Napoleon
All animals are equal, but…
Orwell's allegory of the revolution betrayed.
Heterodox Stalinist-MarxistOne of 729 ideologies · enter the Stalinist-Marxist hall →- Role
- Despot (allegory)
- From
- Animal Farm
- Region
- Manor Farm
- Social band
- Heterodox
- Placement
- −90 · +97 · +20
§ Where Napoleon stands
3 axesOn paper the farm belongs to all the animals, but under Napoleon the collective is captured by the pigs: in Chapter 3 the milk and windfall apples are reserved for them, and the other animals' rations are later cut in what Squealer calls a readjustment. Napoleon plans production around the windmill and trades with humans through the solicitor Mr Whymper, keeping every economic decision in the pigs' hands.
Napoleon's rule is the revolution turned into dictatorship. After the dogs chase Snowball off the farm in Chapter 5 he abolishes the Sunday debates and rules through a committee of pigs, and in Chapter 7 animals who confess to imaginary plots are torn apart by his dogs, while Squealer rewrites the farm's history and the Seven Commandments to justify each new privilege.
The Rebellion sweeps away Mr Jones's old order, with its hierarchy of man over beast and the comforting myth of Sugarcandy Mountain, which places Napoleon's regime slightly toward the progressive pole. But he ends by restoring everything the revolution overthrew: in Chapter 10 the pigs walk on two legs and carry whips, and he renames the farm the Manor Farm.
How close are you to Napoleon?
Three statements, one per axis. Answer them and we’ll drop you on the compass next to them.
§ The story
FictionNapoleon is the ruling pig of George Orwell's Animal Farm, a satirical novella published in August 1945. A large, fierce-looking Berkshire boar with a reputation for getting his own way, he takes part in the animals' rebellion against the farmer Mr Jones, then defeats his rival Snowball by setting a pack of secretly reared dogs on him. Backed by the dogs and by the smooth-talking propagandist Squealer, he rules the farm as an unaccountable dictator.
Orwell wrote the book as an allegory of the Russian Revolution and its betrayal under Stalin, and Napoleon's career tracks Stalin's: the expulsion of Snowball mirrors Trotsky's exile, the forced confessions recall the show trials, and his deal with the neighbouring farmer Frederick echoes the 1939 Nazi–Soviet pact. Several publishers turned the book down in wartime, when the Soviet Union was a British ally, but it became a Cold War classic, and Napoleon remains a byword for revolutionaries who become the tyrants they replaced.
Notable for
- 01Antagonist of 'Animal Farm'
- 02'…some are more equal than others'
- 03Allegory of Stalinism
Key works & moments
- 1945George Orwell publishes Animal Farm: A Fairy Story with Secker & Warburg in August.
- Chapter 2The animals' Rebellion drives out Mr Jones, and Manor Farm becomes Animal Farm.
- Chapter 5Napoleon's dogs chase Snowball off the farm, and the Sunday debates are abolished.
- Chapter 7Animals confess to imaginary crimes and are slaughtered by Napoleon's dogs.
- Chapter 10The pigs walk upright, and Napoleon restores the name Manor Farm.
- 1954A British animated film, later shown to have been partly CIA-funded, gives the story a new ending.
In Napoleon's words
“ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS”
§ Minds closest to Napoleon
All minds →
§ Also in the Stalinist-Marxist hall
Enter the hall →§ Common questions
4 answersWhat is Napoleon's political ideology in Animal Farm?
Napoleon rules in the name of Animalism, the revolutionary creed of Animal Farm, but in practice he is a Stalinist dictator: on the 99ideologies three-axis compass, a Heterodox Stalinist-Marxist. Economically he sits far to the left (−90), presiding over a nominally collective farm captured by the pigs. On governance he is near the authoritarian extreme (+97), ruling through dogs, propaganda and purges, and socially he leans slightly progressive (+20), having overthrown the old order before rebuilding its hierarchy.
Is Napoleon from Animal Farm left-wing or right-wing?
Left-wing in origin, authoritarian in practice. Napoleon comes to power through a revolution inspired by Old Major's vision of a society without masters, and the farm remains collectively owned in name, which places him on the far left economically. Orwell's point, however, is that the revolution is betrayed: by the end the pigs live like the humans they overthrew, so Napoleon stands for the corruption of socialism by power rather than for the left's ideals.
Who does Napoleon represent in Animal Farm?
Napoleon represents Joseph Stalin. Like Stalin, he wins power not through eloquence but through control of the machinery of force, here the dogs he reared in secret, and drives out his more brilliant rival Snowball, Orwell's stand-in for Leon Trotsky. The windmill campaign echoes Stalin's industrial drives, the forced confessions and executions recall the purges and show trials of the 1930s, and his deal with Frederick, who cheats him with forged banknotes and then attacks, mirrors the 1939 Nazi–Soviet pact and Hitler's invasion.
Which minds are closest to Napoleon?
On the 99ideologies three-axis compass, the minds closest to Napoleon are Mengistu Haile Mariam (98% alike), Lazar Kaganovich (97% alike) and Big Brother (95% alike). The furthest is Hans-Hermann Hoppe (0% alike).