The Representation Of Dictatorship In Animal Farm By George Orwell

“Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship,” is a strong statement made by the author of Animal Farm, George Orwell. In his book, Orwell expresses a deeper meaning to his story. Although it speaks of animals rebelling against their owner because they were hungry, his message goes far beyond the act of rebellion. It goes into the leadership that was used to create it. The leadership style on Animal Farm is a dictatorship and differs from the American government that leads as a republic in a multitude of ways. The animals on Animal Farm have no voice, whereas the American people are granted certain rights under the Bill of Rights so that they may be able to stand for their beliefs without fear of being convicted or shut down. On Animal Farm, the head of the farm is essentially one pig who rules over the entire farm with no exceptions. This differs from the American government as the system is set up to check and balance every branch in order to maintain a healthy government with no overpowering. With that being said, the pigs in Animal Farm, which are considered elite, ultimately care about themselves as characteristic of dictatorship. Whereas, the American people are trusting in representatives to make the right decisions for the country, not just a population. These are the ways Animal Farm is distinctively dictatorial under the pigs in contrast to the American republic.

It is one thing to be able to speak, and another to be heard. Dictatorships give the people limited freedoms as do the pigs in Animal Farm, whereas the republic in America grants its people unalienable rights. On the farm, the animals began to question why there would be a rebellion if they were fed and Mr. Jones, their owner, to looked over them already. Here, it is evident that the animals are trying to speak up for what they do not understand. The pigs, who are considered the leaders of Animal Farm, try to justify the rebellion as a way for the animals to do as they please and make their own decisions. There is irony in what the pigs are trying to accomplish by creating a rebellion because they are pushing the animals to a new form of freedom, Animalism, but are shutting down the voice. In another sense, one animal on the farm, a raven named Moses, spoke to the animals about life after death in a place called Sugarcandy Mountain. To rid of these statements he had made, the pigs showed their dictatorship styles as they convinced the others that what Moses was saying was false. In a dictatorship, the people do not have a voice as Moses did not. Moses spoke and he was heard, however, his voice was shut down by a high power. This form of government shown in Animal Farm is significant because those who question and speak for what they believe in are immediately shut down, whereas a republic would not handle situations in that manner. In America, the American people are able to have a voice. When the people are unsure of what the government is doing, they speak about it. Under the Bill of Rights, Amendment 1, Americans have significant freedoms. A couple of the freedoms in this amendment are the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom to petition and freedom to assembly. This means that the freedoms of the American people are protected under the government and these freedoms cannot be removed by any one person. The dictatorship in Animal Farm sets the animals apart from the people of America because the leader can completely take away or shut down an idea where the other government cannot by law. In addition, the leader in a dictatorship takes full control over a population without the consent of the people. George Orwell does a great job of showing how the animals quickly determined that the pigs would be the true leaders of Animal Farm. When the story begins, Old Major, a prized boar, gathers the animals together and begins to explain that they must create a rebellion if they want to change the farm. This is significant because in a dictatorship there is one person possessing leadership characteristics who rise to power because they are already known or have some sort of respectability among their group. However, in the story, Old Major dies, and Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer, three other pigs, take charge. The pigs were the ones who adopted the ideas of Old Major and created their own form of government. Because they were so persistent in their efforts to keep the rebellion alive, they formed meetings to tell the animals on the farm their plans. This also proves the dictator style government because dictators are self-appointed rather than chosen by the people. After the rebellion occurs, Snowball and Napoleon make sure the animals get double rations, create the 7 commandments, and inform the animals that they have taught themselves to read and write.

This clearly depicts certain characteristics of a dictatorship because the people are manipulated, given rules they had not agreed upon, and are subservient to their leader because of their abilities and power amongst the population. The difference between the government in Animal Farm and America is the levels of leadership. There are no levels in Animal Farm other than the leader/leaders and the followers. In America, the government is broken down into 3 branches. The branches being the Legislative, Judicial and Executive branches. With this being said, the President is not the sole leader of the government, but part of this 3-way system made up of the House of Representatives, Congress, the Vice President, the Cabinet, and the Supreme Court. This system is set in place to oversee the activities of the other branches in order to balance the government roles. The differences show how a dictatorship has one concern, and the Republic of American government is for the people.

The concerns of one may be different from other. The concerns in a dictatorship are mostly selfish, wherein a republic, such as the United States of America, the people and their needs are the main concerns. In Animal Farm, the pigs watch over the milk rather than the other animals. Soon after, the milk goes missing and the animals are unsure of where it went. Later on, it turns out that the milk and apples were consumed only by the pigs because they needed to stay healthy if they were to teach the others how to read and write. It is evident that the pigs intentionally took the milk and apples for their own well-being. They did not take into account the uses of milk for the other animals because they were too selfish to realize it. A dictatorship runs in this way as well. One leader rules for him or herself in order to get what they want without being concerned about the others. Once again, the republic in America differs from the style of government in Animal Farm because of their values. The American government is for the people. It is set up in a way that the people have the right to vote for what they want. With this vote, they elect a representative of the Electoral College to cast their vote. The representative from the Electoral College is taking into account the needs and wants of the American people to vote appropriately in favor of the people. The dictators stand for themselves and the American people stand for the majority.

In conclusion, George Orwell expresses dictatorship through the pigs and animals who follow their rule without any real freedoms. The animals have no freedoms under a complete rule that solely cares for themselves rather than all of the animals on the farm. The dictatorship style of government clearly differs from that of a republic, like the one in America, because of wants and needs.