Orwell’s Propaganda Madness Essay Example

Orwell’s Propaganda Madness Essay Example 

Animal farm written by George Orwell is an allegorical novel. It represents Russia and the Soviet Union under the rule of the communist party. Other than communism, it represents different societies like fascist, capitalist, and socialist. The pig is shown as a leader in the novel because he is clever and intelligent as compared to the other animals. Intelligence is not the only trait for leadership because intelligence alone does not make a leader competent and it goes hand in hand with other qualities like honesty, treating people equally, educating oneself, and having innovative ideas for the betterment of the masses.  

In the novel, all the other animals are illiterate except the pigs who are literate and extremely clever. They are well-aware of the tactics to control and manipulate the people who do not have the same caliber as them. The animals are naïve and gullible, and an opportunist leader takes advantage of them by exploiting them. The novel shows that political and social oppression can occur right in front of people with no realization. The sheep are portrayed as the masses that can be easily manipulated by clever and callous leaders. An intelligent leader does not manipulate his subject, but he knows how to use his intelligence positively. The pig is referred to as Napoleon, who is entrapped by a superiority complex and thinks that no animal is better than him. Napoleon’s over-confidence is portrayed in the novel by the sentence, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others'' (Orwell 10). When the leaders think that they are superior and better than others, it results in chaos and corruption in society. This shows that intelligence alone as a personality trait is not sufficient in a leader. It creates havoc because the intelligence and cleverness of the two traits do not represent the true personality of a leader. 

Napoleon portrays the personality of Stalin, who was a dictator and dictatorship is never equivalent to leadership. Napoleon exploits other animals by dictating on them. He is a brutal dictator who betrays other animals by his callousness. In the novel fear was used to control people like once the Russian dictator Stalin who was never supported by the people. Napoleon is a power-hungry leader who steals from other animals like the cow’s milk and apples to feed himself and the other pigs. A leader always puts others before he and selfishness is not a quality of a leader. Napoleon is a bad leader because he is selfish, power-hungry, and corrupt. He became entrapped in his selfishness that he started tearing down others. An effective leader promotes the idea of democracy with his intelligence irrespective of these pigs focused on dictating other animals and banishing those who opposed them. The pigs are considered the most intelligent animal on the farm, but their intelligence lacks intellect and it produces no value. They use their intelligence to manipulate other animals like napoleon manipulates the other animals to exile Snowball after this he ordered the animals to follow his orders only by banning debates. 

Snowball represents the true qualities a leader should possess, other than intelligence and cleverness. Positive use of cleverness creates a capable leader.  Snowball is hardworking and determined as Orwell shows in the novel that how dedicatedly he painted the wall of the seven amendments and also creates the flag for the animal farm. A leader does not think that he is superior to others and he tries to educate himself. Snowball took time on educating himself about how to be a good military leader and how to influence people with effective leadership techniques. Snowball reads a book about Julius Caesar’s military campaigns. When humans attacked the animal farm, Snowball’s defense technique that he learned from Julius Caesar helped a lot in fighting the attack. This depicts the cleverness and intelligence of Snowball with an amalgam of intellect (Hasan). Snowball is also a pig, but his thoughts and views are extremely different from napoleon. Snowball is based on Leon Trotsky who opposes Napoleon, who is based on Stalin. 

A true leader is visionary and innovative. He has big ideas and motivates people to effectively turn their ideas into reality. Snowball plans to maximize the yield of crops on the farm after deeply studying a farm journal. His innovative idea included building a windmill solely for the benefit of animals. In contrast, Napoleon is a selfish leader who only thinks about himself instead of the collective good of people. He is a political opportunist who lacks innovation and creativity and does not have any ideas for the betterment of the farm (Hasan). The animal farm would be a better place if Snowball’s passion and ability to plan was present instead of Napoleon’s callousness.  

Equality is a basic right, and a good leader should ensure that every individual is treated equally. Snowball believed in animal equality and forced everyone to sacrifice for a shared gain and benefit. His leadership style emphasizes the betterment of the farm. He always wanted to make the farm better with his technological advancements. Orwell describes Snowball's leadership style by saying, “Snowball had made a close study of some back numbers of the farmers and stockbreeder which he had found in the farmhouse, and was full of plans for innovation and improvements. He talked learnedly about field drains, silage, and basic slag…Napoleon produced no schemes of his own but whispered that snowballs would come to nothing” (Orwell 5). Snowball was devoted to serving the animal community in the best way possible. He started various clubs that emphasized educating the animals by making them read and write. Snowball’s charismatic personality and use of wise words forced animals to support him. He could win the hearts of animals by his logical and comforting talks like a snowball made them familiar with the voting system and how they can effectively play a big role in selecting their leader. Both the protagonists represented a style of leadership that was opposite to the other. Snowball is a transformational leader who can raise a group to higher levels of morality, including himself. He induced a sense of participation, freedom, and liberty in animals which allowed them to raise their voices. Napoleon is considered being a transactional leader who does not believe in the power of people and does not find it necessary to include them in the decision-making process (Hasan). Snowball’s style of leadership is the better and constructive way.  

Cleverness is not the only trait of the leader because Napoleon was clever and intelligent but lacked an effective leadership style. He was self-centered and callous and always thought about the pigs. A leader does not possess such vices. Honesty, treating people equally, educating the masses about right and wrong, and having big innovative ideas are the true qualities of a leader. Snowball possesses these qualities and proves to be a true leader of animals who is determined to serve the animals by educating them about the democratic system and how efficient the voting system is instead of dictatorship. Intelligence alone does not produce any good in society, and other qualities are necessary to become an effective leader.