Snowball and Napoleon have two very different personalities and fight for the power from the other animals. Both have their strengths and weaknesses that make them unique as candidates for power. The animals of Animal Farm must pick the candidate that best suits their needs and keeps the animals more powerful than the humans. Snowball is very inventive, he strives to make new innovations on the farm. For example, “He talked learnedly about field drains, silage, and basic slag, and had worked out a complicated scheme for all the animals to drop their dung directly in the fields, at a different spot every day, to save the labour of cartage.
Snowball comes up with these schemes by himself and presents them to the animals. He has read books and pondered a lot in order to come up with his innovate ideas. These ideas or inventions are very helpful to the life on Animal Farm because they make they make their lives better and creates a better society for the animals. Secondly, Snowball is a very good leader, especially during the Battle of the Cowshed. “Snowball, who had studied an old book of Julius Caesar’s campaigns which he had found in the farmhouse, was in charge of the defensive operations.
He gave his orders quickly, and in a couple of minutes every animal was at his post. ” He studied tactics and used those to lead the animals to victory against the humans. During the battle, Snowball gave orders and told the soldiers how to fight the stampede of the enemy – humans. The battle was organized in waves of attacks, which most likely lead to their victory while only losing one animal. This is incredible, considering that they were battling humans; a much more powerful force than they. This skill will allow the animals to become more powerful in the future and be able to keep their power, without the humans taking it from them.
Snowball is very intelligent and uses that to benefit that animals. Snowball also has a set of disadvantages; one of them is that he formed committees to teach the animals. “On the whole, these projects were a failure. The attempt to tame the wild creatures, for instance, broke down almost immediately. They continued to behave very much as before, and when treated with generosity, simply took advantage of it. ” He wasn’t strict enough to teach the animals lessons on how to manage themselves on the farm. They took advantage of him because he was too nice to them.
Snowball should be a bit tougher, so he can organize the committees in order for them to be successful. Teaching the animals how to live and how to contribute to the farm in order for them to thrive is very important. This puts Snowball at a disadvantage because this skill is essential for the farm to function and for its survival. Another weakness of Snowball is he is naive. “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.
In a moment he was out of the door and they were after him. ” He doesn’t know the Napoleon is out to take advantage of him and ultimately overthrow him. Early in the book, Napoleon takes the puppies in and trainees them to do as he commands. This is not good for Snowball because he doesn’t know about what is going on around him; he is naive. If something were to be going on with the animals on the farm – a revolution against him for example – he wouldn’t know about it. It is useful for him to know what is going on between the other animals on the farm, so he can command accordingly.
Napoleon makes sure that the animals are self-sufficient and able to survive by having food and trading for essential materials. “The animals were not badly o? throughout that summer, in spite of the hardness of their work. If they had no more food than they had had in Jones’s day, at least they did not have less. The advantage of only having to feed themselves, and not having to support five extravagant human beings as well, was so great that it would have taken a lot of failures to outweigh it. ” Despite the animals having to work longer hours, they have enough food to survive.
It is the same amount as when Jones ruled them, but they are animals, not humans. If Animal Farm is to be led by animals and not humans, then they have to be able to make an adequate amount of food for themselves. Napoleon is leading them in the right direction for being more powerful than the humans. Also, Napoleon trades with the humans, even though it is controversial, but they need the supplies. “From now onwards Animal Farm would engage in trade with the neighbouring farms: not, of course, for any commercial purpose, but simply in order to obtain certain materials which were urgently necessary. ”
Despite the animals being upset with this, trade is necessary for Animal Farm to obtain the essential resources that they can’t produce. The animals have been trying to go against the humans, but they are not trading to be friends with the humans, just for resources. They are just animals and they can’t manufacture everything that humans are able to make. After gaining the knowledge of how humans gain their resources and make them, they could overtake the humans. If they continue down this path, then Napoleon could make the animals superior. Napoleon strengths help the farm become more sustainable and help the animals prosper.
On the other hand, Napoleon has some weaknesses. He tries to reinterpret some of the commandments for his own good – he is more concerned about himself. “‘You have heard then, comrades,’ he said, ‘that we pigs now sleep in the beds of the farmhouse? And why not? You did not suppose, surely, that there was ever a ruling against beds? A bed merely means a place to sleep in. ” Napoleon starts to take advantage of his power over the other animals, especially when he goes against the 14th commandment with the other pigs. They also get their food from the kitchen and used the house for their other needs.
This is not how Old Major wanted the society to run. He wanted the animals to be equal and Napoleon is going against that by abusing the power. This is not good for the other animals, they work very hard and deserve the same treatment as the pigs; the way the animals wanted it in the beginning. Secondly, he starts to take the rights away from the pigs and give them no say in the government. “Napoleon, with the dogs following him, now mounted on to the raised portion of the floor where Major had previously stood to deliver his speech. He announced that from now on the Sunday-morning Meetings would come to an end.
They were unnecessary, he said, and wasted time. ” Without the meetings, the animals could not discuss future plans for the community and have the other animals have say in things. Also, the animals could not ask any questions; they would have to brought up to a committee run by Napoleon. The debates also came to an end, which gives Napoleon the appearance of a dictator. He has stripped the animals of their rights and participation in the government. In conclusion, Snowball is most suited candidate to govern the animals of Animals Farm. He fights the humans in battle against the humans and commands them successfully.
This quality makes him most suitable because he is fighting for the animals to overpower the humans. His inventiveness allows for the society of animals to prosper over the humans; the inventions allow them to build their society up. He reads and learns to make Animal Farm better, while trying to educate the other animals too. Overall, Snowball is more involved with the animals and doesn’t want to have more power than them. Napoleon on the other hand, is more of a dictator and is more concerned for himself. For example, when he overlooks the commandments for himself. He takes Snowball’s ideas and claims they are his.
Also, Napoleon acts much more immature than Snowball. For instance, “then suddenly he lifted his leg, urinated over the plans, and walked out without uttering a word. ” He doesn’t handle disputes maturely and his actions show this. Also, he blames Snowball for the destruction of the windmill, even though it was the storm. Snowball is the obvious candidate to govern Animal Farm and is best for protecting all the animals that reside there. Napoleon seems to be covering the farm from animalism to communism. All of the animals of Animal Farm should rally together and say, “Snowball for everyone, Napoleon for himself. ”
