Animal Farm: Napoleon Character Analysis (AQA GCSE English Literature): Revision Note

Napoleon is a ruthless dictator, solely concerned with his own power, who will stop at nothing to gain absolute control over the animals and the farm.

Napoleon character summary  

Why is Napoleon important?

Napoleon is a relatively simplistic character through which Orwell’s political message, that power corrupts, is explored. He is depicted as:

• Ambitious: At the beginning of the novella, Napoleon is inspired by Old Major’s speech and shares his doctrine that “All men are enemies” who need to be conquered. By “working together” with Snowball, they both initiate the overthrow of Mr Jones and initially, their relationship has a positive impact on the farm and the other animals. As Napoleon and the pigs gain more power, they gradually change the Commandments to benefit themselves: “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”. 

• Intimidating: Napoleon is introduced as being one of two boars and is described as “a large, rather fierce looking Berkshire boar” who was “not much of a talker but with a reputation for getting his own way”. Napoleon uses intimidation, propaganda and terror to achieve dominance and makes the animals’ lives more miserable than they had been under Jones.

• Manipulative: Following the departure of Snowball, Napoleon uses him as a scapegoat and apportions blame to him for anything that goes wrong on the farm. This conveys him as a “dangerous character and a bad influence”. For instance, he implies that Snowball was responsible for the destruction of the windmill and that he was “in league with Jones”, despite the animals knowing otherwise. By manipulating information, Napoleon instils fear in the animals which makes them more submissive to his coercive control.

• Ruthless: Napoleon establishes himself as the leader and dictates the way the farm will be governed. He exercises totalitarian control over the farm through his “nine enormous dogs”; they are frequently used to intimidate and prevent the other animals from challenging his authority. He uses intimidation and violence to maintain the inequalities on the farm.

Napoleon’s use of language

Napoleon manipulates language throughout the novella and uses propaganda and deception to further his power and to justify his authoritarian rule. 

• Deceptive and rhetorical: Napoleon is depicted as a tyrant who rules through a combination of terror and propaganda. He claims that he is fighting for the animals’ rights as Man is the enemy and, unlike Snowball, he dedicates his time to securing majority support on the farm: by working behind the scenes, he builds power and authority via secrecy and deception. For instance, he pretends to give the animals a choice, “this work was strictly voluntary”, but threatens them with starvation if they don’t take part. Further, he deceives the animals and claims that Snowball has “sold himself to Frederick” and is helping to plot another attack. 

• Threatening: Napoleon is more physical than Snowball in his approach to governing the farm and provides a more aggressive leadership style, using intimidating language and violence. The “nine huge dogs” raised by Napoleon are used by him to establish fear in the animals and keep them submissive: they are described as sending “shivers down all the animals’ spines”. 

Napoleon key quotes 

Napoleon character development

Napoleon character interpretation

Patriarchy

It could be interpreted that after the revolt, the animals depend upon the stability of patriarchy as an institution, as evidenced through the continuity between the leadership of Mr Jones and Napoleon. While all of the animals rebel against Mr Jones, the animals who attempt to secure positions of power are all male. Indeed, the leadership battle falls between the two male pigs, Napoleon and Snowball. After Napoleon establishes himself as the patriarch, he dominates all of the other animals and they rarely question his authority.