Animal Farm- Comparing and contrasting: Snowball & Napolean

December. 6, 2009

    I chose to compare and contrast two major figures in this book. They are named Snowball & Napoleon, and they are the most polar opposite characters in the novel “Animal Farm”. So, these two have an immense amount of differences and a lacking number of similarities.
             First, I will introduce Snowball. He is a clever, strong speaking, and inventive young boar who represents Leon Trotsky in the Russian revolution. Snowball was known to be a 1“more vivacious pig than Napoleon,” but at the same time, was “not considered to have the same depth of character” (p.35). He had positive thoughts towards the future, hoping for animalism to flourish among all the farms, not just his own. He used his wits, and planned to build a great windmill that would produce electricity for the animals' advantage. He hoped for a better future for all his comrades. Snowball was genuinely concerned for his people. But, in the end, he was brutally murdered by a pack of Napoleons' dogs after his speech to build a windmill was beginning to convince the animals to join his side at a meeting.
             Now, Napoleon (Joseph Stalin) was a cruel, power-hungry and “rather fierce-looking Berkshire Boar,” (p.35) (George Orwell, Animal Farmwho was also “not much of a talker” (p.35). He cheated and lied his way to the respect and leadership of Animal farm. He spread rumors around the farm about his enemies to make it seem like was far better than his true self. Napoleon also used many animals. For example, he used Moses (the raven), to convince the animals to work harder to get to 'sugar candy mountain', the land of eternal happiness. He also used squealer to talk his way into persuading them to work harder to get what they deserved. He raised the dogs into his own personal intimidates, and they would frighten anyone who would disagree, disobey, or threaten Napoleon's power, just as Snowball did.
             Napoleon used squealer to tweak the original seven commandments to make his life easier, completely ignoring his own comrad's needs. He could care less about animalism, which is exactly what made Snowball so different from his greedy self. After Snowball's 'disappearance', he blamed him for all the flaws the farm experienced afterwards. Napoleon even worked behind his comrad's backs with humans such as Mr.Pilkington, Mr.Friedrick, and Mr.Whymper. He told the farm that life was better, but in reality, nothing was changed since Mr.Jones was thrown out of Animal Farm. Napoleon slaughtered any of his animals if they confessed to sinning against him, and in the end, Napoleon turned into a human clone.

Snowball and Napoleon were always disagreeing with each other in the group meetings. They could never, not once agree on anything. They had far different intentions and ideas on how to deal with the newly changed farm now that it was in their hands and not in Mr.Jones’s obligation. I think the only thing these two characters had in common were that they were both leaders (unfair or not) in the revolution, and they were both pigs.
1George Orwell, Animal Farm (Signet Classic, Penguin Putnam, NY, NY, 1996) p. 35 All following quotations are from this edition and will hereafter be identified within the text.