<span>One of themes is corruption of power. This is shown by how Napoleon abuses his power and chases Snowball off the farm simply because he disagrees with him. All throughout the book is imagery of the pigs treating themselves better at the expense of other animals, doing whatever they can to get ahead no matter who they hurt and no matter how badly.</span>
One of the four major themes in Animal Farm is the way power corrupts those in control of a group. This corruption of power, brought to you by Napoleon, is putre selfishness. Napoleon abuses his power as soon as Old Major dies and everyone is waiting for a leader. Instead of following Old Majors beliefs Napoleon manipulates the animals with the help of Squealer to get what he wants. He chases off kills or threatens anyone who questions his authority because he realizes how good power feels. He even goes against the rules he helped make for the farm to satisfy his own interests. The pigs do whatever they can to get ahead no matter who they hurt and no matter how badly. In animals farm we see an example of power corruption when "Napoleon announced there would be work on Sunday afternoons as well. This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half." This example shows us that Napoleon doesn't care if the animals get injured working more hours. If they want their rations they have to work longer than they agreed to. This is very unfair and is not in the best interest of the animals.
The following line provides evidence that enslaved persons were treated violently: My master sent me away, because there existed against me a very great prejudice in the community, and he feared I might be killed.
This line not only claims that slaves were treated violently but it also states that there was also the possibility of being killed, something which is an extreme point of violence.
