Napoleon’s brilliant schemes and tactics help manipulate the animals into thinking he is an exceptional leader
“That, he said, was Comrade Napoleon’s cunning. He had seemed to oppose the windmill, simply as a manoeuvre to get rid of Snowball, who was a dangerous character and a bad influence. Now that Snowball was out of the way, the plan could go forward without his interference. This, said Squealer, was something called tactics” (Orwell 56).
This quote showcases the ingenuity and shrewdness of the character Napoleon in Animal Farm. Napoleon is exemplified by Squealer's speech to have an advanced intellectual mindset, even though he adopted Snowball's plans as his own, due to the fact that he has appeared to outwit Snowball and expose him as a treasonous influence on the farm. Napoleon relates to other dictators in history, such as Joseph Stalin, due to the fact that Stalin also used some of his rival's, Trotsky's, ideas in order to enhance his government and also to portray himself as a capable leader.
The impact of this excerpt on the novel as a whole is to allow the reader to realize the depth of Napoleon's ingenuity by explaining how Napoleon manipulated the animals into thinking that he as an exceptional leader. This quote is an integral part of the story as it fully demonstrates the range of Napoleon’s tactics.
Key Points
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Napoleon is extremely intelligent
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Carefully devised plans (similar to Stalin) allowed Napoleon to take out Snowball at the right time and take over the farm in its early stages
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George Orwell wanted the reader to understand the depth of Napoleon's ingenuity, otherwise he wouldn't have included so many instances of manipulation
