Whenis introduced in , he is described as
"not much of a talker, but with a reputation for getting his own way." This
immediately differentiates him from the only other two pigs to be mentioned by name,and , both
of whom are remarkable for their eloquence. At the end of the chapter, after the pigs have
milked the cows, Napoleon sends the other animals away to gather in the harvest so that he can
drink all the milk.
It is clear throughout , therefore,
that Napoleon, who has none of Snowball's intellectual power and verbal abilities, achieves the
upper hand through a policy which makes secrecy a matter of course. He never shares information
with the other animals unless he has to and, once in power, builds an effective propaganda
machine with Squealer at its head to spread disinformation.
One of Napoleon's
most masterly secret plans is to take away the puppies from Jessie and Bluebell and sequester
them in the hay loft until everyone forgets about them. Later, when it becomes clear that
Snowball with be elected leader, Napoleon has nine enormous dogs, trained to obey him, to chase
Snowball off the farm.
Tyrannical regimes do not share information. An
important aspect of 's depiction of a tyranny in the making is the way in which Napoleon manages
systematically to hide and distort the truth, until he is at least as bad as the human tyrant he
replaced.
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