Compare and contrast Snowball and Napoleon. Discuss.
Animal Farm is a novel by George Orwell, published in England on 17 August 1945. In this novel Snowball and Napoleon are shown as two of the main protagonists in the story. Both pigs, Napoleon being of larger size but Snowball being more articulate and able to come up with more ideas and is very vivid. Both characters strive for the title of “leader” after Mr Jones is removed from the farm. Both agree on their theory of “animalism” and their seven commandments by which the farm shall run, but agree on very little else. Old Major who had a vision where all animals shared in the labor of the farm and all enjoyed the fruits of that labor equally. This egalitarian ideology was quickly perverted by the likes of Napoleon after Old Major’s death.
Snowball and Napoleon displayed similarities throughout the novel. Both had loyal followers, and they demonstrated that they are smarted than the other animals when it came to thinking, studying and problem solving; this guaranteed them a higher status than the rest of the animals. Although alike in many ways both have very distinct personalities and ways of displaying their leadership.
Snowball, when it comes to leadership, follows in the footsteps of Old Major by sincerely attending the seven commandments of Animalism. He is the type of leader that the other animals looked up to and admired greatly. His strongest attraction is his persuasive speeches, which captured the animals’ hearts and minds into supporting him. Snowball was sincere and followed through with his intentions; he was working day and night towards an idea that was going to benefit not only him but the entire Animal Farm- the Windmill. This illustrates that Snowball was a respectable and capable leader.
The Essay on Animal Farm 8212 Animals Napoleon
... MAJOR; boar, wise, starts the rebellion (MARX/LENIN) MR. JONES: human farmer, drunk, cruel to animals (CZAR NICHOLAS II) SNOWBALL: pig, intellectual leader, smart (TROTSKY) NAPOLEON: ... humans away from the farm. The pigs become leaders, they rename the farm as ANIMAL FARM and set about organizing the animals to work by themselves. ...
Napoleon, on the other hand, leads the government of dictatorship ever since he came into power. After Snowball’s historical overthrow, Napoleon turned corrupt and intoxicated with power. The animals feared the vicious guard dogs Napoleon used in order to intimidate them. Nothing but murder, oppression and starvation are what the animals suffered under Napoleon’s rule. “Napoleon was…not much of a talker, but [had] a reputation of getting his own way” (25) shows that Napoleon doesn’t want to make a lot of speeches, therefore, he used his propaganda leader- Squealer to speak instead.” He was a brilliant talker, and when he was arguing some difficult point he had a way of skipping from side to side and whisking his tail which was somehow very persuasive. The others said of Squealer that he could turn black into white. (2.2).
In conclusion, when compared, Snowball and Napoleon have many things in common like leadership, power and followers, but at the same time they have very distinct personalities and ways of displaying their leadership.
Prachi Rane 13/09/13
