Throughout the course of Animal Farm, the pigs, and especially Napoleon, become more corrupt, to the point where, by the end of the novel, the pigs are much crueler masters then Mr. Jones ever was. Because they are the smartest, and therefore put in a position of leadership over the other animals, they are given the power to control the society from the very start, and straight away, they allow themselves certain luxuries that the other animals do not have access to, mainly apples and milk. The milk provided by the cows and the apples from the orchard going to the pigs to "help them run the farm" (after Napoleon consumes them for a time behind everyone's back) is the first sign of stratification in the society, but, even if the pigs do not fully believe that the apples or milk will help them be more competent, they do not necessarily fully and consciously disbelieve it. At this point, the pigs are still completely in favour of the seven commandments by which they all agree to live by. Slowly, however, the pigs start to allow themselves more privileges, and. after Napoleon's coup, they move into the house, and start engaging in activities such as selling eggs, sleeping in beds, and eventually wearing clothes and even standing on two legs. All of this they justify by surreptitiously revising the commandments during the night as they see fit. The reason, in short, is the same |
reason that societies over time become more stratified, and why, as this book tries to point out, dictatorships are inevitably formed in many situations. As there will always be a certain group who finds themselves as the leaders of a society because of some desired trait, there will always be some degree of social stratification, as the leader will either be revered or demand some sort of small compensation for being leader. Over time, they will become detached from the public as a consequence of their leadership position, and unless if they step down or are forced to flee because of a coup or revolution, this detachment will lead to greed. The reason for this greed is simple: as the leader, you will always be provided for, ad because you are sacrificing so much, why should you not enjoy some small luxury? Unfortunately these "small luxuries" add up, and as the leader takes more from the populace, the social stratification increases, leading to corruption and more greed. The group/person who is chosen as the leader will eventually find themselves living incredibly comfortably at the expense of the masses, and so must restrict various aspects of their lives to protect their way of life. The unfortunate result of this pattern is an oppressive dictatorship, which, as seems to inevitably happen when the masses realize their deplorable conditions, leads to a revolution of the proletariat. The revolutionaries institute a new system, which will eventually, unless it provides some way for the voices of the masses to be heard or for leaders to be rewarded or punished if they become corrupt or are just, this cycle will repeat itself.