The theme of power and control is prevalent throughout the novel.
Old Major's inspiring words are the first time that the animals see that they are slaves but do not have to be.
The chapter in which Snowball explains to the other animals that the pigs need the milk and apples because they are the "brainworkers" of the farm is a turning point in the novel.
- We see that even Snowball, who is portrayed to be good at heart, cannot resist the seductive nature of power.
- It marks the beginning of a regime that will maintain power by any means necessary.
- This insatiable lust for power comes back to bite Snowball when he is banished from the farm by Napoleon.
Orwell makes an important point about the rise to power of a totalitarian leader - the inaction of others is what allows it to happen.
- Orwell wishes to criticise many groups in this novel - those who are apolitical such as Mollie, those who are blindly devoted, such as Boxer, and those who cynically dismiss the facts, like Benjamin does.
- In essence, the other animals let the pigs seize power by not speaking up and in doing so choose comfort over freedom.
The pigs come up with a number of ways to manipulate and exploit the animals:
- When the pigs begin to change the Commandments, we see that they can use their power to legitimise their transgressions.
- They control the supply of information on the farm so that the animals cannot properly evaluate their situation.
- Although they dislike Moses, they allow him to stay on the farm because his stories keep the other animals docile.
- They use the "Spontaneous Demonstrations" to manipulate the animals' feelings.
- They honour their citizens' sacrifices after the Battle of the Windmill because they know that it will increase the power of the state.
By the end of the novel, we see that the animals have moved from the control of one power hungry leader to another.
- The pigs rule just as Mr Jones did, controlling language and thought on the farm "Still, the animals can't remember any other way of life, and even those that do are proud to be free"
- Napoleon's whip is a symbol of his oppression.
- Those who epouse the most virtuous ideas have become the worst enemies of the people whose lives they are claiming to improve.
Orwell's underlying point is that the stated goals of totalitarianism don't matter because all totalitarian regimes are fundamentally the same. Every type of totalitarianism, whether communist, fascist, or capitalist, is founded on oppression of the individual and the lower class. Those who hold power in totalitarian regimes care only about one thing: maintaining their power by any means necessary
- "The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which"