Wednesday, August 26, 2009

What is Napoleon's reaction to the farm animals' agreement to build the windmill in Animal Farm by George Orwell?

In Chapter Five of Animal Farm, Snowball develops the idea to build a windmill. All of the other animals are very intrigued about the windmill and look over Snowball's plans every day. Napoleon, however, feels very differently:



Only Napoleon held aloof. He had declared himself against the windmill from the very start.



Napoleon's opposition to the windmill continues until the day that Snowball is finally ready to unveil his plans to the other animals. During his speech, he emphasizes the windmill's labor-saving capabilities and the animals agree that it ought to be built. But, once again, Napoleon's opposition is overwhelming and leads to unprecedented violence:



[Napoleon] uttered a high-pitched whimper of a kind no one had ever heard him utter before. At this there was a terrible baying sound outside, and nine enormous dogs wearing brass-studded collars came bounding into the barn.



These dogs are the puppies that Napoleon took from Jessie and Bluebell in Chapter Three. Now grown, they have become Napoleon's personal guards and they give chase to Snowball, who is lucky to escape the farm with his life. The animals have never seen Napoleon act with such brutality before and this represents a turning point on the farm; Napoleon is asserting his dominance over Snowball and, in turn, over all the others. This, then, marks the beginning of his absolute dominance on the farm and foreshadows the violence to come. 

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