How does Napoleon gain power over all the other animals and how does he maintain this power?

Animal Farm is a book which is based on the Russian Revolution and Napoleon, who is Stalin, plays a big role powering over all the other animals. There are many ways in which Napoleon gains power over all the other animals such as his uses of the dogs, Snowball and his ideas, the intelligence of the animals, titles and awards and his assistant, Squealer.

A way in which Napoleon gained power was from trying to get rid of Snowball. In the beginning of the book Snowball began to take control of the animals after Major died. He got all the attention and support from all the other animals on the matter of the windmill, although Napoleon tried to impress the animals. Napoleon knew that Snowball was a threat to his position. If Napoleon never had tried to get rid of Snowball, then Snowball would undoubtedly be the leader of Animal Farm. Napoleon used his cunning skills to use the dogs, he had trained without anyone knowing and expelled Snowball from the farm, This way, Napoleon would be the rightful leader of the farm. Napoleon ordered the animals to obey his rules so that the animals would not be allowed to escape from the farm. Napoleon used his great skills to take the dogs away at birth and train them to be his guards. He did this so that the dogs could scare the other animals whenever they did anything wrong and to also scare them into obeying him. The dogs have been used as a weapon or a shield just in case any of the animals have decided to rebel against Napoleon. This way, it would prevent any threats or rebellions to Napoleon.

Napoleon also gained power by being given titles such as “Protector of the sheepfold” to make the other animals see that Napoleon was a great leader and deserved to get awards. He even got poems written about his superiority on the wall with a portrait of him. This makes the animals want to be like him and treat him like a god. With the animals treating him like a god, it helped him maintain the power because the animals would look up to him as an idol, never thinking he was in the wrong which therefore meant that he could do anything he wished for.

The intelligence of the animals also seemed to gain Napoleons power. Because the other animals such as the sheep were not as intelligent as the pigs and dogs, Napoleon took advantage of them and got away with everything he does, He always got Squealer , his assistant, to make an excuse. The animals were too gullible and believed everything that he said, Napoleon also made the animals work hard so that their minds weren't focusing about their situation and realised Napoleon's intentions. This made them think more about the rebellion as they were doing it for themselves. When Napoleon changed the seven commandments, the animals were indefinite as they were telling themselves that the commandments were different. But, Squealer made up an excuse and told them they were wrong and it was just their imagination. The animals think that if Napoleon said that this is the case, then he must be right and let him get away with it.

He maintains power by not showing up in public that much. This means that it seems that he has more important situations to deal with and that they should be grateful when he appears. This makes him a significant character. With the

killings, he kills anyone who is likely to be a threat to him and his leadership. Members who have been killed have angered Napoleon, such as the hens when they took only a few bits of corn, got killed by the pigs. This shows the other animals that this is a warning so they therefore should obey him. He also took away Snowball's position by making the animals say that he was going to kill Napoleon. This is yet another lie, however he convinces the unintelligent animals that this was true.

When Napoleon noticed that he can change the situation, whether or not it is good, his takes advantage of it. Such as when the windmill collapses, he tells the animals that Snowball is the cause of it and turns the animals to be against him. After that, he blames Snowball for everything that goes wrong. This makes Snowball a scapegoat. This makes the animals feel as if they are lucky to have Napoleon as a leader. It is also an easy way out as the animals wouldn't know where the blame lies. This secures Napoleon's position as he would not be blamed for anything he has done wrong. Like Napoleon, Squealer also uses the same excuse which is, “You don't want Jones' to come back do you?”. This then makes the animals agree with him, therefore he can get away with the situation. Napoleon uses his clever techniques to use Squealer to explain everything to the animals. He uses powerful vocabulary and always repeats the same lines which makes the animals confused however they go along with it anyway. When the animals argue back to him, Squealer's expressions and the ferocious dogs makes the animals stop their questioning. The sheep break out the silence and start chanting the “Four legs good, two legs bad” which take away the awkwardness.

I think that in the end, he was successful because he got what he wanted in the end and everyone bowed down to him. The animals were under his rules and he used all his cunning skills to make this happen.