Animal Farm

by

George Orwell

Napoleon Character Analysis

The primary antagonist of the novel; a pig who is one of Old Major’s disciples, along with Snowball. At first, Napoleon and Snowball work together to develop the ideology of Animalism and spread its ideals throughout all the animals on the farm, but Napoleon proves to have very different goals than Snowball. Where Snowball is relatively idealistic and wants to help others, Napoleon soon proves himself cruel and power hungry. When the conflict comes to a head over whether or not to build a windmill, Napoleon reveals that he’s trained nine dogs to be his secret police force, chases Snowball off the farm, and institutes a totalitarian state at Animal Farm. He maintains his rule by demanding unwavering loyalty and trust from his subjects, and he achieves at least outward displays of trust through intimidation and the spread of misinformation through propaganda. Napoleon is often the one to make grand, sinister-sounding pronouncements, but then always sends the pig Squealer around to convince everyone that Napoleon is actually acting in their best interests—and never in his own self-interest. He’s especially interested in developing an educated ruling class, which he does by educating the dogs, and later by insisting on educating the 31 piglets he fathers in a special schoolhouse. Throughout the novel, Napoleon proves himself to be paranoid, self-important, and unable to accept that he’s wrong—he blames all manner of horrible things on either Snowball or the neighboring farmers. By the end of the novel, Napoleon is undistinguishable from the humans he has denounced along: he is fat, powerful, and begins to walk on two legs, wear clothes, and carry a whip. In Napoleon’s eyes, it’s a good thing that the other animals are so hungry and powerless, and he insists that this state of affairs is called for in Animalism. He ultimately changes Animal Farm’s name back to Manor Farm in a bid to make it seem more palatable to the farmers, and he proves himself to be just as corrupt as his human counterparts. Napoleon symbolizes Stalin, who led the Soviet Union from 1930 until his death in 1953.

Napoleon Quotes in Animal Farm

The Animal Farm quotes below are all either spoken by Napoleon or refer to Napoleon. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Totalitarianism Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2  Quotes

THE SEVEN COMMANDMENTS
1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal.

Related Characters: Napoleon, Snowball, Old Major
Page Number: 24-25
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

“Comrades!” he cried. “You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organization of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples.”

Related Characters: Squealer (speaker), Napoleon, Snowball
Page Number: 35-36
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

At this there was a terrible baying sound outside, and nine enormous dogs wearing brass-studded collars came bounding into the barn. They dashed straight for Snowball, who only sprang from his place just in time to escape their snapping jaws.

Related Characters: Napoleon, Snowball, The Dogs
Related Symbols: Character Names, The Windmill
Page Number: 52-53
Explanation and Analysis:

“No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?”

Related Characters: Squealer (speaker), Napoleon
Page Number: 55
Explanation and Analysis:

“Napoleon is always right.”

Related Characters: Boxer (speaker), Napoleon
Page Number: 56
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

“Comrades, do you know who is responsible for this? Do you know the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown our windmill? SNOWBALL!”

Related Characters: Napoleon (speaker), Snowball
Related Symbols: The Windmill
Page Number: 69-70
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

If she herself had had any picture of the future, it had been of a society of animals set free from hunger and the whip, all equal, each working according to his capacity, the strong protecting the weak [...] Instead - she did not know why - they had come to a time when no one dared speak his mind, when fierce, growling dogs roamed everywhere, and when you had to watch your comrades torn to pieces after confessing to shocking crimes.

Related Characters: Napoleon, Clover, The Dogs
Page Number: 86-87
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer—except, of course, for the pigs and the dogs.

Related Characters: Napoleon, Squealer, The Dogs, Minimus
Page Number: 129
Explanation and Analysis:

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.

Related Characters: Napoleon, Benjamin, Squealer, Clover
Page Number: 134
Explanation and Analysis:

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.

Related Characters: Napoleon, Squealer, Clover, Mr. Pilkington
Page Number: 141
Explanation and Analysis:
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Napoleon Quotes in Animal Farm

The Animal Farm quotes below are all either spoken by Napoleon or refer to Napoleon. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Totalitarianism Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2  Quotes

THE SEVEN COMMANDMENTS
1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.
2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.
3. No animal shall wear clothes.
4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.
5. No animal shall drink alcohol.
6. No animal shall kill any other animal.
7. All animals are equal.

Related Characters: Napoleon, Snowball, Old Major
Page Number: 24-25
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

“Comrades!” he cried. “You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organization of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples.”

Related Characters: Squealer (speaker), Napoleon, Snowball
Page Number: 35-36
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

At this there was a terrible baying sound outside, and nine enormous dogs wearing brass-studded collars came bounding into the barn. They dashed straight for Snowball, who only sprang from his place just in time to escape their snapping jaws.

Related Characters: Napoleon, Snowball, The Dogs
Related Symbols: Character Names, The Windmill
Page Number: 52-53
Explanation and Analysis:

“No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?”

Related Characters: Squealer (speaker), Napoleon
Page Number: 55
Explanation and Analysis:

“Napoleon is always right.”

Related Characters: Boxer (speaker), Napoleon
Page Number: 56
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

“Comrades, do you know who is responsible for this? Do you know the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown our windmill? SNOWBALL!”

Related Characters: Napoleon (speaker), Snowball
Related Symbols: The Windmill
Page Number: 69-70
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

If she herself had had any picture of the future, it had been of a society of animals set free from hunger and the whip, all equal, each working according to his capacity, the strong protecting the weak [...] Instead - she did not know why - they had come to a time when no one dared speak his mind, when fierce, growling dogs roamed everywhere, and when you had to watch your comrades torn to pieces after confessing to shocking crimes.

Related Characters: Napoleon, Clover, The Dogs
Page Number: 86-87
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer—except, of course, for the pigs and the dogs.

Related Characters: Napoleon, Squealer, The Dogs, Minimus
Page Number: 129
Explanation and Analysis:

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.

Related Characters: Napoleon, Benjamin, Squealer, Clover
Page Number: 134
Explanation and Analysis:

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.

Related Characters: Napoleon, Squealer, Clover, Mr. Pilkington
Page Number: 141
Explanation and Analysis: