Animal Farm - Life on the Farm

How does Napoleon, in chapter VI, show his power:

The character of Napoleon, which is based on Joseph Stalin, has a great deal of power in the story. He is driven, ambitious, and very manipulative, and he uses these abilities to control the farm. Some of these are:

How Napoleon controls Squealer. It is not know how or why Squealer believes in Napoleon so firmly, however, Squealer works as his spokesperson and minister of propaganda. "...again Squealer was able to convince them [the animals] that this was not the case." pg. 49. In this quote, it can be appreciated how Squealer controls the other animals on behalf of Napoleon, who controls Squealer.

Another instance that shows Napoleon's power is when he states that, in order to get materials and money to build the windmill, the animals would need to engage in trade with other farms. Due to Napoleon's eloquent and flourished speech, the animals (partly because they didn't understand, and also because they were intimidated by Napoleon's dogs) had to be in agreement. "...four young pigs who had protested (...) were promptly silenced by a tremendous growling from the dogs." The dogs are loyal to Napoleon, because they are given privileges by him and are considered as not-so-smart animals.

Napoleon uses his lies to impose himself over the rest. As the windmill is being built, Sunday is proposed as an "optional" day for animals if they want to work, though the animals that don't have their rations reduced: "Napoleon announced that there would be work on Sunday afternoons as well. This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal that absented from it would have their rations divided by half." In this quote it can be noticed how Napoleon twists his words to get what he wants, and makes the animals believe things that aren't real.

My favourite animal in Animal Farm so far is Clover, one of the horses. Though not as smart as the pigs or the dogs, Clover and Boxer (the other horse) are extremely loyal to the farm, which is the main reason why I consider Clover such a great character. Although not evil, her main flaw is that, as Boxer, she is very gullible, therefore she believes in what Old Major says without questioning it. She is described in the book as a monumental mare, who "never quite got back her figure" after she bore her fourth calf. I expect this character to be one of the first ones to repent from this ideology, because of her humbleness; and one of the first to become corrupted, due to her credulity.