal Farm to discover them on his own (41). Throughout the novel, after Snowballs removal, education becomes less and less important, and pigs and dog s are the only animals really being taught anything. This comes in handy for Napoleon as he begins to make "adjustments" to the rules that Animal Farm is based upon, such as drinking alcohol, sleeping in beds, and walking on two legs. The fact that the animals cant do math is an wages as well when Squealer starts reeling off facts and figures about rations and death rates and other nonsense (105).     Another technique Napoleon takes advantage of is scapegoat...